I acquired this historical postcard, and I can't decipher the occasion, nor location. Can you help? The clues are fascinating!
Here is the card:
The back is completely blank (no publisher, no postcard imprint), so that's no help.
Now here are the (seemingly contradictory) clues:
Legend, lower right:
Clearly German, date July 22, 1928
lots of US flags:
But check out this sign (upper right corner):
Guys that look like police, but are wearing swords (did police dress uniforms ever include swords?)
How about the statue? Anybody recognize it?
What about the arm-bands?
If you feel like poring over the original 1200 dpi image, copy and paste this into your browser (I intentionally did not make this a link, because it is about 4.5MB in size).
re: Help solve a historical riddle - real photo postcard
Nice find Roy!
The Admiral Tegetthoff monument is at the Praterstern road junction at the end of Praterstrasse.
I found this quote relating to the street in the German Wikipedia:
Am 22. Juli 1928 zog ein riesiger Festzug des 10. Deutschen Sängerbundfestes von Rathaus und Ring durch die Praterstraße in den Prater. Am Festzug sollen rund 150.000 Menschen beteiligt gewesen sein.
Google Translate gives:
"On July 22, 1928, a huge pageant of the 10th German Association of Singers moved from Rathaus and Ring through Praterstrasse to Prater. Around 150,000 people are said to have been involved in the pageant."
I guess a visit by German singers from the USA would fit in nicely with such an event.
re: Help solve a historical riddle - real photo postcard
It also explains the musical clef shown in the diamond-shaped mark shown with the date.
The New York Times ran an article the following day with the headline:
GERMAN SINGERS PARADE IN VIENNA; March of 200,000 Members of Choral Societies Is Greatest Since the War. SOUTH TYROL IS MOURNED Franz Schubert and Andreas Hofer Are Honored in Floats and Banners of Societies.
I'm not NYT subscriber, so I can't get past their paywall.