8 old postcards from Lake Balaton – holidays in Hungary, as they once were

Sometimes history begins with a sentence like: "Greetings from Lake Balaton."

Marion Schanné in Hungary 2026. August 9.

When these postcards were bought, probably no one thought that decades later someone would meticulously examine the cars in front of a hotel, the tents among the trees, or the interior of a restaurant. The cards were meant to show holidays. Today, they also show how much holidays, places, and everyday life have changed.

The eight cards in this article are from our current stock. They are concrete originals – not sample images. Some were actually sent, others remained blank. On the corresponding product pages, we show both the front and back.

Anyone generally interested in such items can find more old postcards from Hungary with us.

What do eight old postcards from Lake Balaton tell us?

They tell astonishingly little about major historical events – and precisely because of that, astonishingly much about their time. What can be seen are holiday hotels, camping, gastronomy, road traffic, tourist accommodations, and Lake Balaton itself. On the backs, people are added: handwritten greetings, addresses, stamps, and postmarks. Thus, each sent card connects a specific place in Hungary with an actual recipient and a real postal route.

Balatonföldvár: Hotel Festival, Sailboats and Camping

On this multi-view card from Balatonföldvár on Lake Balaton, it was apparently not necessary to decide which holiday motif was the most important. So several were put on the card at once.

Hotel Festival takes up a lot of space. Next to it, you can see sailboats, a campsite, and restaurants. Together, it's not just a single postcard motif, but almost a small holiday program.

Today, it's the incidental details that catch the eye: the vehicles in front of the hotel, the design of the complex, the campsite, and the furnishings. What was once naturally part of the image has now become part of the card's historical statement.

This copy was actually sent. The back, with handwriting, franking, and address, turns the printed multi-view card into an individual piece of postal history.

View sent postcard Balatonföldvár – Hotel Festival

Camping on Lake Balaton: Holidays among Tents and Trees

The major landmark is completely missing here. And that's precisely what makes the photo interesting.

Tents stand between trees. Behind them begins Lake Balaton, also called Plattensee in German. The view does not show a representative Hungary, but rather everyday holiday life: camping, nature, and just a few steps to the water.

On the back, the holiday scene gets a specific route. The card was sent, handwritten, and stamped with Hungarian stamps. It was addressed to Dresden in what was then East Germany. Printed on it is also the greeting "Greetings from Lake Balaton".

The front and back therefore tell two different stories: the front, what a holiday on Lake Balaton could look like – the back, where the memory of it was sent.

View old postcard Balaton – Campsite on the Lake

Siófok: Hotel Venus as a holiday greeting

The Hotel Venus in Siófok is not alone on this card. Trees, garden grounds, a water basin, and the vehicles parked in front of the building are also part of the scene.

It is precisely such hotel cards that change their impact over time. When they were created, they showed an accommodation and its surroundings. Decades later, one also looks at the architecture, the outdoor facilities, and the vehicles.

The back prevents the motif from becoming an anonymous historical photograph. This card was written and sent to a recipient in Saarbrücken. The hotel picture thus becomes an actually sent holiday memory between Siófok and Germany.

View sent postcard Siófok – Hotel Venus

Balatonföldvár: the Kukorica Csárda with an unmissable lettering

With this card, you immediately know what it's about. The large yellow and red lettering "Kukorica Csárda" dominates the motif.

Behind it, the thatched building extends with its outdoor area. This not only shows Balatonföldvár, but also gastronomy as part of the holiday experience.

The back is particularly interesting because there is nothing personal to be found there. The card is unsent and completely blank. Printed are the location and motif details, and the former price of 1.50 Forint is also visible.

It thus shows the other side of old postcards: some were written, stamped, and sent. Others remained exactly in the condition in which they were once sold.

View unsent postcard Balatonföldvár – Kukorica Csárda

Keszthely: restaurant, street and cars instead of postcard idyll

Perhaps this card is a good example of why old postcards can become more interesting with age.

What is shown is not a spectacular panorama, but Keszthely in everyday life: a restaurant, a street, vehicles, trees, and buildings.

Yet, precisely within this lies a wealth of information today. Streets are rebuilt, buildings changed, vehicles disappear, and uses shift. A photograph originally intended to simply convey a contemporary impression thus becomes a comparative image with the present.

The card is unsent and blank on the back. It bears "Keszthely" and the motif description "Étterem / Restaurant" among other things.

Sometimes, an ordinary street decades later tells more about a place than a meticulously staged landmark.

View old street view of Keszthely with restaurant

Keszthely: nine black and white views on one card

A single picture was not enough here. This old multi-view card from Keszthely combines nine different views.

Buildings, green spaces, aerial view, waterfront and other city motifs together form a small tour. In the middle, the place name Keszthely is prominently displayed.

From today's perspective, the black and white design appears decidedly historical. Crucial here, however, is also the reverse side: The card was handwritten, franked and sent to Radeberg in the then GDR.

On the front, nine printed views stand side by side. On the back, the story of this particular copy begins.

View sent black and white multi-view card Keszthely

Balatonkeresztúr: everyday life in front of the Tourist House

The building is the actual motif. Nevertheless, it is the people in front of it that give this view from Balatonkeresztúr its character.

A small group stands on the lawn in front of the Tourist House. Thus, an architectural view also becomes a scene from daily travel life of that time.

This card also remained unsent. On the blank back, you'll find the place name Balatonkeresztúr as well as the designations "Túristaház", "Touristenhaus" and "Hostel". The former selling price of 1.50 Forint is also printed on it.

No handwriting, no postmark, no stamp – but the card in its original, unused form.

View unsent postcard Balatonkeresztúr – Tourist House

Balaton and Badacsony: when the landscape itself is the motif

After hotels, campsites, restaurants, and streets, the last card offers a sense of tranquility.

People stand right by the water. Before them lies Lake Balaton, and on the horizon rises Badacsony.

The motif hardly needs any other ingredients. Lake, shore, and landscape are enough.

However, the back also makes this card an individual piece. It was handwritten and sent to Trier in what was then West Germany. Printed on it is the greeting "Greetings from Lake Balaton".

Thus, this copy combines a classic landscape motif from Lake Balaton with a concrete postal route from Hungary to Germany.

View sent Balaton postcard with Badacsony

Why Front and Back Belong Together

The front of an old postcard shows what a publisher or photographer deemed worthy of display. The back, on a sent card, shows something entirely different: what actually happened to that particular copy afterward.

With these eight cards, the difference is particularly clear. Five were sent. They bear handwriting, addresses, franking, or postmarks. Three remained unsent and blank.

Precisely for this reason, it is always worth looking at both sides of old postcards. Two cards with identical fronts can tell two completely different stories through their backs.

Eight postcards – and suddenly an ordinary holiday becomes historical

None of these cards were intended to appear "historical" when they were created.

A hotel was simply a hotel. The cars in front of it were ordinary vehicles. The tents at the campsite were part of the holiday. A restaurant in Keszthely was initially just a restaurant.

Only time changes the perspective.

Suddenly, architecture, streetscape, vehicles, signage, accommodations, and even the design of a card's reverse side become interesting. For sent copies, personal messages and real postal routes are added.

This is precisely the charm of these eight old postcards from Lake Balaton: They not only show Hungary as it should appear on a postcard. They preserve small snippets of an everyday life that was commonplace then and has now become history.