Antique & Vintage Postcards

Thundering white water fills the foreground of this dramatically composed real-photo-style halftone card: the Klammschlucht gorge at Klam near Grein in Upper Austria, its granite walls rising sheer on both sides while a wooden footbridge clings to the rock face above the cascade — the whole scene lit with the eerie, moonlit tonality favored by Pictorialist-influenced card printers of the era. The card was sent in 1916, in the middle of the First World War, addressed to "Wohlgeboren Herrn Dr. Wilh. Ritter von R—" at Kriegs-Spital III (Military Hospital III), Wien XIII, Baumgarten — a field doctor or staff physician recuperating or serving in one of Vienna's wartime hospitals. The message, written in dense Kurrent script across both halves of the divided back, runs to personal news and greetings, dated 24/III/16. The publisher imprint reads "Maria Aigner, Klau [Klam]," a small local publisher, adding regional rarity. A 5-Heller Franz Joseph stamp is cancelled with a Klam postmark.