WW2 - Destruction of classic architecture in Europe

[Fergus]

I would like to know to what extent Europe has lost its classic architecture because of massive bombardments?

Especially Germany?

[hkskyline]

Dresden is in the process of rebuilding its city centre to mirror its classic look. Judging from some historic photographs, they pretty much lost everything in the bombing raids.

[SinCity]

This is the Croatian port city of Zadar which was governed by Italy until the end of WWII. It was completely destroyed by repeated Allied bombing. Most of it was rebuilt in original style or rebuilt sympathetically to match the old architecture. A lot was also lost forever.

This was the most damaged city on the territory of former Yugoslavia during WW2.





















Zadar today .....

























This is one of the last buildings in the historic centre of Zadar which was finally restored. It lay in ruins for over 50 years! The rebuilding and restoration of the Chapel of St Dimitri was completed in 2005! ....

[Küsel]

Rothenburg o.d.T.


Dresden


Köln


Berlin

[skylinearth]

London has been also destroyed in WW2.

[Mimar]

A very small number of historical buildings were destroyed in WWII in Sarajevo but unfortunately they were destroyed in the last war..

[Pavle4488]

Originally Posted by SinCity

This is the Croatian port city of Zadar which was governed by Italy until the end of WWII.

I can imagine how pretty it was. So sad. And by the way, you say Zadar was governed by Italy until the end of WW2, but it wasn't. It was part of Indenpendent State of Croatia, until Serbian/Yugoslavian Partisans liberated it. Here are some informations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDH

Many cities lost a lot of beautiful buildings in World War II, but what's important is that spirit of Zadar survived, and today it's one of the prettiest towns on Adriatic Sea. Go Zadar ;o)

[Belgrade Girl]

Belgrade was heavily bombarded during WWII by German forces while some parts of Montenegro were destroyed by the Italians.
This s how the museum in Belgrade looked like when bombed
WWII


Current look


Future (it will get a full restoration)


Belgrade was also bombed in 1999 and it lost many buildings (some which were very nice and just needed new paint).

[Fergus]

Thanks guys.

[Nate]

Kyiv, Ukraine also had a lot of destruction.

Before:


A while after the war:




And today:

[Koniaczeq]

Warsaw

Originally Posted by maciekwr

;-(

Originally Posted by lukay

Corbis.com has a lot of good pictures of 1939-45 Warsaw







This is where Warsaw Ghetto was located. The only building to survive was the Catholic Church which u can see in the picture. Today this area is full of commieblocks.






This is a picture of Warsaw Downtown in 1950s. Newly build Palace of Culture and Science dominates the horison. Scattered ruins and nothingness...

Originally Posted by lukay

What irritates me the most is the way many buildings got rebuilt. Going back to the oldest version and not the verios previous to WWII.











None of those exist today, a little sample






This building survived the war but was destroyed in 1973


On a more optimistic note...













www.warszawa1939.pl

Originally Posted by Kampflamm

Some additional pics

















Note the large "V" in both pics and the German writing "Warschau Hauptbahnhof" (Warsaw Central Train Station). What did the V stand for (I know it's victory, but did the Nazis put them up and why)?



















Interesting site: http://www.fotomarburg.de/gaeste/warschau/vorwort.html

Originally Posted by Koniaczeq

Wow this church was really nice, what a shame that they didnt reconstruct it in this version









Now it looks like this

[Eric Offereins]

Warsaw was really bad hit by the war, destroyed under the nose of the Russian army,
who refused to help in the uprising at the end of the war.

[Küsel]

Warsaw was really the worst How many people died there?

I always loved the Palace of Science and Cultrue - as all the Stalin Sisters in Moscow They shouldn't have distroyd its unique postition with these faceless modern office blocks from the 90s... only my oppinion, you can hate me for that

[Marcus87]

Originally Posted by Kuesel

Warsaw was really the worst How many people died there?

I always loved the Palace of Science and Cultrue - as all the Stalin Sisters in Moscow They shouldn't have distroyd its unique postition with these faceless modern office blocks from the 90s... only my oppinion, you can hate me for that

I think Warsaw has been rebuilt almost exactly as it had looked like before the war. I guess German cities were the ones that were rebuilt mostly irrespective of the pre-war look. I mean, look at Postdammer Platz.

[paku]

Originally Posted by Kuesel

Warsaw was really the worst How many people died there?

The most of the murdering and destruction by germans happened over 63 days of Warsaw Uprising and after that. Here are some facts:

Warsaw Uprising
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Warsaw Uprising (Powstanie Warszawskie) was an armed struggle during the Second World War by the Polish Home Army (Armia Krajowa) to liberate Warsaw from German occupation and Nazi rule. It started on August 1, 1944, as part of a nationwide uprising, Operation Tempest. The Polish troops resisted the German-led forces until October 2 (63 days in total). Losses on the Polish side amounted to 18,000 soldiers killed, 25,000 wounded and over 250,000 civilians killed, mostly in mass executions conducted by advancing German troops. Casualties on the German side amounted to over 17,000 soldiers killed and 9,000 wounded. During the urban combat—and after the end of hostilities, when German forces acting on Hitler's orders burned the city systematically, block after block—an estimated 85% of the city was destroyed.The Uprising started at a crucial point in the war as the Soviet army approached Warsaw. The Soviet army had reached a point within a few hundred metres across the Vistula River from the city on September 16, but failed to make further headway in the course of the Uprising, leading to accusations that Stalin did not want the Uprising to succeed.

Now consider, that in Hiroshima attack there died "only" 200.000 people, and you'll understand the extent of the mass murder of civilians. Only in 63 days, germans managed to murder more, than an atomic bomb dropped by US.
Obviously much of the city also suffered earlier, in September Campaign in 1939.
At the end of war, Warsaw was practically annihilated.

Originally Posted by Marcus87

I think Warsaw has been rebuilt almost exactly as it had looked like before the war.

Unfortunately, far from it. What germans didn't manage to destroy, was later destroyed by commies. Many ornaments of buildings, that survived the war, were deliberatly destroyed, because they didn't fit the soc-realistic picture.

[Marcus87]

Originally Posted by paku

The most of the murdering and destruction by germans happened over 63 days of Warsaw Uprising and after that. Here are some facts:



Now consider, that in Hiroshima attack there died "only" 200.000 people, and you'll understand the extent of the mass murder of civilians. Only in 63 days, germans managed to murder more, than an atomic bomb dropped by US.
Obviously much of the city also suffered earlier, in September Campaign in 1939.
At the end of war, Warsaw was practically annihilated.



Unfortunately, far from it. What germans didn't manage to destroy, was later destroyed by commies. Many ornaments of buildings, that survived the war, were deliberatly destroyed, because they didn't fit the soc-realistic picture.

Really? That sux. I find that anti-cultural aspect of some communists discusting. Like Maoist China or Warsaw as in this example. But maybe you guys will rebuild them in future, like they are rebuilding Berlin Castle.

[Küsel]

It's really extrme!!! - But on the other hand it's more impressive and especially more shocking, that ONE bomb can do the same in a few seconds.... it's just - scaring and horrible!

[Arpels]

it was a disaster in all aspects

[Giri]

IMO, daily ignorance and silent destructions are much more dangerous to Europe's unique charm : how many Dresden have been destroyed and replaced by terrible buildings because of modernist craze ? A single ugly building on a seafront can do much harm. I've ceased to count streets whose harmony was destroyed because of two or three blocks or towers viciously situated.

As for post-war reconstructions, they were obviously tasteless. But I'm more inclined to excuse it because there was emergency. When well understood, realistic architecture can be charming or at least impressive.

[SinCity]

Originally Posted by Yoѕѕarian

I can imagine how pretty it was. So sad. And by the way, you say Zadar was governed by Italy until the end of WW2, but it wasn't. It was part of Indenpendent State of Croatia, until Serbian/Yugoslavian Partisans liberated it. Here are some informations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NDH

Many cities lost a lot of beautiful buildings in World War II, but what's important is that spirit of Zadar survived, and today it's one of the prettiest towns on Adriatic Sea. Go Zadar ;o)

You certainly dont know anything about Zadar's history.

Firstly, Zadar was never a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Italy annexed Zadar in 1920. It was regarded a part of Italy all the way until the end of WW2 when the city was liberated by Croatian communist partisans in the same way Rijeka, whole of Istria and a number of islands were liberated and placed under Yugoslav control.

You can still see today the remains of the Italian border crossings on the roads leading out of Zadar. Two of the buildings that housed the border guards still stand as ruins and testimony to Italian control of Zadar between 1920-1945. Zadar was bombed heavily because it was a city under strategic Italian ownership. It was never a NDH possession.