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Background history
The collection of picture postcards is unique and one of a kind, presenting the history of today’s Site of National Remembrance in Łambinowice. The oldest card comes from 1895, while the latest – from the beginning of the 1940s. They were made with the use of techniques which were typical of the times. Part of the postcards were decorated with graphic plant motifs or animal themes, characteristic of the places which they present (oak leaves, a gopher) and time when they were edited. The majority of them display a stamped date and text of correspondence on the reverse side, which proves that they used to be in a regular mailing circulation and testifies to their authenticity. The collection consists of 182 picture postcards. They present, chiefly, the prisoner-of-war camp and groups of POWs staying in the camp located in Lamsdorf (Łambinowice) in the time of World War I, as well as the then military training area and the very place itself as they looked at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century. The postcards were made with the use of the following techniques: lithography (1), monochrome lithography (1), polychrome lithography (18), autotype (64), colored autotype (14), raster typography (10), rotogravure (5) and photography (69). They were issued by different publishing and photographic workshops in Silesia, among others: Albert Radamacher, Breslau (Wrocław); M.Wenzel, Breslau; Kundstanstalt Breslau; Paul Nemann, Neisse (Nysa); Herman Lukowski, Breslau; H. Belich, Beuthen O.S. (Bytom); Franz Rieger, Breslau; Max Maetschke, Lamsdorf O.S. (Łambinowice); C.W. Mierzwa, Neisse; With. Steinberg, Breslau; A. Heising, Neisse; V. Bartelt, Falkenberg (Niemodlin); P. Klapper, Neustadt O.S. (Prudnik). Thanks to the images retained in the photographs and lithographs we can complement our knowledge about the functioning of the POW camp in Lamsdorf, its infrastructure connected with the military range character, and also about the fate of POWs themselves and the conditions of their camp life during World War I. They make a unique illustration of the beginnings of the history of the place which accommodates a site of national remembrance nowadays. What they show is primarily the extensively developed infrastructure of the training area and the camp with objects that performed auxiliary functions for the military range and then the POW camps organized in this area. The collection offers an excellent iconographic material which has already been displayed a number of times on various exhibitions and in publications issued by the Central Museum of Prisoners-of-War, and has also been used for the needs of educational work with youth. The postcards are frequently shown on permanent and temporal exhibitions dedicated to the history of the POW camps in Lamsdorf. They were reproduced in the album entitled Łambinowice na dawnej pocztówce [Łambinowice in the Old Picture Postcard] which was elaborated on by Elżbieta and Mariusz Woźniak
Prepared by: Beata Madej
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Lamsdorf in old picture postcards
Source of acquisition
The postcards were purchased with the financial means obtained from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
Description of the item
Picture postcards of 14cm long and 9cm wide; techniques and material used: lithography, autotype, raster typography and photography; postcard art paper. They are in a very good condition, they do not display any visible defects or tears.
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