Over the summer I had the pleasure of traveling to Görlitz, a city in far eastern Germany whose small size is disproportionate to its magnificence. Among the city's many architectural treasures is a department store building (Kaufhaus or Warenhaus) built in the German equivalent of the Art Nouveau style, known as Jugendstil.
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| The Görlitzer Warenhaus in the early 1950s source |
Even though the Görlitzer Warenhaus stands largely empty today, tourists may enter to catch a glimpse of the magnificent interior.
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| The Görlitzer Warenhaus today, virtually unchanged |
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| The opulent interior |
To my delight, An exhibition of fashion advertisements from the 1930s was set up in the hallway of the entrance for the visitors and passers-by to enjoy.
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| "Brochure from the KARSTADT-House in Görlitz from the 1930s" |
As we were in a bit of a hurry, and a number of tourists were trying to get past me as I took these pictures, the quality is not terribly good. I have tried to clean them up a bit and flatten out the perspective with Photoshop.
I hope you enjoy these attractive and colorful illustrations as much as I did!
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| "The joy of a vacation is enhanced with functional clothing and gear from KARSTADT Görlitz" |
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| Notice the depictions of foundation wear on the bottom: a full body corset (left) and a two girdles (right). And those hairstyles... |
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| This page includes two entertaining examples of men's loungewear |
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| Advertisements like these might be useful in dating vintage objects and accessories |
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| A full-page spread of women's fashion |
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| The sweetest children's fashions inspired in part by traditional German dress |
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| What's more boxy: the luggage or those men's shoulders? |
The Görlitzer Warenhaus is in desperate need of funding for upkeep and renovation. Fortunately an organization was recently founded by a number of concerned citizens to collect donations for the upkeep of this magnificent building. No word yet on how to contribute, but here is their webpage and address:
Bürgerinitiative Görlitzer Kaufhaus
Klosterplatz 10
02826 Görlitz
Germany
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