Germany

 

Colgne

"This is what old Cologne looked like before the war. Lost forever.

The city lost 91 of its 150 churches in bombing raids between 1940 and 1945. Thankfully the great Kölner Dom survived, but countless Romanesque churches were obliterated.

90% of the central areas were levelled. In one incendiary bombing campaign in May 1942, over 15,000 buildings were destroyed in 90 minutes. What wasn't hit by a direct blast was consumed in the fire.

Most of the city was later built back in brutalist concrete, and with density too low such that it completely erased the charm of the medieval town." 

after the bombing