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!

The ghost sign on Lesia Ukrayinka Theater was recently liberated: SIECZKARNIE  KULTYWATORY MŁOCARNIE  KIERATY CHAFF-CUTTERS TILLERS THRESHERS HORSE MILLS It seems at some point this space sold farming machinery, though I haven't been able to find any details about this so uncertain when. These signs look different than the ones found on this old photograph of the building. The original post about this ghost sign can be found here . 

I recently came across this old photo from 1930 with a hand-painted sign.  The remnants of these old signs are still visible today. Lwów 1930 Głęboka 12 Lviv 2016 12 Hlyboka St.

Along with hoisting beams, anchor plates are a prominent feature of Amsterdam's building facades.

Amsterdam is beaming with hoisting beams. Previously I associated hoisting beams solely with old merchant's homes, but unlike other port cities where I've seen them, in Amsterdam they are found not only on the old canal houses, but all over the city, including on ordinary residential buildings. Due to fifteenth century planning laws, facades of buildings were built of lightweight materials with large windows to reduce weight. The smaller the width of the frontage, the lower taxes had to paid. In the seventeenth century, the city became more prosperous and thus wider, double-fronted merchant's homes sprung up.  The merchant's houses had attics and cellars which served as storage spaces for the goods that were transported by boat. Since the houses were so narrow, the stairwells were too steep and narrow, making it largely impossible to carry up goods or furniture into the home. Thus beams were attached to the gables in order to hoist up (with a pulley and rope) larg...