Beginning in their very first year of marriage, 1900, Berlin couple Richard and Anna Wagner made it a tradition to take an annual photo in front of their Christmas tree. Just like today, they would send the photo out to friends and family in the form of a holiday greeting.
For 42 years, the couple posed in front of the tree, creating an elegant visual story over a lengthy period. As the years progress, viewers can see signs of the changing times: in 1915, a map in the background signifies the ongoing war; overcoats and a note in 1917 indicate a lack of coal for heat during the winter; and the presence of an electric vacuum cleaner in 1927 serves as evidence that the couple installed electricity into their home.
Their last photograph together was in 1942. Anna died three years later and Richard died shortly before Christmas in 1950. The memory of their love lives on through this extensive series that was located in an attic in the former East Berlin and published a half century after the couple took their last photograph.
via [Twisted Sifter]