A Postcard and a Photograph
At Home in Landscapes?

• Text zum Nachlesen

  The Postcard about the Photograph and Itself

  I am a postcard. And I learned something important from this photograph. You see, we are kept together in a shoebox. One day, the photograph asked me what I was actually showing. And I began to explain.

  I said, that was Brigitte‘s grandparents‘ inn – Brigitte is our owner. „Karl Fiebig‘s Guesthouse for Relaxation“ in Liebichau, that‘s what it was called back then, in Silesia. The place where she spent her early childhood – her home. And I was just about to start describing the „green hills and valleys“ she often mentioned – when suddenly, I noticed that the photograph looked very strange, almost unbelieving... So I paused and asked what was wrong.

  The photograph said this couldn‘t be. Her home was the „Setzer Halde“ in Geisweid. It reminded me of things Brigitte had said about that place. It was „great for playing“, all „green“, there was „lots of mud“, and that ruin of a swimming pool. And the photograph stretched itself, so I could view it as best as possible. Yes, there was a place that matched that description but it was different from what I showed – however it was still me who represented her home, I insisted on that.

  There was great excitement, but soon it gave way to our desire for clarification. So, we delved into our memories, we thought and reasoned... and ultimately concluded that Brigitte must have at least two homes. That was the only thing that seemed conclusive and sensible to us, and we agreed on that.

  Zusatzinfos

  Brigitte Lanko spent her first five years in the former Liebichau in Silesia. After the end of the Second World War, she and her family were forced to leave there and they arrived, after a long journey by car, on foot, and by train – and after various stops – in a residential barrack on the Setzer Halde in Geisweid. Other forced migrants and bombed-out families were also accommodated here. Her father had found a job at the Geisweider Eisenwerke. Today, she does not speak of a home, but of several „homes“.

  Two Landscape Paintings to the Postcard and the Photograph

  We are two landscape paintings by Johannes Christian Deiker. Our names are „Littfeld“ and „Grube Silberart bei Littfeld“, and we originate from the 19th century. We support your conclusion. We can well imagine that someone can have two or more homes.

  If it were different, we paintings would have agreed on a specific place long ago – or those who painted us. But there are so many different pictures of so many different places and regions, all of which can be viewed as home pictures. Even though certain motifs occur more frequently than others – like the idyllic landscapes we depict. Yet even gray buildings made of steel and concrete can be home for some people. It all depends on who it is, whether they get a certain feeling when thinking about the respective place – and whether they then call it that.

  Therefore, we believe that one can imagine several homes, especially for people who have lived in multiple places. We think you have done well to come to such an agreement. Both of you show one of her homes.

  Do you also consider a specific place as your home, a particular landscape, for example? Do you know this feeling? Or perhaps there are multiple places for you as well?