Many thanks to Klaus and Claudia from Germany who kindly donated this card to the Hairpin Museum and for all their hard work in translating it.
Click on the images for a larger picture.
1. Title of Card
"Chinesische Schönheiten" = Chinese beauties 2. Place and Date of Writing "Tsingtau" - Tsingtau The date is hard to read. Must be before the cancellation date. Could be April 3rd, 1901. Original Language Message "Lieber Ernst. Sende (?) Dir hie(?)r(?) eine (?) Auswahl Chinesischer Schönheiten, und (?) ????? ???h ??inn(?) heh(?)?e(?) Bekanntschaft angeknüpft habe(?) .(?) ?? hoffe (?) Sieh(?)a(?)h(?)???? Ned(??) Huße(??) Dich für eine von uns(?) ist ????? Sei (?) Dir ??u?r empfeh??? es(?) sind(?) h(?)a(??)ff(???)e Sch(?)???e(?) Weiber (?) , sie (?) kleine Füße sind ja heutzutage Mode. Also (?) deßhalb (?) geniere Dich nicht, und ma?? immer(?) war(??) nur(??) Spaß(??) Gruß, Dein Bruder Heinrich" Translation into English "Dear Ernst" "Sending you here a selection ... Chinese beauties and ... start getting acquainted ... hope you for one of us (female version of "one")" Followed by two lines where the recognizable characters don't really make sensible words, then continues ... "women" ... (although the word used in German was not a very respectful description for women in those days) could be "she" or "they" ... "small feet are fashionable these days. For that reason ... don't feel embarrassed, and ... always ... only ... fun" "Greetings, your brother Heinrich" It would appear to be a card to a younger brother, although the sender was surely not older than 20 himself. |
1. Sender Address
"Absender" - sender "Seesoldat" - literally "soldier of the sea", so the sender was a marine "Koring" - is his last/family name "4. C. III. S. B." - was his unit: "4. Kompagnie III. Seebataillon"(III. being 3rd) 2. Classification of Card "Postkarte - Weltpostverein" - a postcard within the Universal Postal Union "Feld" - added handwritten makes this a military mailing (Feld = field), which explains why there is no postage stamp on the card - delivery home was free for the soldiers (Followed by the French text for postcard and Universal Postal Union) 3. Cancellation on Departure Stamped April 16th, 1901 in Tsingtau / Kiautschou 4. Cancellation on Arrival Stamped May 29th, 1901 - but I can't make out the town of arrival. It's not Dortmund, where the card is addressed to. Maybe this was from the place where the ship arrived? 5. Recipient Address "Herrn" - "to mister" "Ernst Koring" - first/given and last/family name "Dortmund" - a city in Germany "Kuhstraße 22" - street name and house number; It means literally "cow street"; the street is right in the medieval city centre, but the houses from that time were completely destroyed in WW 2. |