It was last year I recall, when I last refered to architecture and its significance, it seems to me the more refined and moral a culture is, the more refined and beautiful its buildings are, the outside being a reflection of the inside. That is why we can’t build anything beautiful anymore, there is no beauty in our souls, we can build big, we can build ugly, we can build shabby, but not beautiful anymore.
I recently found some beautiful coloured photographs of Antebellum Germany, pre Great War that is, and to look at these photos, is to realise how far we have gone down, I just don’t understand how we can’t build beautiful anymore, technically I am sure we are able, but from all the evidence, it seems no one that matters, the architects, the patrons and the planning authorities have any desire to see anything beautiful built. Which makes Prince Charles’ recent intervention in the Chelsea Barracks saga all the more cheering!
The photos show a time when Germany was at peace, a prosperous, ordered and beautiful country, some cities such as Danzig and Breslau are no longer German, having been ethnically cleansed in 1945 by the Soviets, some like Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden were turned into seas of flames by the ‘virtuous’ Allies, some such as Munich are more or less similar to the photos, and thankfully so! Dresden has risen out of it’s rubble, but once a city has been violated, the way Dresden has, I feel it is hard ever to be the same again.
The one thing that these photos do, is fill me with immense sadness.
I will leave with the photographs;
Berlin
Breslau
Danzig
Freiburg
Dresden
Halle
Hamburg
Karlsruhe
Leipzig
Magdeburg
Munich
Stettin
Irish Tory 
Good lord, you are right, it is horribly saddening. Its like watching a happy loving family at the beginning of a horror movie. Knowing what comes next makes the experience painful.
Thanks for posting those great photos.
I’m always interested in photos of what our civilisation used to look like. It seems to me the greatest refutation of the lies we are told about how uncivilised and barbarous our forefathers were. Anyone, or any civilisation that can build such beautiful places can’t be backward or uncivilised.
Compare it to our cities today!
That is all one needs to do.
Freiburg is still very pretty at least (just blink as you pass C&A and the other chains and pretend you didn’t see them).
Reblogged this on Appointed Times of The Nations and commented:
What more can I add?!
Perhaps I am too late here (6 years) however I have noticed one error here. Gdansk(ger. Danzig) pre world war was a independent state with economic connection to Poland not German and especially it wasn’t within German borders.