Kriegsspuren
@kriegsspuren.bsky.social
Trying to find traces of WW2 in Berlin and other places but also interested in other historical remnants. The long-term goal is to the read my city like a book.
Usually my own photos.
Also into genealogy.
Usually my own photos.
Also into genealogy.
Added three more tram lines from 1939/1941 (lines 8, 44, 191) that started or passed Görlitzer Bahnhof but their routes are still sketchy. I am going to have to work on the details using Histomaps.
December 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Added three more tram lines from 1939/1941 (lines 8, 44, 191) that started or passed Görlitzer Bahnhof but their routes are still sketchy. I am going to have to work on the details using Histomaps.
Here is the 1st one (tram line 4) in 1939 and 1941, based on a list of street names of the route & Histomaps. Latter shows the lines without giving their names so you easily get lost which is why I needed the list of names. Obviously it is superimposed on a current map but it should be mostly fine.
December 11, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Here is the 1st one (tram line 4) in 1939 and 1941, based on a list of street names of the route & Histomaps. Latter shows the lines without giving their names so you easily get lost which is why I needed the list of names. Obviously it is superimposed on a current map but it should be mostly fine.
Of course did I go to Museum island at 2am to check what remains of the buildings NE of the former City Palace (now that they are redesigning the area around Marx-Engels-Forum, Berlin-Mitte) can be seen! The view from Berlin Cathedral (esp. at daytime) is better, of course.
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November 30, 2025 at 1:47 AM
Of course did I go to Museum island at 2am to check what remains of the buildings NE of the former City Palace (now that they are redesigning the area around Marx-Engels-Forum, Berlin-Mitte) can be seen! The view from Berlin Cathedral (esp. at daytime) is better, of course.
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For those interested in the quality of prints of digital photos: Left: Printed by a machine in a local Rossmann store. Right: A (smaller) print I ordered over Rossmann (took about a week). The left one is a bit too contrasty which is fine in this scene. The right one, well, is the right one.
November 25, 2025 at 12:20 AM
For those interested in the quality of prints of digital photos: Left: Printed by a machine in a local Rossmann store. Right: A (smaller) print I ordered over Rossmann (took about a week). The left one is a bit too contrasty which is fine in this scene. The right one, well, is the right one.
The ruin of the Franziskanerkirche (Klosterstr., Berlin-Mitte), a church from the 13th century that was destroyed in an air raid on 3 April 1945, is all that remains of the Franziskanerkloster, a monastery often referred to as “Graues Kloster” (grey m.). (B/W pic: info panel on site).
November 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
The ruin of the Franziskanerkirche (Klosterstr., Berlin-Mitte), a church from the 13th century that was destroyed in an air raid on 3 April 1945, is all that remains of the Franziskanerkloster, a monastery often referred to as “Graues Kloster” (grey m.). (B/W pic: info panel on site).
I am in Großbeeren (S of Berlin, 1.5 hours by bus & train) to pick up a package sent by GLS - the package IS NOT HERE! GLS has already planned for it to be sent to us on Monday (without telling us AND I won‘t be home) so the guy could not get it for me. What a shitshow! Hey, but this is Großbeeren:
November 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I am in Großbeeren (S of Berlin, 1.5 hours by bus & train) to pick up a package sent by GLS - the package IS NOT HERE! GLS has already planned for it to be sent to us on Monday (without telling us AND I won‘t be home) so the guy could not get it for me. What a shitshow! Hey, but this is Großbeeren:
“Sich regen bringt Segen” (moving brings blessings) is from a poem by Friedrich Rückert from 1838. It appears on what looks like a ghost sign at Ritterstr. 2a (Berlin-Kreuzberg), one of the few buildings that survived WW2, especially the air raid on 3 Feb. 1945 that devasteted the neighbourhood.
November 12, 2025 at 4:54 PM
“Sich regen bringt Segen” (moving brings blessings) is from a poem by Friedrich Rückert from 1838. It appears on what looks like a ghost sign at Ritterstr. 2a (Berlin-Kreuzberg), one of the few buildings that survived WW2, especially the air raid on 3 Feb. 1945 that devasteted the neighbourhood.
The class reminds me of this: Did you know that Berlin has a White House, too? You can meet dignitaries (or at least see their portraits) only on the outside, however, as this restaurant on An der Urania, a street in Berlin-Schöneberg, was closed for good a few years ago.
November 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
The class reminds me of this: Did you know that Berlin has a White House, too? You can meet dignitaries (or at least see their portraits) only on the outside, however, as this restaurant on An der Urania, a street in Berlin-Schöneberg, was closed for good a few years ago.
Memorial for Mildred Harnack (née Fish) and her husband Arvid Harnack (both active in the resistance against the Nazis and murdered for espionage) at the Friedhof Zehlendorf, a cemetery at Onkel-Tom-Str. 30 (Berlin-Zehlendorf). Only Mildred Harnack’s remains appear to have been buried here.
November 1, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Memorial for Mildred Harnack (née Fish) and her husband Arvid Harnack (both active in the resistance against the Nazis and murdered for espionage) at the Friedhof Zehlendorf, a cemetery at Onkel-Tom-Str. 30 (Berlin-Zehlendorf). Only Mildred Harnack’s remains appear to have been buried here.
There used to be another bunker on the other side of Udelfangen with a good view of the surroundings but I couldn’t find any traces of it.
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
October 30, 2025 at 11:08 PM
There used to be another bunker on the other side of Udelfangen with a good view of the surroundings but I couldn’t find any traces of it.
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
kulturdb.de/einobjekt.ph...
(…) position). Only the top part still lies open.
Maybe it was also meant to function as a strongpoint as is lies at the intersection of two roads that is also crossed by a brook at the bottom of a valley.
Maybe it was also meant to function as a strongpoint as is lies at the intersection of two roads that is also crossed by a brook at the bottom of a valley.
October 30, 2025 at 11:00 PM
(…) position). Only the top part still lies open.
Maybe it was also meant to function as a strongpoint as is lies at the intersection of two roads that is also crossed by a brook at the bottom of a valley.
Maybe it was also meant to function as a strongpoint as is lies at the intersection of two roads that is also crossed by a brook at the bottom of a valley.
The Sanitätsbunker (medical bunker) in Udelfangen (near Trier) was photographed by my grandfather in 1939 when he was stationed in the area. It was probably destroyed and the remains are now hiding behind trees and shrubs (note that the 2nd photo in the 2nd row was taken from roughly the same (…)
October 30, 2025 at 10:59 PM
The Sanitätsbunker (medical bunker) in Udelfangen (near Trier) was photographed by my grandfather in 1939 when he was stationed in the area. It was probably destroyed and the remains are now hiding behind trees and shrubs (note that the 2nd photo in the 2nd row was taken from roughly the same (…)
The aerial picture shows Oranienstr. betw. Moritzplatz (top) and Jerusalemskirche (bottom) in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The church was heavily damaged and demolished in 1961. Traffic now goes straight into Rudi-Dutschke-Str. (formerly Kochstr.). Stone rows in the asphalt mark the shape of the former church.
October 30, 2025 at 10:54 AM
The aerial picture shows Oranienstr. betw. Moritzplatz (top) and Jerusalemskirche (bottom) in Berlin-Kreuzberg. The church was heavily damaged and demolished in 1961. Traffic now goes straight into Rudi-Dutschke-Str. (formerly Kochstr.). Stone rows in the asphalt mark the shape of the former church.
On gdi.berlin.de/viewer/main/ (Karten > Fachkarten > Basisdaten/Luftbilder > Luftbilder 1954, Schrägaufnahmen) we can see that most WW2 ruins were removed by 1954. Does anyone know in what year most of the clearing was actually finished, i.e. in 1954 or earlier?
October 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
On gdi.berlin.de/viewer/main/ (Karten > Fachkarten > Basisdaten/Luftbilder > Luftbilder 1954, Schrägaufnahmen) we can see that most WW2 ruins were removed by 1954. Does anyone know in what year most of the clearing was actually finished, i.e. in 1954 or earlier?
It’s only when you are away from cities that you notice light pollution. The resolution on Bluesky is rather low but maybe you can help me count the stars. If I only remembered which way my iPhone camera was facing…
October 27, 2025 at 5:55 PM
It’s only when you are away from cities that you notice light pollution. The resolution on Bluesky is rather low but maybe you can help me count the stars. If I only remembered which way my iPhone camera was facing…
The Hohenzollernbrücke, a bridge across the Rhine right next to Cologne Cathedral, was blown up by the German Wehrmacht on 6 March 1945. The tram tracks on the NE side show that there used to be another bridge section for cars, trams etc. that unlike the railway bridge was not rebuilt.
October 27, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The Hohenzollernbrücke, a bridge across the Rhine right next to Cologne Cathedral, was blown up by the German Wehrmacht on 6 March 1945. The tram tracks on the NE side show that there used to be another bridge section for cars, trams etc. that unlike the railway bridge was not rebuilt.
And suddenly Armin Laschet walks past you on the Hohenzollernbrücke in Cologne (only the bridge is in the photo)
October 27, 2025 at 12:09 PM
And suddenly Armin Laschet walks past you on the Hohenzollernbrücke in Cologne (only the bridge is in the photo)
Two memorials in Bullay (Rhineland-Palatinate): (1) A house “(b)uilt in 1913 by the Kahn family who lived here until they fleed in 1937” (2) Seven Stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) for members of the Harf family: Arthur who fled to Brazil in 1935; Julius, Ida, Walter and Inge who fled to the (…)
October 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Two memorials in Bullay (Rhineland-Palatinate): (1) A house “(b)uilt in 1913 by the Kahn family who lived here until they fleed in 1937” (2) Seven Stolpersteine (“stumbling stones”) for members of the Harf family: Arthur who fled to Brazil in 1935; Julius, Ida, Walter and Inge who fled to the (…)
Memorial plaque at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Above my head the presence of God/In memory of our fellow citizens, murdered in 1943/Samuel Aron/ Johanna Aron (née Frenkel)/District Eller of the municipality Ediger-Eller”
October 27, 2025 at 10:47 AM
Memorial plaque at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Above my head the presence of God/In memory of our fellow citizens, murdered in 1943/Samuel Aron/ Johanna Aron (née Frenkel)/District Eller of the municipality Ediger-Eller”
Memorial plaque at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Above my head the presence of God/In memory of our fellow citizens, murdered in 1943/Samuel Aron/ Johanna Aron (née Frenkel)/District Eller of the municipality Ediger-Eller”
October 27, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Memorial plaque at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Above my head the presence of God/In memory of our fellow citizens, murdered in 1943/Samuel Aron/ Johanna Aron (née Frenkel)/District Eller of the municipality Ediger-Eller”
Gravestone at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Here our dear son and brother Emil Feiden is waiting for the Resurrection. *27 April 1920, +27 Feb. 1942 in a hospital in Dresden from frostbite injuries received near Moscow”
On 26 July 1944, Richard (likely his brother) was reported MIA.
On 26 July 1944, Richard (likely his brother) was reported MIA.
October 26, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Gravestone at the cemetery in Eller (Rhineland-Palatinate): “Here our dear son and brother Emil Feiden is waiting for the Resurrection. *27 April 1920, +27 Feb. 1942 in a hospital in Dresden from frostbite injuries received near Moscow”
On 26 July 1944, Richard (likely his brother) was reported MIA.
On 26 July 1944, Richard (likely his brother) was reported MIA.
One of the most beautiful places I know - the Mosel (Moselle) river loop at Bremm (Rhineland-Palatinate). And on my final day, the sun came back, sigh…
October 26, 2025 at 3:37 PM
One of the most beautiful places I know - the Mosel (Moselle) river loop at Bremm (Rhineland-Palatinate). And on my final day, the sun came back, sigh…
Here the complete note from John, Pauline, Gordon and Carole (between Eller and Bremm, Rhineland-Palatinate)
October 26, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Here the complete note from John, Pauline, Gordon and Carole (between Eller and Bremm, Rhineland-Palatinate)