Friday, December 20, 2013

Berlin, 1900, captured on film.


Crisp, colorized film footage shows bustling street life in Berlin and Munich in 1900 and 1914. (Direct link to video)

Note: miniature car at 2:14,
kids doing somersaults at 2:36,
steam-powered vehicle in the upper right of the shot at 3:07,
guy working a camera at 3:10.

Thanks, Christian.

8 comments:

iMigraine said...

That music was really powerful, gave it an ominous feel.

Robert Michael Walsh said...

It makes the past very real. How many of those in uniform would be dead in a few years in the Great War?

Monika Baum said...

My home country, before it went all wrong. And what a soundtrack! I didn't know I could get emotional about this kind of thing, but I just did.

Robert Michael Walsh said...

On second viewing I clicked on the follow-on link. My earlier question was addressed.

Rich said...

So many horses, moustaches and beards.
I prefer the horses;-)

Connie Nobbe said...

That was very cool to watch, and also haunting.

Smurfswacker said...

There is something awe-inspiring about these early videos. Thanks to the Internet I've seen vintage films of everyday life the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the USA. Peering at them you can almost see real people: the generations born, living, dying; the buildings built, used, demolished; times of peace, war, disaster; new technologies bursting into life as old technologies fade quietly away. In color, even false color, it hits home even harder. That's us, embracing the latest fashion, anticipating the future, clinging to the past, marching off to war...and another war,and another. How different we are! How much the same!

James Gurney said...

Beautifully put, Smurfswacker. It's hard to put my finger on, but there are qualities to these films that are impossible for Hollywood period flicks to reconstruct, no matter how much effort they put into costumes and sets or even to giving the film retro artifacts. Maybe it has to do with the way people move. In the Berlin film you could see all the hat habits, for example, gentlemen tipping their hats to royalty or to a lady, are the way corseted women used to walk.