HOME MOVIES: BERLIN GERMANY WWII AFTERMATH

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1947

Format: 16mm

Description: Filmed in 1947 by an intrepid American tourist, these 16mm silent home movies show bomb damaged areas in Berlin, Germany. Bombed out sections of the capital including images of the German parliament building are seen, as well as an underground entry way that could have been one of the entrances to Hitler's bunker. A series of bullet-ridden facades are shown, as well as enormous piles of rubble, attesting to the ferocity of combat that took place in 1945. Amazingly resilient German civilians are seen moving the rubble and trying to begin the first steps at rebuilding. Around the 00:03:14:00 mark the cameraman visits the Hotel Belvedere, location unknown. Even here in what appears to be the countryside, damaged buildings are visible. At 00:06:00:00, the film appears to take a leap forward in time to the late 1950s or early 1960s. The Berlin Hilton and other buildings are seen, in a rebuilt Germany, as well as the Brandenburg Gate and a monument to WWII.

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