Written on 17 September 1916 to Ms. Franciszka Strozynska in Albertshof by Municipality Rüdnitz in Upper Barmin.
Postmarked the next day on 18 September 1916 in Weissenburg, Elsass (now Weissembourg, Alsace) sometime between 12 and 1 in the afternoon.
And the postcard is from:
Füchler Foto-Werkstätte u. Handlung, Weißenburg i.Elsass
Fernruf Nr. 25 Barfüßerstraße 35a
A version which is not overly compressed in the chroma channels could help. For example, here is LCH’s C channel:
Similarly, LAB’s B channel:
Converted to linear light in the Gimp. Channel mixing to mono: boost red, reduce blue, drop green to remove most of the blots; then sharpened.
In linear light mode, the sRGB curve (‘gamma’) is undone. It can be useful when processing. See PIXLS.US - Darktable 3:RGB or Lab? Which Modules? Help!
Sorry for the delay in replying. I put a 16 bit tif file in the first message.
Thank you very much for your work in reaching the content of the message.
Interesting.
Franciszka Stróżyńska is a Polish name, and Poland had to wait another two years to return to the World’s map in 1918.
I wonder what kind of story this postcard holds.
Also: During the years, Alsace/Elsass sometimes belonged to France, sometimes to Germany…
Thank you, @kofa!
That was a nice trick 
Your result was much better than my own meager attempts 
Have fun!
Claes in Lund, Sweden
Probably one of the soldiers is the author of the text on the reverse. I don’t know the answers to the other questions.
My brother has been building a family tree and collecting family heirlooms for many years. This photo is one of many whose story I am trying to find out.
@anon42681393
Feldzug 1914-1916 = war expedition 1914-1916
Stube 15 = Barracks/room 15
IA(?) 60 = no idea
Maybe IR = Infanterie Regiment? But not sure.
Yes, perhaps Infanterie Abteilung…
But @apostel338 is right. it could as well be “IR”…
Hand-written Fraktur can be a bit tricky.
I guess the salutation is “Liebe Schwester” (Dear sister), which probably gives a hint about the relationship of sender and recipient.
I would like to second kofa:
The 60 is in reference to the German Empire XXI Army Corps 31st Division, 62nd Infantry Brigade’s 7th Brandenburg 60th Infantry garrisoned at Weißenburg since 1860.
@Claes This is Prussia at the last vestiges of “Greater Poland” and anti-nationalist leadership under the von Baden administration, a prince who became president. These local training units fed the Eastern Front in defense of Poland and by extension, Greater Poland, from the invading forces.
I don’t think so:
The first letter looks like a V to me. Or is that old calligraphy?
I’m attaching a darktable sidecar; I think playing with the color balance rgb grey coefficients and the rgb levels give different compromises, some better for some areas, others for others.
I’ve masked the sharpening (diffuse or sharpen) based on brightness (to avoid amplifying the details of the paper), so if changing the color balance rgb coefficients (or exposure) alters the brightness, that will have to be adjusted.
out3127.tif.xmp (7.9 KB)
