Berlin 1945 in color

[Cavman]

http://m.wimp.com/color-footage-of-berlin-from-1945/

[PrairieSpyder]

I was in Berlin in 2000, and was surprised how many buildings in what had been East Berlin were still just piles of ruble. Others were occupied, but not updated, no elevators, coal heat in each apartment, etc. You could get a one-bedroom place for about $200. This was ten years after unification. The process of modernizing depended on identifying who actually owned a property. This is after so many years of communist rule and figuring out who owned it before the war, finding descendants, etc. It was a mess! On the other hand, construction cranes were the primary feature of the skyline and rebuilding was running apace.

I wonder if that film was colorized or shot in color. I realized part way through that the sound effects must have been added later.

Thanks for sharing it.:thumbup:

[JimVonBaden]

I've been all over Germany. It is a beautiful place. That film was depressing in that it shows how little remained intact, and the conditions they had when the war ended.

Few know, but in every city there is a park with large mounds in it made from the rubble that was unreclaimable. These parks were designed as reminders of what happens when you start a war.

[cuznjohn]

when i read post from people that travel, i feel bad that i don't fly. it has nothing to do with terrorism, it is that i just feel that my first flight, will be my last. over my years of working, i did jobs at laguardia and Kennedy airports. most of the work was installing runway lights, and i saw so many emergencies, that it just scared the poop out of me. so strange as it is that i ride motorcycles, but am afraid to go on a plane

[Bob Denman]

:shocked: Very poignant, and tough to watch...
But thanks for posting it! :thumbup:

[ARtraveler]

The film makes one think about the consequences of any war. :thumbup:

[JerryB]

Hi Patti,

Re: I was in Berlin in 2000

I was in Berlin the summer of 1963 for a few days. I was in the crowd on the day when JFK gave his 'Ich ein Berliner' speech.

The evening before JFK arrived, I was at Tempelhof Airport and stood no more than 10 ft from both Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt.

Interesting times and I have always felt fortunate to have been in western Europe in those days.

Re: construction cranes were the primary feature of the skyline and rebuilding was running apace

I was in the former West Germany & the former East Germany in 1998. I also noticed an unbelievable number of cranes doing the rebuilding of the former East Germany.

Jerry Baumchen

PS) An intersting moving about Berlin after the war is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reader_(2008_film)

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I wonder if that film was colorized or shot in color. I realized part way through that the sound effects must have been added later.

Thanks for sharing it.:thumbup:
I think it was shot in color. Color film was developed by Agfa in 1932 according to Wikipedia. Here is a link to a page about a color film shot from the lead ship during the D Day invasion, and for a few months after. It was shot by a Hollywood filmmaker who volunteered for service. Eisenhower had him do documentary filming. I can't get a direct link to the video to work. He shot the color film for his personal use.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/10861960/World-War-Two-as-you-have-never-seen-it-extremely-rare-colour-footage-of-D-Day-invasion-released.html

[oldguyinTX]

And that is just the aftermath. Think of the terror those poor people must have felt while it was actually happening. Much like what people are feeling in some parts of our world today.

[Orange Spyder Man]

now the muslims/immigrants will trash/destroy Germany... hard to feel sorry for stupid people...

osm

[vided]

They didn't feel half the terror the people in the camps felt

[R FUN]

That was very interesting and also the comments from those that have been there.It will be interesting to see it now as I fly there to Berlin in April 2017. Then on to the Check Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria.
Roger

[MisterP]

I was in Berlin a few months after the wall started coming down. Did a short walking tour through the Brandenburg gate into what was East Berlin. You could sense the standard of living was much poorer.

The client i visited was in a building with very thick walls. When I asked about it, they told me the building was a three story munitions factory. The Allies bombed it repeatedly but only destroyed the third floor. The Germans left it that way so it appeared destroyed from the air, but continued to make ammunition there until the war ended.

[seaweed]

I've been all over Germany. It is a beautiful place. That film was depressing in that it shows how little remained intact, and the conditions they had when the war ended.

Few know, but in every city there is a park with large mounds in it made from the rubble that was unreclaimable. These parks were designed as reminders of what happens when you start a war.



I rode up one of those hills (it was more like a mountain) in Berlin. I was told by my German friends that it was
from the rubble of the buildings destroyed in the war. This was from west Berlin only.

[seaweed]

Hi Patti,

Re: I was in Berlin in 2000

I was in Berlin the summer of 1963 for a few days. I was in the crowd on the day when JFK gave his 'Ich ein Berliner' speech.

The evening before JFK arrived, I was at Tempelhof Airport and stood no more than 10 ft from both Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt.

Interesting times and I have always felt fortunate to have been in western Europe in those days.

Re: construction cranes were the primary feature of the skyline and rebuilding was running apace

I was in the former West Germany & the former East Germany in 1998. I also noticed an unbelievable number of cranes doing the rebuilding of the former East Germany.

Jerry Baumchen

PS) An intersting moving about Berlin after the war is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reader_(2008_film)



Were you stationed at Tempelhof Airport? I was and was part of the U.S. Air Force at the prade when JFK gave his speech,

[JerryB]

Hi seaweed,

Re: Were you stationed at Tempelhof Airport?

No, I was stationed at Chambley AB, near Metz, France. Two other guys & I just happened to be in Berlin for a few days and it turned out to be when JFK was there. We were on a 9-day tour of northern Europe. I did all of the paperwork so that the three of us could drive from West Germany into Berlin, thru 110 kms of East Germany. Because we were military & on leave, we were not allowed to go into East Berlin.

However, when I was 10 ft from Adenauer & Brandt it was at Templehof.

Small world isn't it?

Jerry Baumchen

[MOSESS]

Thanks for posting, I saw many pic of this and it had to be very hard on them, But they listened to a mad man and got what was coming to them ,As much as thing change seems like where heading down this very same road again.