This postcard dates to the 1910s and documents the whaling station at Durban during the era of shore-based industrial whaling along the southern African coast.
Durban developed as a strategic port for maritime trade in the Indian Ocean, and by the early twentieth century it also supported whaling operations that processed whales brought ashore for oil and byproducts. Shore stations replaced earlier shipboard methods by concentrating cutting, rendering, and storage in fixed coastal facilities equipped with winches, rails, and boilers. These installations formed part of a global network supplying lubricants, lighting fuel, and industrial materials during a period of expanding mechanized production.
The image shows a large whale laid out on the station’s working platform while crews cut into the carcass using long-handled tools. Mechanical equipment and rails appear in the foreground, emphasizing the industrial setting rather than a shipboard scene. The printed caption reads “The Whaling Station – Durban,” and the divided back is marked “Phototyped in Dresden,” with publication credited to A. Rittenberg, Durban.
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