Clack!
The following selection of images are a contemporary reminiscence to this topic. Clack! opens field of narrations and brings it into an artistic context. The series found it’s conclusion 2012 in two exhibitions (
after six years and hundreds of pictures around the globe.
The 1950s had seen modest travel—explorations of the North Sea, the Black Forest, and the Bavarian Alps. A week’s respite sufficed, nights spent in tents or basic hostels. Vacation was a rarity, earned through six-day workweeks.
But the '60s heralded change. The economic miracle infused households with disposable income. Unions secured more leisure time, and the five-day workweek allowed indulgences. Vacation became a status symbol.
Guesthouses and rented rooms hosted their dreams. Slide-show evenings became forums for sharing tales of sun-kissed shores. The tide surged—13 million West Germans traveled in 1960, three million more the next year.
Italy, once a distant dream, now lay within reach. Spain replaced it as the favored destination—Mallorca, Costa Brava, Costa del Sol. Concrete hotel fortresses rose against cerulean skies.
Only a few thousand cars
per day where passing the
Gotthardpass southwards
in the 1960’s. Yearly.
In 2023 17’000 each day.
per day where passing the
Gotthardpass southwards
in the 1960’s. Yearly.
In 2023 17’000 each day.