3rd reich in ruins

October 15, 2003 4:56 PM

The Third Reich In Ruins
posted by crunchland (15 comments total)

The site started out neat, but it mostly documents that the Germans did indeed remove all those swastika draperies. Very few actual architechtural changes after the opening photo.

Also, he makes clear statements that the site's not an endorsement of Nazi politics or ideals, but he links to a dealer of Nazi memorabilia (which isn't necessarily an endorsement, either, but you know who wants that stuff.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:11 PM on October 15, 2003

As a teenager growing up in Western Norway, I enjoyed hanging out in the bookstore and looking at the many volumes of works showing pictures from the war. I'd check out wartime pictures of areas I already knew since it made me feel more connected to the whole thing. It gave me a sort of thrill that went along with my fascination with all things military. Now, living here in the Boston area, there are nowhere near as many daily visual reminders of WWII.

Interesting to see the same sorts of pictures from the other side of the fence.
posted by kahboom at 5:32 PM on October 15, 2003

Why were there tributes to the Greatest Rock Band Ever before the band even formed?
posted by billsaysthis at 5:49 PM on October 15, 2003

Mayor Curley, there are some people who collect Third Reich memorabilia who aren't neo-Nazi's, you know. If offered Genghis Kahn knickknacks or Chairman Mao mementos, collectors would probably get off the hook. But because the history is still fresh in some people's minds, WW2 hobbyists get a negative stigma associated to them. My parents once saw an original Hitler artwork that was selling for a few hundred dollars; the dealer said nobody would buy it even at such a markdown. Needless to say, they too passed it up. I simply can't believe one would turn down such an important piece of history just because it was "bad" history as opposed to "good" history -- as if there's a distinction.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:49 PM on October 15, 2003

Yeah. Fifty years or so of time does tend to make buildings look older.

So?
posted by ZachsMind at 6:07 PM on October 15, 2003

C_D: "If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao,
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow."
-John Lennon
posted by wendell at 7:02 PM on October 15, 2003

*and* he links to the NRA.

Funny how America's own (potential) brownshirts can't smell their own bad breath blowing back into their faces.

Still. It held my attention for a bit. Thanks for the link.
posted by crasspastor at 7:04 PM on October 15, 2003

Seeing as I now work for the Holocaust Museum in Washington, I feel a professional obligation to explore these pages. Thanks for keeping the line between my work and home life blurry, crunchland!

I actually will bookmark this and share it with my co-workers tomorrow, even though we have enough Nazi stuff to deal with every day. I spent a few hours today tracking down information on Hans Hinkel, the director of Goebbels' propaganda film office.

Cripes, anybody got any good non-Holocaust (or Nazi) books to recommend? I need to take my mind away from this stuff for a while.
posted by arco at 7:22 PM on October 15, 2003

McDonalds replaces swastika (scroll down 13th set)
posted by stbalbach at 8:17 PM on October 15, 2003

Godwinazis
posted by reality at 9:56 PM on October 15, 2003

Hmmm. If you read Albert Speer's autobiography [chief Nazi architect] he had a theory of "ruin value" which Hitler appreciated. He designed his buildings so that that they would look impressive even in ruins, thus spurring the German race to rise again.

So, I find that site slightly disturbing.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 11:52 PM on October 15, 2003

Before and after is always captivating, apparently even if it is just looking at the same scene +/- banners and troops.
posted by rudyfink at 1:17 AM on October 16, 2003

I find it chilling in the following way. It's difficult for me, in the case where the "after" is a normal contemporary city street, to avoid imagining the pictures reversed. One day they were just buildings. The next they had Nazi banners. The fact that some of these pictures look like they could have come from my own town remind me that it could happen here.
posted by originalname37 at 2:39 AM on October 16, 2003 [1 favorite]

Don't worry, TheophileEscargot ... Hitler was wrong about a lot of things.
posted by crunchland at 5:00 AM on October 16, 2003

Having read extensively about the war, particularly the end of the war as the Russians closed in on Berlin, it was fascinating to actually see some of those places today. I wonder if you could stand there without feeling the gravity of what once took place there. Excellent link.
posted by kgasmart at 6:35 AM on October 16, 2003