The Biedermeier cards originated in the mid-18th century in France but soon became popular in German and Austrian bourgeois circles. These cards, which are prints from woodcuts or copperplate etchings, are usually characterized by their inclusion of moveable elements to represent a narrative event: a simple fold-out window discloses a brief romantic poem or a pull-out handle moves part of the image to simulate an action or gesture that relates to the greeting message. In addition, the cards often feature embossing, cut-out shapes, on-lays, and collage work. There is also an example of a printed home-assembly kit of a movable card. This collection includes visiting, friendship, New Year's, birthday, and other commemorative cards of the Steinacker and Zeisberg families in Wernigerode, Germany. The cards are addressed to and from R.D. Geissler, Marie Auguste Öhlmann, Auguste Kleinau, Christian Kleinau, C.S. Lamberg, Demoiselle Steinacker (probably Johanne Henriette Helene Steinacker, later Zeisberg), Herrn Kolbe, Johanna Christiana Hecking [Stechin?], Auguste Oppermann, Christiane Aug., Christian Ludwig & Carl Wilhelm Zeisberg, and Christine Charlotte Wilhelm, among others. Carl Wilhelm Zeisberg was a German librarian and book collector who left a substantial private library.