Gezicht op Meran, gezien vanaf de Küchelberg c. 1850 - 1900

This is a stereoscopic albumen print of Meran, taken from Küchelberg, by Würthle and Spinnhirn, who were active in Salzburg. These images, popular in the late 19th century, offered viewers an immersive, almost virtual experience of distant lands. Consider the cultural context: As the Austro-Hungarian Empire expanded, photography became a tool for documenting and celebrating its reach. This view of Meran, now in Italy but then part of Austria-Hungary, speaks to the empire's desire to catalogue and control its territories. The romanticized view, devoid of the complexities of local life, presents an idealized version of Tyrolean identity, one that catered to the desires and expectations of the tourists who would have purchased these images. What does it mean to flatten a place, to render it into a consumable image? The emotional resonance of this image lies in its careful construction, presenting a world both familiar and safely distant.