Introduction: When Old Photos Tell the Story of Tomorrow's City

In the near future, Traunstein will increasingly focus on formats that bring historical photographs into the present – with guided tours, open workshop dates, exhibitions, and digital participatory activities. The goal is to reinterpret the urban space together: from Maxplatz to Jacklturm to the railway viaduct. Those who participate will experience how old photos are not just memories, but also help to consciously perceive changes in the cityscape.

Program Overview: Upcoming Formats

• Guided "Time Jump" Tours: Compact city walks with comparisons of historical and current views. Stops include Maxplatz, St. Oswald Parish Church, Scheibenstraße, Bahnhofstraße, and the railway viaduct.
• Photo Exhibitions in Public Spaces: Outdoor displays at selected locations as well as an accompanying indoor presentation with large-format paired images (Then–Now) and traceable source information.
• Hands-on Workshops: Practical sessions on perspective, focal lengths, image comparison, and proper source work. Participants create their own re-photos and receive feedback on research, shooting technique, and metadata.
• Digital Activities: Planned social media challenges and online galleries where local motifs can be submitted, compared, and curated.
• Lectures & Discussion Rounds: Short talks by historians, archivists, and photography experts on sources, monument preservation, and image ethics, followed by moderated discussion.

Coming Up on the Tours: Locations and Topics

• Maxplatz: Marketplace motifs, sequences of facades, lines of sight, and market traffic over the decades.
• Jacklturm: Tower silhouette, sight lines, construction states, and iconic postcard views.
• St. Oswald Parish Church: Church square, tower and roof shapes, and cityscape-defining perspectives.
• Scheibenstraße and Bahnhofstraße: Everyday photography, shops, and changes in mobility (street space, parking, traffic management).
• Railway Viaduct: Technical icon, city panoramas, and distant views towards the Alps.

The tours connect historical image sources with current comparison shots. Brief methodological notes on image interpretation – such as eye level, focal length, cropping, retouching, and typical perspective conventions of early postcards – help to correctly classify differences and not hastily judge them as "mistakes."

Get Involved: How to Prepare for Upcoming Formats

1. Create a Motif List: Choose locations you want to compare (e.g., Maxplatz, Jacklturm, St. Oswald Parish Church, Scheibenstraße, railway viaduct).
2. Collect Sources Systematically: Research via portals and catalogs (see sources below) and save permalinks as well as all information you find (date, photographer, collection/signature, institution, license).
3. Recreate the Location: Find the historical camera position (or a safe, nearby alternative). Pay attention to a comparable angle of view, suitable focal length (often about 24–28 mm full-frame equivalent), vertical alignment, and similar lighting.
4. Document Metadata: Note the date of the new shot, exact location, viewing direction, focal length used, and the source of the historical image. This makes your work traceable and easier to find later.
5. Submit & Share: Submit your "Then–Now" pairs as part of the digital activities or bring them to workshops to review image comparisons and source information together.

Practical Guide for Re-Photos: Quality, Traceability, Fair Use

What You Should Bring

• Smartphone or camera (a compact camera is sufficient), optionally a small tripod
• Printout or screenshot of the historical motif (with source information), so you can match angle and framing on site more easily
• Note app or paper for metadata (location, viewing direction, date, special features)

How to Make Comparisons Especially Meaningful

• Same Horizon, Same Height: Many discrepancies arise from changed eye level or shifts in position by just a few meters.
• Keep Vertical Lines Straight: If possible, align the camera (or later correct moderately) – this keeps facades and towers comparable.
• Keep Context Visible: A slightly larger image section helps to make changes in the street space understandable.
• Transparency About Deviations: If a location is not accessible or safe today, a documented alternative is better than a risky photo.

Rights, Licenses, and Fair Image Use

Historical images are often subject to copyright or usage rights – even if they are available online. For exhibitions, publications, or social media posts, it should be checked in advance which license applies and how to cite correctly. For your own re-photos, personality rights (e.g., recognizable people) and property rights on private land also apply.

Accessibility, Safety, and Practical Notes

• Accessibility: Tours will, where possible, use routes with few steps, easily accessible stops, and sufficient breaks. Detailed information is usually published with the respective event announcement.
• Safety in Public Spaces: Only take photos from safe positions, pay attention to traffic, sight lines, bike paths, and no-parking zones. No photos "from the roadway" for the perfect angle.
• Weather & Equipment: Outdoor formats depend on the weather. Weatherproof clothing, non-slip shoes, and rain protection for camera/smartphone are recommended.
• Respect for Locations: Especially at churches, monuments, and cemeteries: behave quietly, avoid disruptive setups, and observe signs.

Why All This? Impact of Future Image Formats in Traunstein

• More Understanding of the City: Image comparisons make development lines visible and promote discourse on building culture, urban spaces, and everyday history.
• Participation: Citizens can contribute their own albums, finds, and memories – knowledge is expanded collectively and documented more carefully.
• Networking: Archives, museums, schools, and associations can work more closely together to make historical sources and new re-photos more accessible.
• Documentation: The comparison shots created today will become image sources of tomorrow and supplement the city's visual memory.

Digital Support and Publication

The upcoming formats will likely be digitally supported – for example, through online announcements, submission options for comparison images, and curated galleries. Guides on source citation and responsible reuse help make contributions permanently findable, avoid misunderstandings, and ensure rights are properly observed.

Sources and Planning Aids for Historical Photos of Traunstein

1. bavarikon – Search "Traunstein" — Bavaria's cultural portal, historical photos and postcards (accessed 2026-04-03)
2. Bavarian State Library – Digital Collections — Map and image holdings, online research (accessed 2026-04-03)
3. German Digital Library — Meta-search across museums and archives, permalinks (accessed 2026-04-03)
4. Archive Portal‑D — Cross-archive research on holdings (accessed 2026-04-03)
5. Monument Atlas Bavaria (BLfD) — Monument data on building and usage history (accessed 2026-04-03)
6. German National Library – Catalog: ISBN 978‑3‑95400‑040‑1 ("Zeitsprünge Traunstein") — Bibliographic record (accessed 2026-04-03)

Note: All image sources are subject to the respective license and usage conditions of the providing archives and portals.