Post: #1

Since I started participating on this board I have come across many threads which mentioned Nazi Germany and how the country was irrevocably changed post-WW2. What may surprise many of you however, and which is something I have told many of my own friends in the past, is how damn beautiful Germany used to be before it got bombed into oblivion by the Allied Forces. Here are a few pictures - the original article (in German) can be found here.



Nürnberg



Freiburg



Köln (Cologne) still featuring a provisional Rheinbrücke.



City hall in Wernigrode.

Quite frankly looking at these pictures deeply saddens me. All the 'progress' we pride ourselves of in the past 100+ years - and look at our cities now. Ugly, dehumanized, and rapidly filling with hordes of foreign invaders raping and pillaging without facing resistance.

Post: #2

If you were transported back to those times you would be struck by the smell of burning coal and soot everywhere, as well as the raw sewage in the rivers, and mud everywhere after it rained.

Post: #3

I heard regular houses are beautiful there. The first thing germans told me here was 'american houses are so cheap looking' and I keep hearing this from them for some reason.

Post: #4

Is this really so different from what is in Germany today?

Post: #5

(01-16-2016 10:25 AM)storm Wrote:  Is this really so different from what is in Germany today?

The major cities were flattened in WW2, and a lot of the rebuilding ended up being Modern architecture. So while you still have some old cathedrals and such that were rebuilt, most of the buildings inbetween those old buildings are exceedingly ugly. Prior to WW2 German cities would have looked a lot like Prague, which was spared heavy bombardment.

People forget that the main strategic aim of both sides in WW2 was killing as many civilians as possible in order to harm the enemy's industrial capacity. Even after the war for decades nuclear weaponry was specifically designed for annihilating civilian populations, focusing on thermonuclear weapons with city-sized blast radii.

Post: #6

Germany today:




Germany circa 2020:

Post: #7

Yeah, I still find Germany to be a beautiful country.

I'm Here.

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #8

delete

Post: #9

   

Downtown area in Würzburg.
Those flags did create a great outrage. It was anniversary of the turkish guest workers and they put those flags all over German cities. Those that could see did know already back then what direction Germany will go.

There are not many cities left that escaped the bombing terror. Konstanz is one but most cities had been rebuild.

Post: #10

A good portion of southern Germany escaped allied bombing, so Stuttgart and Munich are supposed to be well preserved.

Post: #11

The normal buildings are really ugly. Before the war most buildings were build with attention to detail. After this wasn't possible. But some places are still nice like the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, the cathedral of cologne, the town hall in Hamburg and many more.

Today Heidelberg is considered a beautiful city. Before the war it wasn't considered special.

Post: #12

Meh. Buildings can and always have been rebuilt. But a people cannot be rebuilt once they are demographically tarnished. It's not hyperbole to say that the bitch Merkel did more damage to Germany in 2015 alone than the allied air forces did in 5 years.

Post: #13

(01-16-2016 10:23 AM)aSimpNamedBrokeback Wrote:  If you were transported back to those times you would be struck by the smell of burning coal and soot everywhere, as well as the raw sewage in the rivers, and mud everywhere after it rained.

The smog from coal fires/industry would probably have been immense. This is likely the reason for the dark clothing of the Victorian period. You read a lot in literature about the "good air" in the countryside and seaside. In England, asthma suffers would go to the seaside to convalesce.

Not to mention the carthorses constantly shitting on the street. This might be one reason why pavements('sidewalks') are higher than the road.

But in defence of the OP, I fully appreciate what he's saying about architecture. Architecture has seriously degraded in modern times, whilst the Brutalist movement is behind us, we still see hideously 'functional' designs being put up. Compare a British school building built in 1920 to one built today. Both made of a very similar sort of brick and tile, the modern one will be just a hideous block, with no grace or subtlety, looking as though it were designed by a simpleton. This is in my opinion the result of the same leftism that has degenerated society as a whole. The old designs have been blacklisted as 'bourgeois', and replaced by cold, 'practical' designs. The aim is democratisation, but to me it just looks like the further mechanising of society.

Post: #14

(01-16-2016 12:20 PM)Laurifer Wrote:  A good portion of southern Germany escaped allied bombing, so Stuttgart and Munich are supposed to be well preserved.

No not at all. Stuttgart was attacked 53 times, 39125 buildings were destroyed or damaged. The overall destruction downtown was 68%.



This is not a natural mountain, it is build of the debris of the City.
Only some churches and castles were rebuild. (more or less)

When I was a child I once found a picture book of Stuttgart at home. I was shocked.

Post: #15

Nürnberg get hit heavy:

   
Should be about 1942

   
   
After bombing

   
Today

Würzburg:
   

   


After the war people need some housing, fast. So they rebuild most cities very practical. No time to get back to the original one. That's why you have some very ugly blocks and areas today.

Post: #16

I was really impressed with Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which I noticed in Lucky's post for "Germany Today". It's one of the few cities that escaped relatively unscathed that I know of.

Post: #17

(01-16-2016 10:34 AM)Lucky Wrote:  Germany today:




Germany circa 2020:

Unless drastic change happens (which is doubtful), the future of Germany is Islam.

Post: #18

(01-16-2016 10:34 AM)Lucky Wrote:  Germany today:

Germany circa 2020:

I don't know if I should laugh or cry... and yes, you're absolutely right.

Post: #19

Berlin 1900 in colour:





It's fascinating how well dressed everyone was back then, even the children.

Post: #20

So complaining will do solve everything?

Post: #21

Post: #22

(01-16-2016 10:23 AM)aSimpNamedBrokeback Wrote:  If you were transported back to those times you would be struck by the smell of burning coal and soot everywhere, as well as the raw sewage in the rivers, and mud everywhere after it rained.

and horse shit. I remember reading some history archives about madison wi pre automobile and there being these summer shit epedemics that would stink up the entire downtown and people would get ill en masse.

Post: #23

(01-16-2016 12:42 PM)thoughtgypsy Wrote:  I was really impressed with Rothenburg ob der Tauber, which I noticed in Lucky's post for "Germany Today". It's one of the few cities that escaped relatively unscathed that I know of.

It's looks like a gorgeous city.

It'll be a shame when it collapses.

Post: #24

I use to live in Wernigerode.
The town hall looks exactly the same.

Post: #25

European architecture has roots from its current monarchy.

The UK architecture can be traced from vernacular to Georgian, Victorian, Edwardian, modernism, (pre-war) inter war, the after war years. 60-70s Through to 90s and modern.

Architects are the leaders and decision makers of these eras but modern day it is more to do with the ego of the designer and those who have the money.

What you now find is buildings requiring strict adherence to building codes, fire especially, and cost.

I wouldn't label all Architects as liberals but more or less the dreamers of the built environment. Cold hard logic comes from surveyors and project managers.