Fozzy The Bear

Published: 7 Dec 09 16:52 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20091207-23787.html

Google Earth recently added a new feature for history fans: With the program’s historical imagery function, users now can explore the devastating ruin of Berlin just before the end of the Second World War.

Using Allied aerial intelligence images shot on March 21, 1945 provided by the US National Archive, the geography program’s makers have created a patchy historical map of the German capital city’s Mariendorf, Mitte, and Prenzlauer Berg districts following the extensive bombing of the war and the Soviet assault on the German capital.

Users must have the updated 5.0 version of Google Earth before they can click on the tiny clock in the program’s toolbar where a sliding time scale takes them back to 1945. Here they will find huge craters that speckle the Tempelhof airfield, a gutted Reichstag surrounded by a treeless Tiergarten and the once grand Unter den Linden boulevard leading to the hollowed-out dome of the Berlin Cathedral.

If they slide the time scale to the right, they can compare this apocalyptic landscape to that of 1953, where one begins to see the results of rebuilding efforts after the war. These later photos were provided by the aerial photo data bank in Würzburg, and can also be compared to contemporary images.

The Berlin historical view launched on November 6 and joins other historical views of US cities Las Vegas, Nevada and San Francisco, California.

“Most active users of Google Earth outside of the US are located in Germany,” Google spokesperson Stefan Keuchel told The Local. “It’s been like that for years. Germans really like this product,” he said, adding that its popularity helped inspire the most recent project for Berlin.

The new feature follows this year’s springtime launches of the German Street View function and a 3-D format for the virtual globe’s Berlin map, which allows virtual tours of some 500,000 buildings and 80 detailed models of landmarks.

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Carne

Darn, I was hoping for Normandy aerial shots, or even the Pacific

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Fozzy The Bear

I bet you that will happen pretty soon.

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DiBBs

I wonder if you can see german units mobilizing on the streets in the aerial shots

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Poorlaggedman

That picture looks like the reichstag. I was just there a few days ago. Took a piss on it actually, not meaning to offend anyone just wanted to be able to say I did it since it was so easy. Picked up a postcard with a pretty badass picture of a destroyed 88mm AA gun in front of it. From what I understand the reichstag had sustained heavy bombing before the battle of berlin but as you can see its very badly damaged and these could be photos of the devastation after the battle. Either way, pretty interesting.



I cant remember what channel showed it, possibly national geographic or discovery channels. but they had a special on Guadalcanal extensively using arial shots that i saw in the past year

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Poorlaggedman

General, RnL, Commanding

Nathan

Ohh.. Cool

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