Filmed in the 1930s, this 16mm silent home movie (shot by an unknown American tourist) shows a visit to Europe including Holland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. If you recognize landmarks within the film, please note them in the comments as we had difficultly identifying many portions of the film.
At the beginning of the film you’ll see people in Volendam in traditional dress standing near the Zuiderzee (as it was called before it was closed off from the open sea by the Afsluitdijk in 1932). Today it’s called IJsselmeer (a ‘lake’). 00:37 – sign says: “Buttermilk by the glass”.
00:38 – Volendam – Sign says Café Restaurant Spaander, which still exists to this day. It’s a well-known establishment.
Location of this shot:
www.google.nl/maps/@52.4952737,5.0774418,3a,75y,220.73h,86.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sfNjTfNkWI_2TopDf74wxbw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
00:47 – Volendam, De Dijk. 01:05 – Sign over the door says “bread baker”. Volendam. It’s not a shop though, that’s where he lives. 01:08 – Sign on the right side, under the window, says “Gerookte paling” (smoked eel) – Well that’s what they do in Volendam, they fish for eel, they smoke and sell them.
01:30 – Visit to Holland ends here.
At 1:32 the Bristol Haus hotel is seen, in Dusseldorf, Germany.
At 1:54 we’re in Berlin on Friedrichsstrasse. At 2:28 on Wilhelmsplatz. At 1:58 a street scene is shown, with a bus visible with a large “Potsdam” sign. At 2:30, Wilhelmstrasse is shown. The building at 2:58 was the “Hochhaus am Knie”. I guess the bus he filmed at 3:24 is the one they took for their sightseeing tour. Beginning at 4:38 we see Sanssouci Palace and park with the Orangery and the New Palace. At 4:42 we’re at the Old town Square in Prague with the Jan Hus Memorial and the Church of Our Lady before Týn. At 7:38, the famous Prague astronomical clock in the capitol of Czechoslovakia is seen. At 8:20 the famous Charles Bridge is shown. At 9:53 we see the Stephansdom (St. Stephen’s Cathedral) in Vienna for a few seconds.At 10:25 thats Bratislava. At 9:47 the traveler is apparently in Vienna, as the large Jacob Rotherberger linen store is clearly shown. It was owned by Jews who were forced to sell it to non-Jewish buyers after the 1938 Anschluss. Beginning at 10:22 we see the (then) ruins of Bratislava Castle and the St. Martin’s Cathedral. The Building at 10:36 is the Reduta concert hall, today home of the Slovak Philharmonic orchestra. At 11:16 he films from Buda Castle. At 11:36 he’s at the Fisherman’s Bastion. At 11:19 the scene is Budapest, where the famous Chain Bridge can be seen. At 12:00 we see the Washington Memorial in the City Park of Budapest.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
