Collaboration paruspaper & ullstein bild

For over a century, ullstein bild has been collecting, documenting, and preserving authentic photography. Through buying the Stahl und Assmann printing house in Zimmerstrasse as well as the newspaper Berliner Zeitung in Berlin, Leopold Ullstein founded the flourishing publishing house in 1877. His most successful titles are the "Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung" and the "Berliner Morgenpost". His five sons added the publications „B.Z. am Mittag“, „Die grüne Post“, „Tempo“, „Die Dame“, „Der Querschnitt“ and „Uhu“, just to name a few of them. What was new, was the close collaboration between editors and photographers.

Newspapers, magazines, articles and, above all, images, were collected right from the beginning. In 1921 the Ullstein & Co. publishing house became Ullstein AG. It flourished in the following years. At the same time, printing technologies were improving. From the late 1920s onwards, the Siemens-Karolus-Telefunken apparatus enabled telegraphic image transmission via telephone cables. This decisive development made Ullstein AG the first publishing house in Germany that could acquire and sell photos worldwide. In 1929, the picture editing team received around 10,000 drawings and photographs a month. Important photographers from the Weimar Republic worked for the Ullstein titles and contributed immensely to the development of the "picture reportage"; their photographs are still stored in the in-house image archive.

The stock of photos, which had grown to several million motifs by the end of the Second World War, survived the air raids on Berlin almost unscathed. Thanks to this stroke of luck, the ullstein bild photo agency is still home to one of the world's most important collections of historical photography. paruspaper faces the amazing challenge of choosing special photo treasures in order to make them accessible to a larger audience. Published in outstanding print quality, our postcards and calendars become small works of art. These ultimately build a bridge between the fascination and attraction for everyday life in the “Roaring Twenties” to our very present day, 100 years later.

The Roaring Twenties

With the economic boom in the 1920s, a new attitude towards life manifested itself, especially in Europe and the USA. To this day, the "Roaring Twenties" stand for social upheaval, extravagant leisure activities and artistic experimentation. Music and dance were particularly part of the lifestyle of this time. The Charleston became the most popular fashion dance in Germany and Jazz met the pulse of the time. Revues, cabarets, and dance halls were shooting up like mushrooms in the big cities.

With the diverse cultural and literary life of the Weimar Republic, a new self-confidence was emerging. Berlin, as a cultural metropolis with the highest density of publishing houses, theatres, and cafés, exerted a great attraction. Sports captivated a mass audience. Hundreds of thousands flocked to the stadiums to watch soccer. Bike and car races as well as boxing events delighted huge crowds. Airships, planes, cruise liners, and automobiles invited you to travel. The new medium of broadcasting began its advance in 1923, and cinema, like the print media, experienced an unstoppable upswing.

At the end of the 1920s there were more illustrated newspapers and magazines in Germany than anywhere else in the world. These ultimately became the leading opinion-forming medium. Photography was a means of explaining and making news and contexts known to a broad audience. Innovations in photo technology allowed for more creativity, aesthetic possibilities, and unfamiliar perspectives. In particular, the development of 35mm cameras with their bright lenses and highly sensitive film material brought completely new photographic possibilities.

Our postcard edition "The Roaring Twenties"

Historical photographs are fun as well as emotional and can bring memories to life. Further, they are always surrounded by a special magic.

In cooperation with ullstein bild, we offer a unique edition from one single source - an aesthetic overall picture and contemporary document - but in turn diverse and varied in detail. Have you already discovered your favourite card?

The edition unites the various photographic facets of the “Roaring Twenties” - both stylistically and thematically. Fashion, street life, leisure activities and technical innovations as well as sports, nightlife and curious and humorous things are to be discovered.

The fascinating motifs are partly from well-known photographers and studios such as Madame d'Ora (Dora Kallmus), Yva (Else Neuländer-Simon) , Martin Munkácsi, Atelier Balasz, Imre von Santho, Max Schirner, Robert Sennecke, Friedrich Seidenstücker, Elli Marcus, Gebrüder Haeckel, and the Atelier Binder and others.

Look forward around 250 postcard motifs, including a selection for Christmas and the winter season. Assorted postcard sets are also available.

The edition is available exclusively from paruspaper.