In memoriam card

An In memoriam card[1] is a Christian devotional image that is printed on its back as a commemoration for certain events such as the receiving the sacrament of the first holy communion, the making of solemn vows, the bestowal of holy orders or the consecration of virgins, and their major anniversaries.

New Year wishes are among the oldest motifs of small devotional pictures and appear as monastic friendship gifts as early as the Middle Ages.

So-called Osterbildchen or Osterbilder ("Easter pictures") occurred for the first time at the end of the 17th century and derive from the Baroque period.

In German-speaking Catholic regions, in memoriam cards are also manufactured on the occasion of the announcement of a death in the family (called Totenbildchen, Totenzettel, in Austria also Parte), combined with the request for prayers.

Usually they are handed or sent to people who attended the Requiem Mass and the sepulture or have offered their sympathies to the family.

In memoriam card for the first holy communion of two boys in 1910. The picture shows a young knight, the imprint is a quote of Saint Paul : "Put on the full armor of God!"
Example of a German Totenzettel from Rhineland , 1885. Apart from a quote of the Book of Proverbs it contains a short summary of the major dates of the life and death of the deceased.