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Clark University
CENTERS AND INSTITUTES
Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Barry Hoffman Nazi Postcard Collection

Dürnstein in Wachau

November 7, 2023

Accession Number: 2022.02.3.4.3

Stamp: Mi: DR-AT 674, ANK:DR-AT 674

Postmark: A black circular postmark is dated 4-20-1939.  At the top of the circle it reads Wien, with a drawing of a house under it. The postmark was made as part of a celebration of Hitler’s 50th birthday along with the stamp on the right side of the postcard.

Historical background: Dürnstein is a small town on the Danube river in the Wachau valley in Austria. The area is famously known for the imprisonment of King Richard I of England in the Dürnstein castle. The river valley was designated by UNESCO as a World Cultural Landscape in 2001.

[Front]Black and white photo of Dürnstein

[Back]Back of postcard

Front

Black and white photo taken from Dürnstein Castle of the town of Dürnstein next the Danube River with mountains in the background.   A Nazi swastika is painted on a rock next to the ruins of the Dürnstein Castle.

Back

The back of the postcard is unused with two circular postmarks.  The top left corner reads, “Dürnstein in Wachau, photo from the press-image headquarters.”  The bottom left corner reads, “Rds. calendar Publishing house of the German Labor Front GmbH., Berlin”.

Post CardsPost Cards