Provenance: Kristian (“Kristen”) Peter Albertsen (1894–1977) and subsequently family. Kristen was born in Marstal on the Danish island Ærø and worked for “Store Nordiske”, the Great Nordic communications company from 1912. He was stationed in London and Petrograd, but moved to Asia in 1917. He worked for Great Nordic in Shanghai, Nagasaki and Chefoo. On the 11 of july 1918 he was attached to the Chinese Imperial Telegraph Administration. In his time with the company, Kristen worked as a superintendent with the reestablishment of the telegraphline in Mongolia, to ensure the line could be set up again between Peking and Kyakhta (Russia), after damage to the telegraphline. His, and many Chinese and Mongolian people's work to restablish the line went on in the years 1921 to 1923. Kristen was in Urga (Ulan Bator) when the Baron von Ungern-Sternberg took the city on the 3rd of february 1921, initiating a violent period dominated by warlords, crime and great political unrest. Kristen returned to Great Nordic on the 1st of may 1927, where he was appointed telegraph manager of Peking two years later. He settled there with his wife Karen Jørgesen (married 1923). She returned to Denmark with their, at the time, two children in march 1932. Kristen finished up his work in China before returning to Denmark in 1933.

Photo: From the house in Peking