Date of use : 1956, Switzerland

Photohaus Hagenbach Business Stationery

This postal card sent from the city of Bern provides an informative example of the relationship between photographic commerce and the postal system in Switzerland. The printed heading on the left side clearly identifies the sender as Photohaus Hagenbach, a photographic business operating in Bern. The printed address indicates the company's main location at Waisenhausplatz 4 while also listing a branch and laboratory building situated in the Kirchenfeld district at Thunstrasse 23. The presence of telephone numbers on the printed heading suggests that the business functioned not only as a photographic studio but also as a commercial enterprise offering a range of photographic services.

Photohaus Hagenbach was most likely one of the established photographic retailers operating in Bern during the mid-twentieth century. In Switzerland, photographic shops typically served multiple roles within the photographic economy. They often combined retail sales of cameras and photographic materials with professional services such as film development, photographic printing, and technical consultation. The reference to a laboratory building on the printed heading indicates that the Hagenbach business possessed the technical infrastructure required to process photographic films and produce photographic prints within its own facilities.

The recipient of the card is identified as Gottfried Frei, located in the city of Winterthur in Switzerland. The address includes the name "Nadar," which may refer to the name of a photographic studio or business. The name Nadar had become widely associated with portrait photography and was occasionally adopted by photographic studios as a commercial name. This suggests that Gottfried Frei may have been a photographer or an individual connected with a photographic business operating in Winterthur.

Record Information

Title: Photohaus Hagenbach Business Postcard (Bern to Winterthur)

Category: Photographic Studios / Commercial Correspondence

Subcategory: Swiss Photographic Retailers / Regional Business Networks

Country: Switzerland (Sender: Bern) → Switzerland (Recipient: Winterthur)

City: Bern (Sender: Photohaus Hagenbach) → Winterthur (Recipient: Gottfried Frei / Nadar Studio)

Date of use: 1956

Company (Sender): Photohaus Hagenbach, Waisenhausplatz 4, Bern, Switzerland. A photographic business with a branch and laboratory at Thunstrasse 23, Kirchenfeld district, Bern. Operated as a photographic retailer offering camera sales, film development, photographic printing, and technical consultation.

Object Type: Commercial postcard (business correspondence)

Postal Features: Swiss postage stamp; Bern postal cancellation (1956).

Language: German

Material: Paper (postcard stock)

Dimensions: Standard postcard format

Collection Theme: Photohaus Hagenbach, Bern photography, Waisenhausplatz, Kirchenfeld district, Swiss photographic retailers, laboratory services, Gottfried Frei, Winterthur, Nadar studio, Swiss postal history, 1950s photography trade, regional business correspondence.

Archival Significance: This 1956 postcard documents a Swiss photographic business (Photohaus Hagenbach in Bern) with its own laboratory facilities, illustrating the integrated retail and service model of mid-twentieth-century photographic dealers in Switzerland and their regional commercial networks.

Research Note:

This article is based on historical research and independent analysis of the material in the author's collection. The text has been prepared as an original interpretative study and does not reproduce copyrighted material.

This item is documented as part of the Photography in Postal History research project.
For research context, see the Research Methodology.
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