BERLIN PHOTOGRAPHS - THEN AND NOW in contrasting images from the time of World War II fight for the city and its surrender, and how the sites look now - Also watch VINTAGE VIDEO OF BERLIN before the war.

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• These astonishing photographs compare Berlin in 1945 - when the city was falling to the Soviets as they marched on Adolf Hitler's last line of defence - to the peaceful German capital now.
• The incredible pictures from the end of the Second World War - in Europe, at least - were taken by Red Army photographer Georgiy Samsonov. 
• The images were unearthed by Fabrizio Bensch, who used black and white film to capture the exact same locations today - and the comparisons are extraordinary.

Soviet soldiers take position in front of a burning building (left) in Frankfurter Allee in Berlin in 1945. Today, an opticians (right) stands in its place

See more contrasting images,and watch vintage VIDEO of Berlin before the war.

 

 Red Army soldiers man artillery (above) as they storm through a devastated Berlin in May 1945, just days after Hitler's death. 70 years later and a gym (below) has replaced the rubble

 

The crumbling remains of the New Reich Chancellery - the offices of Adolf Hitler - are seen in 1945 (above). The building was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Berlin, and was eventually cleared and knocked down. The street is now lined with offices and a hotel (below)

 

A Red Army officer points to the sign outside Hitler's main office (left). Standing in the sign's place today is a pre-school (right), with paintings by children seen in the window

 

 

Soviet soldiers smile for the camera (above) as they march past the Reichstag in Berlin after the Germans surrendered. The building (below) still remains some 70 years later and is visited by millions every year.

 

 A Soviet vehicle (above) is parked next to the rubble of a row of buildings on Gruenburger Strasse. Some 70 years later a Volkswagen van (below) sits on the street, which is now bustling with shops and cafes

 Red Army tanks (above) trundle through a crossroads on the east of Berlin, but the same road is almost unrecognisable now, with many of the buildings (below) renovated after the war

Soldiers gather in front of the heavily damaged Reichstag for a photograph (above), with the historic building still bearing the dedication 'Dem deutschen Volke', meaning 'To the German people', decades later (below) following extensive repairs

 

The Reichstag has the appearance of a palace nowadays (below), but its battered shell is scarred by the battering it took during the Second World War (above)

Soldiers take aim from atop the Reichstag in this photograph (above) by Georgiy Samsonov. A picture taken in the same place this year (below) shows people walking next to the river in a peaceful Berlin

Cannons are prepared by Soviet soldiers in the uneasy days following the fall of Berlin (above), with no sign of the bloody war now (below)

Families walk down the middle of Borsig Street (above) in the uncertain days after the Nazis surrendered. The scene nowadays (below) is a picture of peace, with cars parked on the side of the upmarket road

A Red Army tank guards Ritterstrasse (above) in central Berlin, just a short walk from Checkpoint Charlie. This year, a Volkswagen (below) crosses the smart street

 

 Russian army vehicles sit outside the remains of the New Reich Chancellery (above), which took five years to clear and is now social housing and shops (below)

Source

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3063054/How-Berlin-rose-ashes-Amazing-comparison-pictures-Red-Army-rampaging-German-capital-1945-scenes-look-today.html

 

 

RELATED

 

 

VINTAGE VIDEO OF BERLIN BEFORE THE WAR

 

Berlin wie es war

(Berlin, the way it was)

Narrated in German.

 

 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue9bx_5KJRQ

 

 

Photos of Nazi Germany abandoned buildings

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/07/photos-of-nazi-germany-abandoned.html

 

 

More excellent articles about World War II, including pictures,

on this blog

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/World%20War%20II

 

 

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