A 110-Year-Old Letter With a Story to Tell
On 4 November 1915, inside the Ahmednagar Prisoner-of-War Camp in India, a German architect named Hermann Glunkler penned an envelope to A. J. Combridge & Co., a bookseller in Bombay. It passed through colonial censors, across continents, and somehow survived two world wars. Exactly 110 years later, that same envelope rests safely within Timefound Archives — a tangible link between architecture, faith, and the endurance of creativity under confinement.
🎥 Watch: The Glunkler Envelope - Unboxed 110 Years Later
Filmed on the 110th anniversary of its postmark — November 4, 1915.
Who Was Hermann Glunkler?
Born 23 August 1885 in Lahr, Germany, Glunkler trained as an architect before joining the Christlicher Verein Junger Männer (YMCA). When war broke out, he was working in British India under the YMCA’s humanitarian programme, helping improve life for prisoners of war through education, libraries, and recreation.
His name appears in Harald Fischer-Tiné’s academic study The YMCA in Late Colonial India (2024), which documents the organisation’s extraordinary efforts among German internees. Glunkler’s envelope - dated and signed from Ahmednagar - provides rare physical evidence of that mission in action.
From India to Palestine to Australia
After the First World War, Glunkler returned to Germany and married Elisabeth Daub in 1920. By the mid-1920s, he was in Jerusalem, working on the design of the city’s landmark YMCA Building, still regarded as one of the architectural icons of the region.
Two decades later, fate repeated itself: in 1939, Glunkler was detained in Transjordan, transported to Australia, and interned at Tatura Camp 3. There, he returned to art — sketching camp huts and landscapes in delicate watercolour and pencil. Several of these works now belong to Victorian Collections, bearing his familiar signature: H. Glunkler.
Why the Envelope Matters
This envelope is far more than postal history. It embodies a human continuity — one man’s passage through two world wars, bound by faith and design.
- Hand-signed “Glunkler A Camp” in 1915.
- Bearing official YMCA and censor marks.
- Addressed to a known Bombay bookseller and government publisher.
It connects directly to a verifiable individual whose architectural and artistic legacy still endures — a rare bridge between colonial India, the Middle East, and wartime Australia.
From Research to Provenance
Every piece of this story was authenticated through primary records — including the Kautz Family YMCA Archives (University of Minnesota), the National Archives of Australia, and contemporary YMCA publications. Together they form a complete timeline: Lahr → Ahmednagar → Jerusalem → Tatura → Freiburg.
The full research and documentation now reside within the Timefound Archives WWI & WWII Correspondence Collection.
Legacy and Reflection
Hermann Glunkler’s life reminds us that history isn’t only written in stone — sometimes it’s sealed in paper. A single envelope, carried through empire and exile, now gives voice to an architect who built, served, and painted his way through captivity. It stands today as a testament to resilience, intellect, and the quiet endurance of human creativity.
Discover the Provenance
Read the complete Hermann Glunkler Provenance File and explore other authenticated artefacts from the Timefound Archives.
Authenticated, researched, and preserved — the 1915 Glunkler Envelope is now available for acquisition.