{"id":59609,"date":"2023-04-24T10:47:50","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T09:47:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/?p=59609"},"modified":"2025-03-20T09:59:39","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T08:59:39","slug":"vienna-in-postcards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/vienna-in-postcards\/","title":{"rendered":"Vienna in Postcards"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcardssmall.jpg\" alt=\"Random selection of sepia postcards\" class=\"wp-image-59605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcardssmall.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcardssmall-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If you thought postcards were always about cheap photos of a city&#8217;s major tourism sights, think again. The <em>Big City \/ Small Format<\/em> exhibition at the musa reveals a far more interesting story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Traces the history of postcards in Vienna<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Presents their different roles\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Documenter of cityscapes and city life<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Medium for art, communication &amp; advertising<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2026and more<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Runs May 4 &#8211; Sept 24, 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>See also:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/musa\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22139\">musa overview<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/entertainment\/events\/exhibitions\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"37363\">exhibitions in Vienna<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Big City \/ Small Format<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"320\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards2.jpg\" alt=\"Historical street view of Vienna\" class=\"wp-image-59607\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards2.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards2-300x192.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Friedrich Kaiser Gasse with school. Sperlings Postkartenverlag, ca. 1910 \u00a9 Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Postcards can feel a little quaint in the era of Instagram and TikTok. And who hasn&#8217;t spotted those curling and faded relics clogging up postcard stands outside souvenir shops?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not, then, a medium with a great reputation at the moment. Ah, but take a second look. Or, rather, allow the Wien Museum&#8217;s musa to give you a second look in their <em>Big City \/ Small Format<\/em> exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the surface, the exhibition presents the history of the postcard in Vienna, albeit with a clear focus on how those little rectangles of card portray the urban landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike today, much of that history involved far more than simple photos of palaces and cathedrals.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"355\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards3.jpg\" alt=\"Tram art postcard\" class=\"wp-image-59608\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards3.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards3-300x213.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(Bim (tram), from the Wien 01 series. Verlag Art Postal. Photo: Frank Dehner, 2019 \u00a9 Frank Dehner)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you look around Visiting Vienna, for example, you often find old photos of events or nondescript street scenes illustrating articles. I source many from postcards in the Wien Museum collection under their generous open content policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Historical postcards serve as a documentation of urban life away from the visitor hotspots. As such, they help us piece together the transformation of the cityscape through time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So the exhibition doubles as an exploration of urban history, Viennese identity and street photography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, postcards represent more than just mirrors of a time and place.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"287\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards1.jpg\" alt=\"Postcard by the Wiener Werkst\u00e4tte\" class=\"wp-image-59606\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards1.jpg 287w, https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/postcards1-191x300.jpg 191w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 287px) 100vw, 287px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\">(The Hofburg in Vienna. Wiener Werkst\u00e4tte No. 262. Graphic: J\u00f3zsef Div\u00e9ky, 1909 or later \u00a9 Wien Museum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other roles include communication (obviously), advertising, and art&#8230;all of which continue today. These and further aspects of the postcard receive due attention in the exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the legendary era of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/wiener-moderne\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28303\">Viennese Modernism<\/a> that gave rise to such folk as Gustav Klimt also reached into postcard territory; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/culture\/wiener-werkstatte\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"28911\">Wiener Werkst\u00e4tte<\/a> produced postcards with motifs by painters and designers like Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele or Josef Hoffmann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the actual postcards on display come from that collection I mentioned. But the exhibition also draws on loans from other sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be sure to take in the ancillary displays examining related topics. For example, the often gorgeous illustrated correspondence cards and letter paper that preceded the postcard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The videos on image retouching also prove remarkably intriguing, particularly the realisation that &#8220;photoshopping&#8221; is not a new invention. The video demonstrating how Carl Anders Nilsson prepares a final postcard image from raw photos is particularly impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dates, tickets &amp; tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Browse the postcards and the stories behind them from May 4th to September 24th, 2023. A ticket for the musa is essentially a ticket for the main exhibition inside. Everything else there requires no ticket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(NB: the musa has since switched to free entry for all its exhibitions.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once there, you&#8217;re not far from one of our favourite caf\u00e9-confectioneries: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/eatingdrinking\/cafespubsbars\/sluka-konditorei\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"23006\">Sluka<\/a> at Rathausplatz 8. Try the pear cake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to get there<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow the travel tips at the bottom of the main <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/museums\/musa\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"22139\">Wien Museum musa article<\/a>. The institution lies centrally next door to the Rathaus and Rathauspark (home to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/sights\/christmasmarkets\/rathausplatz\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"222\">Christkindlmarkt<\/a> and other popular events).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Address: Felderstra\u00dfe 6\u20138, 1010 Vienna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/embed?mid=1CvFy08QgKnm1x4rkMf89o2bjRoLw78on\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you thought postcards were always about cheap photos of a city&#8217;s major tourism sights, think again. The Big City \/ Small Format exhibition at the musa reveals a far more interesting story. Big City \/ Small Format (Friedrich Kaiser Gasse with school. Sperlings Postkartenverlag, ca. 1910 \u00a9 Wien Museum) Postcards can feel a little [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-59609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-museums","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59609"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59609\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81444,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59609\/revisions\/81444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visitingvienna.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}