Between the Covers

Hardcover. Oblong quarto. Measuring 12.5 “x 9.5". String-tied brown patterned cloth boards. Contains 185 black and white, sepia toned, or color photographs measuring between 3” x 2” and 8” x 6”, with captions in German. Some small tears with bumped spine ends, near fine with near fine photographs.

A photo album of Ruth Waldvogel and her family featuring various trips to places around Europe from the mid-1930s to 1956. Waldvogel was from Stuttgart, Germany where her father was a longtime city council member, according to included news clippings. The early part of the album is largely photos of tour groups with her family in various locations around Germany: Ahlbeck, Baltrum, and Berlin; Austria:Glensdorf and at Hohensalzburg Castles; and at the beach. During World War II there are only few photographs, mostly of the family, as the conflict reduced their ability to travel. Because Waldvogel was the primary photographer, she is rarely seen in the numerous photos. One of the final photos in the album is of Waldvogel’s father’s grave after he passed away in 1956, along with several photographs of cemeteries and grave stones that are particularly ornate, some of which relate to her family.

Also included are Waldvogel’s driver’s license with her picture, a small tourist guide for different attractions in Ahlbeck, and a handwritten poem titled, “My Dearest” presumably about her husband, Clifford Anders. He was an American Corporal who Waldvogel married in 1952 from Roseville, Ohio and not far from Zanesville where the couple eventually settled. Though there are some wedding pictures later in the album, again none of them are of Waldvogel or her husband, but rather other family member’s nuptials.

An interesting and aesthetically pleasing photo album of a young German woman who traveled around Europe and spent time with her family before migrating to America.

Item #419857