lecture by dr. noud de vreeze about German cities: before, during and after the Second World War.

German cities before, during and after the Second World War.

The bombing and destruction of German cities during the Second World War is not well described in modern urban history: More than 300 cities of more than 50.000 inhabitants were for more than half destroyed. And also, many villages and small towns were seriously damaged.
Never before on such a scale urban cultural heritage was so systematically laid in ruins. But also, the pace of successful reconstruction is amazing and unprecedented in history.
This chapter in the history of Western Europe teaches us at least how resilient cities are, both in their physical structures as in the ideas about their most desirable design.