Postcard Vacation of Germany

 

Above is the third postcard on the first page I scanned of my great aunt Clara Kuck's postcard album and what she wrote on the back. As I alluded to in an earlier post, many of her postcards were like this and weren't actually sent through the mail or if they were, were included with a letter written to family as there are no addresses or postmarks to be seen. They appear mostly to be souvenirs or to show family members some of the sites she was seeing while in Germany. Indeed there is a postcard where she encourages her sister Bertha to save all her postcards for her upon her return.

Clara Kuck was in Germany to study at Berlin University though I do not know what she studied. I also don't know the exact timing or the length of her stay though I do know she made it there sometime in 1911 and was come by early summer of 1912. To give you some context, Clara's mother had died the year before in 1910 which may have stimulated this journey to some extent. Her father John Kuck, my 3rd great grandfather was still alive at the time and was a native of Germany so I'm guessing that also played a part in her travels to that country.

The object of the postcard, which according to Clara was the first thing she saw when she exited the train station, is of one of the most visited landmarks in Germany to this day, the Cathedral of Cologne often referred to as the Kölner Dom. According to Wikipedia, the building of it started in 1248 and didn't finish until around 1880. Sometime later World War II occurred and it suffered 18 direct hits but still managed to survive and wasn't finished getting repaired until 1997. So my great aunt Clara got to see it at it's prime when it was only 30 years old and hadn't been bombed.

At the time of first completion in 1880, it was the tallest structure in the world and is still considered the tallest twin-spired church in the world and the third tallest church to this day in all of Europe. On another postcard of the same church but from a different angle, Clara wrote that she behaved like an American and walked right up to the alter during her visit which happened to be in the middle of mass. She was scolded and ushered away from the alter. I thought that was kind of amusing/saddened that "American tourists" still behave much the same way 120 years later!

For reference and to help those who may not be able to read it, the back of the postcard says the following:

Another view of the great Kölner Dom. It was the first thing that met our eyes on emerging from the station. It is across a street from the Centralstation. Greatest Gothic edifice I’ve seen. Its area is 6,600 sq. meters. We are learning German money today — Marks & pfennigs and so on.

So it seems like Clara was at least undergoing some sort of cultural adaptation program upon her arrival, perhaps through the university. 

Below is a picture of the cathedral today as it shows up in Google Maps Street View.