Photographs of East Germany Locations Captured Decades Apart

PETAPIXEL ^ | May 08, 2012 | Michael Zhang

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Photographer Stefan Koppelkamm first photographed East Germany in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall but before the reunification. He revisited the same locations a decade later, and rephotographed them from exactly the same viewpoints to document the drastic social and economic transformations that came about during the time between the photos.

[jmacusa]

It certainly shows what happens when human beings are given the freedom of choice, from what they’d like to think and say down to what food the’d like to eat or not. You can never truly know what freedom means until it is taken away from you.

[GeronL]

I can’t believe people who thought the other one was better.

[kabar]

The Poles made a concerted effort to rebuild the old city, the "Stare Miasto." One of my American colleagues born in Poland told me that as a school child in Krakow after the war, they would collect money to buy bricks to reconstruct Stare Miasto. This was the case all over Poland.

They had the old plans, but according to the Poles I knew, they could never match the workmanship of the old city. It is still a beautiful place now. Krakow is even better because it did not suffer the damage that Warsaw did.

The last time I was back there was 1999. The differences were striking compared to the days of Martial Law when I was living there. Everthing has changed for the better after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Re the “Palace of Culture and Science.”--the ugly Soviet/Stalinist architecture, layer cake like buildings that were all over Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union:

There was the joke, "What is the best place to get the best view of Warsaw? Answer: "On top of the Palace of Culture and Science because you could not see the Palace of Culture and Science."

[boop]

Yes, think of the black bloc commies who prefer “column A” for some idiotic reason.

[dfwgator]

It certainly shows what happens when human beings are given the freedom of choice, from what they’d like to think and say down to what food the’d like to eat or not. You can never truly know what freedom means until it is taken away from you.

As the Devo song said, however, some people don't want Freedom of Choice, they want "Freedom From Choice."

[Rome2000]

Is that a Makarov?

I couldn’t hit the side of a barn with the one I have.

[jmacusa]

“Are we not men’’?

[GreyHoundSailor]

One of my wife’s cousins grew up in the East - when he graduated from school the kids had only two choices for ‘professions’ that year: Hairdresser or Baker. He refused because he wanted to be a dentist and spent three years in jail at STASI HQ, until he was traded for someone the West had caught. Today, he’s doing well - as a dentist.

[Talisker]

All the people you see in that photograph are dead now.

THAT is what occurs to you to say when you see that photo?

Get help.

[21twelve]

My mom isn’t in that photo - but she does tell the story of being with a few girlfriends on VJ day (Dad was in the Pacific), and being a bit scared out on the streets of Alameda(?), California. It was too rowdy for their Midwestern roots - so they celebrated in their shared apartment. She’ll be 94 this summer - with a memory better than mine!

[fella]

That brings back some memories. Never could get used to being asked for papers.

[broken_arrow1]

Hurry, someone take some before-Obama photos of America. It ain’t going to look very pretty after Obama gets a second term.

[USARightSide]

‘__________and being a bit scared out on the streets_________’

I was a kid then. My dad had the 4 of us (Mom and brother) get in the car, and drive a short distance into town - Huntington, Long Island.

The people were delirious with joy - some jumped on the running board of Dad’s Hudson (guess it was - we always had Hudsons), and rocked us around. The car felt like it was going to flip over - very frightening. We didn’t stay long. Quite a celebration.
Funny - can’t remember anything about the next day - - -

[Moltke]

Freedom makes an amazing difference.

1,000+ billion westmarks didn't hurt either...

[Liberty Valance]

bttt

[Skooz]

BFL

[dmz]

All the people you see in that photograph are dead now.

<><><><><><<

Nope. The chick all the way in the back left hand corner of the photo, you can barely make out her face is my great aunt’s cousin, twice removed and living in a nursing home in Okemah Oklahoma.

[Revolting cat!]

Can’t win everything, can one. The other day I met a woman who as a little girl walked across the Golden Gate Bridge when it opened (1936?) and remembered it like yesterday.

[Son House]

Just bought some fine China that comes from Poland called Royal Kent;
http://www.robbinsnest.com/royal-kent/
Royal Kent Exquisite European porcelain china patterns carefully handcrafted by experts in Walbrzych Poland.
The original molds for the china made in Poland were designed by highly skilled Jews while in the concentration camps during World War Two.

||
And I know of a guitar builder there, builds a double neck guitar for two handed tapping;
http://rekguitars.com/english.php?site=dir&nr=2
Portato has been made exclusively for Adam Fulara
http://fulara.com/
English version of the website;
http://adam.fulara.com/

[dmz]

LOL. I totally made my story up. Sorry, didn’t expect that it would ring true.