Antique & Vintage Postcards

Six sun-drenched photographs ring a golden crown emblem at center — the Neue Burg's sweeping Ringstrasse façade, a Fiaker horse-drawn carriage clattering past the equestrian statue of Archduke Karl, and a commanding close-up portrait of Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi") as painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1865, her dark hair threaded with stars and her shoulders bare — the icon of Habsburg romanticism gazing serenely from this mid-century chrome card. The Hofburg, imperial residence for six centuries and home of the Habsburg dynasty until 1918, anchors Vienna's identity; its monuments to Prince Eugene and Archduke Karl flank the Heldenplatz in panels that also capture the period's vintage automobiles parked in the inner courtyard, an accidental time-stamp of early-1960s Austria. Published by Hans H. Rau of Vienna, the card is unused and retains strong chromogenic color with only light handling wear.