In the Olk passage, which connects Kaiserstraße (next to house number 43) with the Schmelzer parking lot and Poststraße, there is a new display case. It was financed by a citizen who wishes to remain anonymous and shows pictures from the rich photo collection of the city archive. "We have about 150,000 digitized photos and 100,000 paper photos with motifs from St. Ingbert in the archive. This is a treasure that we would like to show the citizens," explains the head of the city archive, Dr. Heidemarie Ertle.
To begin with, she and Peter Klaus, as head of the photo archive, have selected a colorful mix of interesting historical views of St. Ingbert, including a taxi stand at the old swimming pool, a photo of the mountain chapel from 1908, a depiction of the Otto Kaiser machine factory at the Leipzig Trade Fair, the Hotel zur Post next to the old church from 1937, and many more. Not all photos have a known date of capture, but the oldest of the currently presented photos dates back to 1888.
“In this showcase to the city archive, old places are brought back to life,” says Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer with great enthusiasm and wonders whether the railway tracks in one of the photos can still be found at this location today. “Many citizens will recognize themselves or their ancestors in these photos,” notes local head Irene Kaiser. It becomes clear: The archive is not a dusty place but living history that the people of St. Ingbert can now admire in the passage. “We also hope to engage young people who are interested in seeing what their hometown looked like many years ago,” emphasizes Peter Klaus.
The photos in the illuminated showcase are replaced every six to eight weeks. While the range of choices is still broad now, future exhibitions will have a thematic or seasonal focus. The planned themes are approximately as follows (subject to change): "Celebrating Festivals" (July), "Leisure and Swimming" (August), "Schools" (for the start of the school year in September), "Ingobertus Fair and St. Ingbert Companies" (October), "All Saints' Day and St. Martin" (November), and "St. Barbara Celebration and Christmas" (December).
For future walks through the pedestrian zone, it is therefore worth taking a look at the history of St. Ingbert in the Olk Passage. Many thanks to the anonymous donor!
More photos and stories can also be viewed on the internet under the keyword "News from Yesterday" at www.st-ingbert.de/kultur/stadtarchiv.html.
