Tuin en woning van Willy Moos en Willy in zijn tuin (Bellevue 62), vermoedelijk 1928, Hamburg 1928

This photograph, dating from around 1928, captures the garden and house of Willy Moos at Bellevue 62, in Hamburg; its author is unknown. The image gives us a window into the life of a middle-class family in Germany during the interwar period. On the right, we see Willy Moos standing proudly outside his house, a symbol of stability in a time of great economic uncertainty. The architecture appears modern and international in style, signalling a sense of forward-looking ambition. The photograph on the left shows a garden that is carefully manicured and orderly; three neatly trimmed evergreen trees stand like sentinels in front of a flower bed that is flanked by a white wall, with more lush greenery visible in the distance. Photographs like these can reveal a lot about the aspirations and values of people who lived through momentous historical events. By studying the material culture of a period through sources like family photographs, we can learn a great deal about the social norms and cultural codes of a specific time and place.