Mrs. Wien Ensminger (Ida) lived in Manheim, the pretty town in Lancaster County of southeast Pennsylvania.
In the Colonial Era, a German immigrant (styled “Baron Stiegel”) from Cologne, established an iron works and a renowned glass-making business here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manheim,_Pennsylvania
In July of 1928, Ida received a postcard from Susie.
The postcard was mailed from Vienna the beautiful capital of Austria and the erstwhile seat of the Hapsburg Empire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna
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The face of the postcard is a photograph of a fountain in the parks and gardens surrounding Schloss Schonbrunn (I cannot add the umlaut).
This magnificent structure, containing more than 1400 rooms, is one of the most important historic, cultural, and architectural treasures of the Austrian Republic.
The postcard photograph was printed and published in Vienna.
The initial construction of Schobrunn was begun by Holy Roman Emperor, Maximillian II in 1569 when an area at a bend of the Wien River was developed as a hunting lodge and game preserve.
There were several stages in the evolution of the estate into a Summer Palace – including the addition of formal gardens, ornamental buildings, conservatories, an orangery, and the reflecting pools and fountains.
Empress Maria Theresa completed the enormous Baroque Palace between 1740 and 1760.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sch%C3%B6nbrunn_Palace
Today, a national trust maintains the property as a museum, art gallery, concert venue, and site for important State occasions.
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On the reverse, Susie greets “Dear Ida” and reports that she is “having a wonderful trip”.
Susie’s party has “just returned from a visit to the palace at Schonbrunn.”
The “most lovely gardens” seem to have attracted the highest admiration.
Earlier in the trip, the tour group was “much entertained in Prague with garden parties and banquets.”.
Additionally, “the art exhibits were most interesting and instructive”.
I am not sure how to interpret Susie’s final line, “All seems going fine at home” – it may be a reference to a letter from her family.
The message was sent with “Much Love”.
Ida preserved the postcard inn very good condition throughout her life (she died in January of 1936).
One hopes that Susie continued to enjoy her tour and that she returned safely to her home.
RESEARCH NOTE
On August 30, 1858, Wien Augustus Ensminger was born in Manheim, PA.
He was the son of John Michael Ensminger (1825-1899) and Elizabeth Baker (1829-1907).
Wien was the fifth of 6 children; he had three brothers and two sisters – although one brother, Emmanuel Baker Ensminger, died at age 14.
On August 28 of 1859, when he was almost one year old, Wien was christened at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Manheim.
Wien resided in Manheim his entire life.
Sometime around 1880, Wien married Mary Alice Erb (1860-1896).
The couple had four children, two girls and two boys, but only two reached adulthood.
A year after the death of Mary Alice, Wien married Ida Amelia Kline (1860-1936),
Ida had been married to Clayton H. Reist (1853-1896) who died about the same time that Wien lost Mary Alice.
(Ida is the recipient of the postcard from Vienna)
Wien and Ida had no children.
Wien died in Manheim in December of 1931, and Ida died in Manheim in January of 1936.
Wien, with his first wife and their children who died in childhood, along with Ida who had survived him – are all buried in an Ensminger family plot within Fairview Cemetery in Manheim, PA.
One large stone marks the plot, and small stones mark the graves of each individual.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124576249/wien_augustus-ensminger
