Vintage original 3.5 x 5.25 in. German postcard depicting the German writer, humorist, and entertainer, ERNST PETERMANN. He is depicted in a close publicity shot wearing a dark suit with a bow tie while posing in front of a dark backdrop. It was inscribed in black ink by Ernst Petermann in 1926 (see additional details below). Printed in Berlin, Germany, it is unused in very fine condition with a light diagonal mark (not a crease) on the corners from where it was inserted in the albums described below. There are no tears, stains, or other flaws.

Provenance: Approximately 8 years ago, we purchased a collection of two albums of vintage original German postcards from a rare book dealer at an antiquarian book fair in Pasadena, California (see photos). Approximately half of the postcards were signed by the respective personalities and the ones that were dated by the actors are all dated "1926." We were informed by the dealer that these photographs came from a film collector in Germany who acquired the postcards at the time they were issued and then had them signed by the respective actors when he met them in person. We are now pleased to make these vintage original postcards available to other collectors.

Ernst Petermann was a German writer, humorist, and entertainer, born on May 13, 1889 in Berlin, near Alexanderplatz . He completed a commercial apprenticeship at the German Agricultural Society and became a civil servant, later working as editorial secretary at Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. As an original humorist with self-composed lectures, he debuted even before the First World War. Petermann also led the stage name Ernst Pethke. In the 1920’s and 1930’s, Petermann worked in Berlin as a writer, playwright, and performer, and as a secretary on the radio. As a singer who occasionally also once walked in the footsteps of the legendary Otto Reutter, he recorded records at Deutsche Grammophon and Lindström's Gloria label, including the Orchestra Otto Kermbach and the Heyn Quartet . As a librettist, he worked with composers such as Emil Palm, Otto Rathke, and Joseph Snaga after 1945 and then with Raymund Muller-Marc, Hans-Arno Simon, and others together.Petermann, who as an actor mastered almost all German dialects, switched between variety, theater, and cabaret. In Berlin, he has appeared at almost all major venues such as Apollo Theater, Palace at the Zoo, Faun in the Friedrichstadt and conservatory.  His talk piece, German Heimat, a round-trip through the German dialect landscape, which he immortalized on gramophone record, had made him extremely popular. Even in the 1950’s, he wrote funny songs and many of his texts were published by IRIS-Verlag Recklinghausen. Ernst Petermann died on May 3, 1970 in Frankfurt a. M. at the age of 81 years.