A series of coded postcards from the early 20th century
In 1900 and 1901, the lovers August Frieß and Gretle Kottler sent each other six coded postcards. Can a reader decipher them?
Encrypted postcards are traditionally one of my favorite topics on Cipherbrain. It is especially exciting, of course, when you have to deal with a whole series of such cards. In the last years I could present some of them:
- Without a doubt, the most spectacular crypto-postcard series I’ve come across so far was written by the Austrian musician Josef Fröwis. A century ago, he sent no fewer than 44 encrypted love messages to his beloved. One card looks more beautiful than the other.
Quelle/Source: Bregenzerwald Archiv
- The clear number two also comes from a musician: Albert Pohrt sent a total of 35 secret messages from Berlin to his lady of the heart between 1891 and 1900.
Quelle/Source: Wieser
- In 3rd place, I would rank a series of 12 cards that Tobias Schrödel provided me with. Here, too, a young man in love has done a great job.
Quelle/Source: Schrödel
- Rank 4 is a series from the Czech Republic sent to me by Jan Pulkrábek. Once again it’s about a young couple in love, but this time the cards go both ways.
Quelle/Source: Pulkrábek
A series from Germany
During my wanderings through the internet I came across another beautiful series of encoded postcards. I would rank it as the 5th most beautiful series.
I found this treasure on the website of Avaluer, a service provider that determines the value of antiques. Once again, it is about the exchange of messages between two young lovers. Similar to the Czech cards, the love messages were sent both ways – this is rare.
Gretle to August (1900-08-23)
The first card goes to an August Frieß (I hope I read the name correctly) on Duglasstraße in Karlsruhe. This street is called “Douglasstraße” today. I know it because I lived only about a kilometer from it when I was a student.
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
The sender, as we will learn, was a Gretle Kottler from Beuren near Nürtingen. Here is the coded text she sent:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
August to Gretle (1900-09-04)
A good ten days later, August replied from Stuttgart with the following card:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
August also encoded his message:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
Gretle to August (1900-10-29)
The third letter was sent to August again:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
Again with a secret message:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
August to Gretle (1900-11-16)
In Novemeber, August got back in touch:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
And again he reported in code:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
Gretle to August (1901-02-07)
In the new year, it was Gretle’s turn again:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
With the following content:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
August to Gretle (1901-04-05)
The last card went again from August in Stuttgart to Gretle in Nürtingen:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
As before, the two corresponded in code:
Quelle/Source: Avaluer
The encryption
As far as I can see, the encryption is pretty easy to solve. So if you are looking for a cryptanalytic sense of achievement, you might find it here. I hope we succeed in bringing this 120-year-old correspondence back to life.
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Further reading: An encrypted postcard written with a typewriter
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