One Day In Bad Nauheim – March 1959

By Bob Pakes
 
 
A lot of photos from this day exist in beautiful full-color. But some of the March ’59 pics are ‘only’ in black and white. And regretfully, these pics have been copied and cropped so often over the years, one really wonders how incredible the original full-color pics must have looked like!
 
Maybe not all photos were actually shot in color? And how about any indoor-shots? 19 different photos are presented in this topic. But do more exist? Probably.
 
Due to the fact that both RCA and Elvis’ management used the ‘production’ of this day for various official releases/occasions, one would assume the shoot would have been well-documented. But this is not the case. The photographer and the exact date of the shoot are unknown. Even though photo-shoots were quite uncommon during the army-years, not much is known about these unique photos.
 
I have taken the best possible photos and collected them in this topic. But if you feel you can add more info or pics of better quality, PLEASE do so! Danke schön.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

On this map of the Bad Nauheim citycentre, the locations have been marked where most of the shooting took place:
 
1. The old gate / ‘Burgpforte’
2. The restaurant / ‘Gasthaus Zur Krone’
3. The church / ‘Dankeskirche’
4. Bridge nr. 1
5. Bridge nr. 2
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

LOCATION NUMBER 1

Let’s start our tour of Bad Nauheim with it’s most famous Elvis-location: the Burgpforte.
 
Here we have Elvis posing in front of the arch, with his back against the wall, and looking straight ahead.
In the background we see a woman walking towards the arch. A couple is approaching her.

 

A few seconds later. The woman has passed the couple, and Elvis is now looking into the camera.

 

Once again, a few moments later. Elvis in about the same postion, but this time there are no people in the background.

This pic is scanned from the book:
A Date With Elvis

 
 
 
 
 
 
The Vik bootleg-label released an EP, Soldier Boy, with a cover that is a bit less cropped on the left:
 

 

A slightly different pose, with his shoulder now leaning against the wall. Underneath the arch we can see some (different) people who are about to cross the street.
 
 
This of course, is the famous photo that was used for the cover of the A Big Hunk O’ Love single (in the USA and Australia) and EP (from Germany). It was also used by RCA Japan as the cover for their Stuck On You single release.
 

 

Only moments later. The three people have nearly crossed the street, and Elvis is now looking up.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

LOCATION NUMBER 2

Just around the corner of the Burgpforte, in the Burgstrasse, is the restaurant (Gasthaus Zur Krone) that Elvis is passing here. Elvis is walking in the direction of the Borgforte, so one can assume this photo was taken a bit earlier.

This pic is scanned from the book:
Like Any Other Soldier

 
The restaurant is still in the exact same style as it was in 1959. The photo below was taken during my visit to Bad Nauheim in september 2012.
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

LOCATION NUMBER 3

These photos were taken in front of the church, the Dankeskirche.

 

 

In this photo Elvis appears to be looking at a different photographer.
Take a look at the ’59 Christmas card (below), in the shot with the horses Elvis is again looking in a different direction.

 

From the same location, in front of the church: the Lord is my German Shepherd.
 
At first glance this appears to be an excellent quality picture, but a closer look learns us that his uniform suddenly turned from green to blue …

 

 

This pic is scanned from the book:
Private Presley

 

In nearly all of the March ’59 pictures, Bad Nauheim seems to be quite deserted. However, in this pic (and also on the first bridge) we can see a small ‘audience’.
 
Bad Nauheim was a quiet and tiny town when Elvis lived there. But the lack of people, as well as the well-dressed locals that can be seen in the pictures, fuel the thought that the day of the shoot could have been a sundaymorning.
 
Vernon Presley is standing next to his son.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

The Christmas card that was sent out in 1959 on behalf of The Colonel and Elvis.
 
It’s interesting to notice that the two pics used for this card both show Elvis in a slightly different pose compared to the ones posted in this article.
 
“Holiday Greetings To You All From Elvis And The Colonel”

 

47 years later (in 2006) EPE revived the ’59 Christmas spirit by sending out that year’s wishes in the same style.
The back- and frontcover of the CD Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees are shown here.
 
“Holiday Greetings To You From Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.”

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

LOCATION NUMBER 4

Elvis on the first of two bridges he posed on that day.

 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

LOCATION NUMBER 5

On the second bridge.
 
In the backgorund we can see the ‘first bridge’.

 

This is the same photo, in a lesser quality, but also less heavily cropped.
 
 
The excellent Greetings From Germany bootleg (another release on the Vik label) caused quite an uproar when it was released in 1998.
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

As noted, some of the pics in this article were scanned from these wonderful books.