Postcard of German military gunners on a zeppelin

This postcard is of German military gunners on a zeppelin and was mailed in the years preceding World War I. The postcard was sent from “A Plate” in Germany to the Findeisen family in Southeast Chicago. It was written in Old German Sutterlin script which is difficult for contemporary German-speakers to decipher. The Findeisens were a German immigrant family. Anna Nega and Linus Findeisen had emigrated from Germany in the 1880s and settled on the East Side at 10617 Mackinaw. They married in 1890 and had four sons. Linus Sr. worked at first in the steel mills; later, he and his sons set themselves up as plasterers in a family business. The family was relatively prosperous and left behind a treasure trove of striking black and white photos of Southeast Chicago from the early 20th century. These included numerous family portraits and gatherings with neighbors, as well as photographs depicting family vacations to neighboring states and a small pleasure boat the “Oro” that they used on local waterways.

At least one son of Anna and Linus, Sr. served in the U.S. military during World War I. This was Linus Findeisen, Jr. who was stationed in Texas and also left photographs of his experiences there. The Findeisen photographs were donated by one of the founders of the Southeast Chicago Historical Society, Jim Fitzgibbons, a neighbor of a branch of the Findeisen family who lived on Avenue G.