Shadows of a Forgotten World

Serbia's capital changed hands dozens of times in the past few centuries: Ottoman/Austrian rule 16th–19th centuries Ottoman/Serbian rule 1804–1878 Serbian rule 1878–1914 Austro-Hungarian/Serbian rule 1914–18 Kingdom of Serbia 1918 Yugoslav Kingdom 1918–1941 Nazi/Croatian rule 1941–1944 Yugoslav Republic 1944–1991 I found some relics from Austrian rule, namely antique roller shutters made in Vienna: One made by Julius Rosenthal (I've come across shutters made by ES. Rosenthal in Vienna and Lviv - possibly same family) and another made by Joh. Anderle, examples of which can still be found in Vienna and Lviv . I wasn't able to find any information about the manhole covers, but judging by the wear and tear and fonts, I believe that many of these may date to before date to before WWII. And here's a really slick boot scraper!

"Vodovod" means "water supply" in Czech František Friedl Praha Radlická Slévárna (Radlice Foundry) Likely dates from interwar period Ústřední elektrická stanice královského hlavního města Prahy The Central Electric Station of the Royal Capital City of Prague (The power plant was built in 1898)

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 two previous posts ( ghost signs  and more ) about Uzhhorod, so t o repeat what I wrote before,  Uzhhorod  (Ungvár  /  Užhorod  /  Ungwar) , a city in Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine), which is near the borders of Slovakia and Hungary, has a multicultural history. For a long time the region around Uzhhorod was part of the Kingdom of Hungary, later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After WWI, it was annexed to Czechoslovakia. In 1938, Uzhhorod was transferred to Hungary, and in 1945 it was annexed by the Soviet Union. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, the city became a regional capital in Ukraine. Manhole Covers K Blahut "tűzcsap" means hydrant in Hungarian Demeter Ungvar Demeter Zoltan Uzhorod Fire Hydrants I came across quite a few of these around the c...

I didn't find many old manhole covers in Stockholm, and the ones that I did find were all connected to the telecommunications infrastructure, in particular, from the company Rikstelefon . This one dates from 1909 - it is similar to Swedish-made manhole cover that I found in  Riga .

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. Valve cover from 1898 Below square storm drains ranging from 1896 to 1957, posted in chronological order.

Traces of Mukachevo's Czechoslovakian past can still be found in the city. (During the interwar period, Mukachevo along with the rest of Zakarpattia (Transcarpathia) was part of Czechoslovakia.) "In 1883, Antonín Kunz (1859–1910) founded a company in Hranice [Czech Republic] for the repair and production of small farm machinery and then specialized in the production of windpumps and other pumps. The company became the largest factory for water pumps in Austria-Hungary. At the end of the 19th century, it also produced complete communal water systems (by 1912 it had done so for 1,056 towns and municipalities, as well as factories and large landowners)" (from Wikipedia ). Here's an advertisement for Antonín Kunz's company “První moravská továrna na vodovody a pumpy, Antonín Kunz v Hranicích” (The First Moravian Water Pipe and Pump Factory), which built Mukachevo’s water supply system and installed its fire hydrants in 1935. Although the headquarters o...

To continue my last post on Przemysl... Here's a new  ghost sign ! as well as some more manhole covers an old fence with the manufacturer's name and boot scrapers!