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Interesting pictures... any idea what city
that is? It looks like it might be London.
Posted 43 months ago.
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On the back of the photo it said "Cologne",
which is in Germany.
Posted 43 months ago.
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It is Cologne (or Kölne) - that's the
cathedral. Great pic.
Posted 43 months ago.
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I visited it several years ago. It was
spared the not-so-precise bombs, but at
ground level, the stone walls are pock-marked
with conical divots from bullets and shells.
Posted 43 months ago.
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Greetings from Cologne and thank you for the
pictures.
Posted 42 months ago.
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Thanks for the comments. I was hoping not to
offend anyone with this set. It is offered
as historical reference only, no malice or
judgement is meant with the presentation of
this set.
Posted 42 months ago.
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What a find, well at least you placed then in
an area where they will be seen. The owners
might have just tossed then in a drawer. I
see the bridge has been blown or bombed out.
I wonder how many years old it was?
Posted 42 months ago.
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Cologne was destroyed in WW2 by 89%
in a night we call "The night of the 1000
Bombers" at May 30th in 1942.
by the Royal Airforce.
I was born in this town at 1968 and live
there still.
So, this is part of my history. In this
year we celebrate the 60th anniversary of
liberation from the Naziregim by
Americantroups.
@Brave Heart,
I think the bridge was the
"Hindenburgbridge". It wasn't build up after
the war.
It was build in 1915.
I have load it up for you, it's an
historical picture also.
www.directupload.net/images/050326/2Y87repA.j
pg
:)
Thank you for sharing Rocketeer.
Posted 42 months ago.
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Thank you for your comments, Witwe. Also,
thank you for the link to the bridge photo.
It is very interesting.
Posted 42 months ago.
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Your welcome,
but I have to say, and I hope you
understand that, for me the remakable item in
this picture is the cathedral in this scene
of destruction.
The start of construction was in 1248 and
it took over 600 years to build it up (no
joke).
Happy Eastergreetings from Cologne
and put your sound on, if you click the
link below.
www.willkommeninkoeln.de/media/sound/dom.htm
;)
Posted 42 months ago.
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This is an incredible photograph. I was in
Cologne in the 80s and it would have been
difficult to imagine this scale of
devastation.
Posted 42 months ago.
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this is really amazing. i went all the way to
the top of the cathedral in '94. sure looked
a lot different at that time, than in this
photo. it's incredible that it was spared!
Posted 41 months ago.
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Very great picture!!!!
Thanks for sharing! :))
Posted 39 months ago.
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nice
Posted 39 months ago.
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This photograph is very similar to a quite
famous photograph of the same scene in
Cologne taken from the air, as has this one.
I would check the origin of your photograph
as it may just be one and the same
Posted 38 months ago.
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If you happen to find a link to that photo,
let me know, please. I'd like to compare
them.
Posted 38 months ago.
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WOW, I never knew that you found these
historical photo's. How great it is to
discover a large part of history. I hope that
you would bring them next time you visit. I
would love to learn more about them. Does Dad
know about these photo's?
Posted 38 months ago.
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Funny that the only building of any possible
military value, the railway station at bottom
left, is mostly undamaged. I'm sure the
bridge, which is just to the left of this
picture, was destroyed.
Posted 38 months ago.
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Should be rolling through Cologne on R&R.
I'll try to get an updated photo for you.
Posted 37 months ago.
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jdraiders: if you get a shot, the combo would
be a good submission to flickrcaching.
Also, I think this is a near-tie for the
tallest cathedral in the world, with Ulm
being the tallest by 13 feet. (for 380 years
prior, Estonia had set the medieval record.... =)
Posted 37 months ago.
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Great great great picture.
Posted 37 months ago.
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wow..
Posted 37 months ago.
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Very great historical picture, quite at this
time a very good precision bombing to not
damaged the cathedral without the technology
of laser beam, quite this photo show how
history is made...to never forget the
past...for the memory of many mens.
Posted 36 months ago.
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These are just amazing. Thank you for sharing
with the world.
Posted 36 months ago.
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These are incredible - like the iconic photos
sold in Koln as postcards. You perhaps ought
to consult someone who knows - a historian or
antique expert. It is possible you ought to
insure them and museums might be interested
in receiving copies.
Posted 36 months ago.
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I saw the link on BoingBoing and having
looked at the pics, forwarded the URL to my
Dad. He sent me back six very similar pics
which belonged to my grandfather. He was RAF
ground crew and was taken over Germany in
1945 to see some of the sites. These pics may
very well have been taken on the same day
even. Here's another shot of the Cologne Cathedral in 1945.
Posted 36 months ago.
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Thanks for adding this to the Interestingness
pool.
Posted 32 months ago.
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this is stunning!!
Posted 31 months ago.
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love_life_live_love, where did you hear about
this photo? Suddenly, in the last 24 hours,
it has received a lot of attention with
people adding it as a favorite.
Posted 31 months ago.
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hmmm... I only see one new blog entry...
Posted 31 months ago.
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Thanks, Steve. I didn't think about looking
at technorati.
Posted 31 months ago.
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It's curious hoy the cathedral seems out of
scale with the rest of the city. I've been to
a completely restored, beautiful Cologne, and
this is still the case..
Sad history, beautiful photo.
Thanks for sharing.
Posted 31 months ago.
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The attention is coming from the photo being
on the "Explore" page as the most
interesting photo from a year ago today.
Posted 31 months ago.
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amazing find!
Posted 31 months ago.
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hi rocketeer! it was on the interestingness
page - but may have been from last year? like
a retrospective look back? i can't remember
exactly. i just read the story behind the
photo(s) - awesome.
Posted 31 months ago.
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Nice shot, people forget to fast sometimes.
Posted 29 months ago.
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great! this would be wonderful for our new wiki about cologne.
you publicated this photo under the cc
license. would it be possible for you that we
link directly to this flickr site in our
historical articles about cologne?
Posted 29 months ago.
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buena toma
add to www.flickr.com/groups/catedrales/
un saludo
Posted 29 months ago.
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what a loss
Posted 29 months ago.
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And what a find. Great photo.
Posted 29 months ago.
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What a lovely photo; I think the reason the
cathedral was left standing during the
bombing may be for the same reason that St.
Paul's cathedral and Battersea power station
in London were left by the bombers - large
and easily recognisable buildings helped
pilots to orientate themselves when flying
over.
It really is an incredible cathedral - I
climbed up it last year and nearly had a
heart attack (well, not quite, but...:)).
Apparently it was the tallest building in the
world when they finished building the towers!
Posted 28 months ago.
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Ginger Sarah, thanks for sharing that! I
think you're right about why they left it
standing.
Posted 28 months ago.
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I wonder how many of the people who lived
through that night, lost most of their
hearing...
Posted 27 months ago.
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Stunning photo. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 26 months ago.
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Hi all,
thank you for sharing this photo and all
the others.
Let my put one or another comment to it.
As far as I remember, the American troops
sent immediately during the last days of and
after WW ii aircrafts to film the aeria.
These films (partly in color) are still
deposited in Washington and Cologne (in the
WDR, the TV and radio station).
The directors of photography were
professionals. Look at the pictures!
In these aircrafts also were
"normal" photographer of several
newspapers.
So let me presume: your photographs are
made AFTER WW ii.
You don't see any smoke of bombing or
burnings of phosphorus. These photos are all
very sharp (is that the right word?), the
aircrafts could fly very low, that means: no
enemy reactions from the ground is mentioned.
And it's daylight.
May the Britons bombed Cologne, but the US
filmed the result.
What I want to say is: your Photos must be
american, maybe takes from a journalist and
/or Warphotographer.
And at last @ alexismax1 " for the
memory of many men{s}." AND WOMEN. Some
of my aunts died in these bombings.
Posted 25 months ago.
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Very sad... Cologne it is... but could be
many cities ... an egsample of the disgusting
things we do in war... in the name of what is
"RIGHT" some of which are
"WONG" on both sides... Londg live
peace, negotiation, common sense and
liberalism.... NO MORE EXTREMISTS... and no
nore black and white agrguements... life is
about the greys...
Posted 25 months ago.
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This set is very interesting!! Remember
history.
Even former history of the cathedral is
very interesting. They took more than 600
years to complete! Hard to imagine.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Cathedral
Thank you for sharing.
Posted 25 months ago.
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A view from the cathedral in 1953,
Posted 25 months ago.
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Congratulations! Did you know that this is
the most interesting photo tagged with War?
Please consider posting it to The Most Interesting **Blank** Picture
Posted 24 months ago.
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Wow. Spectacular find. I've seen this photo
before. Don't know where at.
The churches were spared at least in part
because they made such excellent landmarks
for lining up bombing runs. Fascinating
picture with a fascinating history.
Posted 24 months ago.
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Sometimes we find something,
we didn't search for.
(Arthur Schopenhauer, German Philosopher)
FAVEd by
www.flickr.com/photos/frizztext/212022710/
Posted 24 months ago.
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My grandfather was awarded the Bronze Star
during WWII for bravery (I believe). He was
in the bell tower of the Cathedral of Cologne
throwing out hand grenades at the German
soldiers below during the ground battles.
Supposely he scratched in his initials plus
his wifes initials in tower. I visited the
Cathedral about 10 years ago but was unable
to go up.
Posted 24 months ago.
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What a cool story, Dan.... thanks for sharing
it!
Posted 24 months ago.
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amazing! thanks for sharing it
Posted 23 months ago.
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This is remarkable beyond words.
You are invited to post this image to Spectacular Objects - Invite Only.
www.flickr.com/groups/spectacular_objects/
Posted 23 months ago.
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Civilisation's lowpoint. You are invited to
post this photograph to the new Economic and Social History Group - People
and their Industry.
Posted 23 months ago.
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wow...awesome find
Posted 22 months ago.
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Great find! Thanks for sharing this view.
Posted 22 months ago.
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--
Found in a search. (?)
------------------------------------------
You are invited to post this image to
"Spectacular Landscape, invitation
only"
http://www.flickr.com/groups/spectacular_land
scapes/
Please read the instructions on page one.
Please add the tag "specland".
-------------------------------------------
[?]
Posted 22 months ago.
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Really good shot with great historical value.
I've been there myself a couple of months
ago, that cathedral is huge!
Posted 22 months ago.
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libe der koelner Dom
Posted 22 months ago.
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liebe, sorry.
Posted 22 months ago.
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Fascinating and sad... I do not think
so-called 'precision bombing' spared the
cathedral... what precision bombing in
WWII(ever??)? Other cities were leveled. Just
luck ...
Posted 21 months ago.
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That's not true. There was precision bombing
in WWII. Bombardiers said that with a Nordon
bombsight, they had enough precision to drop
a bomb in a pickle barrel from several
thousand feet, some said as much as 15,000
feet. I don't think it was that precise, but
it was good enough to allow them to NOT bomb
the Church building so that they could use it
again as a landmark.
Posted 21 months ago.
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The Norden was much less accurate under
combat conditions, and when we started doing
BTO (bombing through overcast) it was
useless. The British would come at night,
and basically just decide that they must be
over their target somewhere, and drop the
bombs. Certainly there were other large
churches that were almost completely
destroyed.
Posted 21 months ago.
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Amazing historical image & luck having
that photo!
Posted 21 months ago.
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I was in Klon this summer. This picture as
well as several others of yours were on
postcards sold everywhere in the city. Indeed
they were among hundreds of recon pix done
by the allies. Of course, the people of Klon
were very interested in them as well, hence
your find.
Posted 21 months ago.
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This is an exceptional find. It vividly
tells the tale of destruction that much of
Europe faced during WWII.
Posted 20 months ago.
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wow
Posted 20 months ago.
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My hometown! Luckily, or on purpose, the
cathedral survived. That would have destroyed
many a Koelner's heart...
Posted 20 months ago.
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I am stunned. I was just surfing the web to
find out the church in my pictures of Cologne
from All Saint's Day 2005 and found this.
Needless to say it was St. Maria Himmelfarht
and I have spent several minutes crying over
it. My family is stationed here as part of
NATO and went to the Christmas market in
Cologne just a month ago. You hear people
say that the bombing in WWII demolished 80 to
90% of the city but it just doesn't sink in
till you see it. I think the next time I go
I will hug the Dom....just the thought of it
not being there for future generations make
me very emotional.....Thank you so much for
posting these pictures! Susan
Posted 20 months ago.
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Wonderfoul...
Posted 20 months ago.
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Fantastic.
Posted 20 months ago.
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First of all:my believes have been definately
been upgraded towards the wisdom of todays
youth.As a rather older person of 47 years,
and a native American, who has been living in
Germany the past 30 years, I thought that the
interests have not gone past I-pod and
x-Box.However, after seeing the comments that
have been made for these set of photos, I
have learned a whole new part of todays
youth.Very accurate in evaluating past
history, and aware of the things that have
happened since.Thank you very much for
correcting my point of view!
Ralf
Posted 19 months ago.
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I have been to this cathedral twice, livining
in germany (us army) it is my favorite place
to visit. It is truly breathtaking! This
cathedral is a must see when coming to
Germany. It is the most beautiful city to,
on the sidewalks outside muralist do chalk
portraits of the most amazing things! There
is also a life size replica (or originals?)
of the spire that are on the top (in front of
the church) and they are enormus! My husband
was brave enough to hike to the top of the
cathedra. I think he said it was over 300
steps to the top. He was very winded once
he got back! The whole city is wonderful,
the trainstation is beautiful too!
Thanks for the picture, makes me want to
visit again :)
Sarah
Posted 19 months ago.
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I found your photograph not through flickr
but simply by googling 'Cologne Cathedral not
bombed' and it was the first link. I was very
interested to see that it has received
sustained interest since you posted it. I
wanted to add some information about the
'story' beneath an old photograph of my own
taken on a field trip (landscape
architecture/environmental planning) which I
made as a student in 1979.
I am currently reading Mark Kurlansky's
book 'Non-Violence' Which I would recommend
to anyone interested in an alternative view
of government's continual efforts to
vindicate their 'just wars'.
Would you mind if I posted a link to this
picture under mine? Thank you.
On a slightly different note, my uncle
worked at Farnborough during WW2. He was a
mathematician, and investigated bomb
trajectories, his work including a
contribution to the development of the
'bouncing bomb' used in the 'Dambusters'
raid. He suggested that even in the last
stages of the war accuracy was poor. That is
how I remember his stories, anyway.
Posted 19 months ago.
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Thanks, Imago. Yes, you may post a link to
it under your photo.
Posted 19 months ago.
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:-) thanx
Posted 19 months ago.
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Ashame for those folks who destroyed stupidly
one of the most superb city's in western
Europe, ashame, ashame, ashame////
Posted 19 months ago.
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Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Art of Light, and we'd love to have your photo added to
the group.
Posted 18 months ago.
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Unbeleavably super cool.
Posted 18 months ago.
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Koln! what a beauty place..
such a historcial place to been in
i love it.. it's amazing there. so old, and
so
rich.....
love it there...
Posted 18 months ago.
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Hi, I'm an admin for a group called War and Peace, and we'd love to have your photo added to
the group.
Posted 18 months ago.
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I lived near Cologne some years ago and it
really hurts to see this...
Posted 17 months ago.
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wow-great, lovely and intersting... another
picture of british- american war crimes
Posted 17 months ago.
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pebe - Ours were much more photogenic than
piles of skinny bodies. Served them right
for starting it.
Posted 17 months ago.
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Oh, boy. Looks like WW2 hasn't ended!
Posted 17 months ago.
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Thanks for sharing!
(currently also the most
"interesting" tagged with
"cathedral")
Posted 16 months ago.
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Thank you for the details in the description.
Found in a search. (?)
Posted 16 months ago.
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The new bridge ist NOT called Severinsbridge,
as said ( this ist hte latest from 1957, 300
meters south), but Deutzer Bruecke (Deutzer
Bridge). The former was a chainbridge, the
new is a normal bridge. Enlarged 1955 (?)
All in all Cologne has 7 Bridges incl. the
2 Autobahnbridges in the far north and the
far s.outh.
Posted 15 months ago.
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Hi, please add your photo to Impressions & Expressions, and feel free to join us..
Posted 15 months ago.
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You are invited to post this and any other
photos you have of Germany to worldwidewandering - a travel atlas. Post comments
and thumbnail photos to the Germany discussion thread.
Posted 14 months ago.
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Awesome!
Posted 14 months ago.
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wow this is beautiful.
Posted 14 months ago.
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What a fascinating find.
Posted 14 months ago.
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Hi, I'm an admin for a group called top20germany, and we'd love to have your photo added to
the group.
Posted 14 months ago.
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Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Cultural Boxes, and we'd love to have your photo added to
the group.
Posted 14 months ago.
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+
your excellent photography is an
interesting example
for different "CULTURAL BOXES" in
our world -
thanks for your contribution
...and we are honored to present your work
in our gallery
"ARCHITECTURE" (34) at
www.flickr.com/groups/cultural-boxes/discuss/
721576006404...
+
Posted 14 months ago.
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i was just looking at my photos of the Dom of
Cologne yesterday and wondering about the
damage around it since i knew it was
considerable and it was incredible that the
Dom had survived.
it IS incredible. thanks for posting this
photo. i lived nearby in 1953 because my
father was a photojournalist working out of
the Bonn office of Life magazine, so we saw
the destruction as children. i remember
seeing the rubble everywhere when we went to
a carnival in Koln. our parents explained it
was "the war". something we didn't
understand.
one day human beings will be evolved enough
to settle their differences via communication
rather than violence.
Posted 14 months ago.
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Nice one! Beautifull black & white!
Posted 13 months ago.
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