The Beauty of the Balkan Peoples

During World War I, postcards  intended for front fighters were printed in Germany and in some other countries.

Presented here is a series of postcards displaying the beauty of the Balkan peoples. The cards were published by Bahnhof  und Feldbuchhandel Gesellschaft m.b.H., Berlin S.14

We understand from the papers of second lieutenant Petko Platnikov, frontline soldier, that they had been sent to his fiancée, Tzonka Ivantcheva, on November 20, 1917. All of them were posted on the same date, and a single long message was written on their backs. No postmarks are seen. The collection of cards must have been mailed in an envelope or delivered by hand.

As mentioned in the letter, the set of postcards included six pieces:  Turkish woman (Dessin 1) ; Bulgarian woman (Dessin 2); Romanian woman (Dessin 3); Greek woman (Dessin 4); Serbian woman (Dessin 5); and Albanian woman (Dessin 6).

Dessin 5, the Serbian woman, had been lost.

The array of beauties had for a long time been marred by the absence of Number 5. Not any more.

On February 12, 2008, the Serbian woman image was kindly made available to us by Mrs. Svetlana Diakonova  who had received it from acquaintances of her acquaintances.

So, the collection throwing light on early 20th century Balkan beauty is now complete.