Floodmarks in Prague

Throughout the centuries many disastrous floods struck Prague. In particular, one such flood struck September 2-5, 1890. I came across a few memorial plaques which mark the level reached by the floodwaters. Výška vody  4. září 1890 Water level  4 September 1890

Prewar Manhole Covers in Uzhhorod

A sampling of Uzhhorod’s prewar manhole covers. Read more about Uzhhorod’s remnants of the past here and here.  

Fire Hydrants in Uzhhorod

I recently visited Uzhhorod to see the blooming sakuras. Along with the beautiful sakuras I came across quite a few remnants of Uzhhorod’s prewar past. I have a previous post about  ghost signs in Uzhhorod, so to repeat what I wrote before, Uzhhorod (Ungvár / Užhorod / Ungwar), a city in Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine), which […]

Listy: Prewar Mail Slots

Last night someone stole the antique metal mail slot from my front door and the front door of my neighbor’s apartment. Mine was old but without an inscription, while my neighbor’s had the Polish inscription “Listy” (letters). To see the empty spaces on our doors this morning was quite depressing, […]

Italian Fire Mark in Mukachevo

Riunione Adratica was an Italian insurance company specializing in fire insurance and cargo-transport insurance. The company was founded in 1838 in Trieste, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. “Almost immediately branch agencies or representative offices were opened in Athens; Budapest; Graz, Austria; Leghorn, Lugano, and Milan, Italy; Berlin; […]

Fire Marks in Stockholm

Most of the buildings in Stockholm’s Old Town are still adorned with fire marks – plaques that showed that a building was insured in case of a fire. The signs, which depict a phoenix rising from the flames, were introduced in the 1740s. In the event of a fire, the fire brigade would […]

Remnants of the Past in Klosterneuburg

Traces of the past in Klosterneuburg, an ancient town right outside of Vienna. Boot Scraper Guard Stones Hoisting Beam for Lifting Goods Building Number and Conscription Number Metal Shutter

Conscription Numbers: Vienna

Many of the old conscription numbers can still be found in Vienna, usually on plaques located inside a building’s entrance on the left-hand side near the door or above the second portal near the stairwell. House numbering was introduced in Europe in the eighteenth century (before that houses usually had […]

Antique Sinks in Vienna

Antique sinks still in their original locations seem come to hard by, be it in Lviv, Prague, Vienna, or other Habsburg cities that I’ve visited. But in Vienna I did find a couple. On the other hand, I’ve come across quite a few water pumps in these cities. Here is […]

Storm Drains and Manhole Covers in Vienna

In Vienna, at almost every step there is an old manhole cover or storm drain. Fortunately, most include a date along with the manufacturer’s mark, and this is true even for modern ones. Below are square storm drains ranging from 1896 to 1957, posted in chronological order.