Monday, October 19, 2009

Pforzheim, Germany

This card was sent on May 20th, 1912
The message reads:
Dear Laura,
This card is to show you that there are a lot of pretty houses in Pforzheim. We have met a lot of nice people and have been out together in the Black Forest. I will write you a letter sometime soon, am anxious to hear from you. We have had some fine auto rides through the Black Forest. This week we move to little place right in the forest. Gertie will stay all summer. Love to you all from us all.
Lovingly, Mae
Pforzheim was (and still is) known for its jewelry and watch making. During WWII, the Allies thought that precision war instruments were being manufactured here. Because of that, Pforzheim was bombed numerous times, with one final air raid in 1945 killing over a quarter of the city's population and destroying 83% of the buildings.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you for providing such an enlarged version of this postcard. it shows it to great effect and I feel as if I can reach out and touch the stone!
    Evelyn in Montreal

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  2. thank you for yr lovely postcards--a rectangular gem of history. snail mails are so retro but it's a privilege to receive one nowadays.

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  3. Thank you for sharing this post card. My great grandfather would have been somewhere around there, walking to his store, or chatting with his friends. Angelika Meisenbacher

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  4. my family came from phorzheim and left germany after the war , my father came to the united states in 1954 to start his barber shop which he had worked for his father in the city of phorzheim since it was so heavily bombed and people had to restart their lives many came to the united states for hopes of a better future, my mother came over in 1955 and my oldest brother was born in the u.s. in 1956 , by the time i was born in 1962 my father had purchased his first brand new house costing 20 thousand dollars and my parents were finally living the american dream in new jersey , Thanks for sharing your postcard , the city of phorzheim had lost 77,000 people during the war and many parts of the city were lost and rebuilt due to the bombings!

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  5. Glenn,
    Thanks so much for your comment. This sounds very similar to my father's story too. He came over in 1953 - from Wuerzburg though.

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