I have a “new” album to work through, but sadly there are no names to be found other than the photographers. So, we shall explore and enjoy what we find, shan’t we. I call the album the “Leaf Album” because it appears to be decoupaged on the cover with roundish shaped leaves. At first I thought it would be a fantastic find – a handmade photo album from the 19th century! But on further consideration, I do not believe it to be antique, or at least that antique. The photo openings are modern sized and won’t hold either a CdV or a cabinet card. However, it was packed with numerous 19th century photographs.
This is one of the CdVs in the album. It is European. Vionhrady is a neighborhood of Prague, Czechoslovakia, and Weinberge is in the wine country of Germany. The two cities are between 4-5 hours apart using local roads, and apparently Fr. Poppr was a photographer in both cities. The gentleman pictured in the photo “looks” European to me. That sounds so unusual, right? Especially from an American where we have every country represented and millions of European descendants, but this man just “looks” European. I can’t explain it.
Who Were They? 
Interesting.
In German, Fr. stands for “Father”, “Brother” (as in Friar), or Mrs. (Frau). It might also be an abbreviation for his first name – such as Friedrich.
I was thinking however, Poppr is a Czech (or even Hungarian) name,
..and I found a reference that says, “Atelier František Poppr Královské Vinohrady 242, nedatováno. Rozměr fotografie 19×12,3 cm.” Now to brush up on some Czech… :)
Atelier is “artist”; František must be the “Fr.”. And then, I discovered this — “Královské Vinohrady” means “Royal Vineyards” and is a section/neighborhood of Prague. “Královské Vinohrady” translates into “Königliche Weinberge” in German. So Weinberge and Vinohrady are really the “same place” and in Prague.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinohrady
It will be interesting to see if we can develop sources of info for Europe. :)
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I’m from the Czech Republic, and i’s true: František (or Fr.) is czech equivalent for “Francis”, Poppr isn´t exactly czech surname, I thing it is instead german surname (derived from Popper). In Prague in 19th lived a lot of Germans. Vinohrady = Weinberge (neighborhood of Prague, in german translation) and yes, it’s the same place. Atelier = gallery or photo atelier (…simply a place, where František Poppr worked with his photographic camera).
Sorry for my limp English… :)
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IntenseGuy, I was just wondering about the name, too, thanks for doing that research.
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Ah yes European..I think it might be the tweed looking jacket:).
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