It’s unbelievable how the world can change in just one century. Can you imagine what life was like in the 1910s, for example, before the two world wars, decades prior to the tech revolution? Since the human life span sadly rarely exceeds the noble age of a hundred years, most of us cannot know what life was like in those times, and even those lucky few who were around back then were probably too young to remember and reflect on those now lost times.
Luckily, we have photography and the internet today, and we can easily look up old photographs that date back as early as the 1820s, so we can compare the world of the past to our present. This kind of reflection and comparison is exactly the fun exercise Casper Molenaar, a photographer from the Netherlands, had chosen to undertake. Molenaar collected several rare photobooks of the famous early German photograph Kurt Hielscher (1881-1948). Hielscher traveled extensively around Europe between the 1910s and the 1930s and published several books featuring the noteworthy architecture of many European countries.
Following in the footsteps of the famous German photographer, Molenaar decided to visit the sights photographer by Hielscher over a century ago and to rephotograph them as they are today. Needless to say, the results are just stunning, and the side-by-side comparison of these sights is something you simply must see for yourself, so here are 15 of the best photos:
To view even more of these fascinating comparison photos, visit Casper Molenaar’s Facebook Page.
1. City Gate, Trogir, Croatia (1926 vs. April 24, 2019)
2. Charles Bridge, Prague, the Czech Republic (1941 vs. 2020)
3. Ponte Dei Sospiri, The Bridge of Sighs in Venice, Italy (1925 vs. 2018)
4. Dubrovnik and The Island Of Lokrum (1926 vs. 2019)
5. Limburg An Der Lahn, Germany (1924 vs. 2019)
6. Forum Romanum, Rome, Italy (1925 vs. 2016)
7. Kamerlengo Castle, Trogir, Croatia (1926 vs. 2019)
8. Quedlinburg, Germany (1924 vs. 2020)
9. Puente Nuevo, Ronda, Andalucía, Spain (c.1914-1916 vs. 2019)
10. Litoměřice, the Czech Republic (1941 vs. 2020)
11. Ljubljana Castle, Slovenia (1926 vs. 2018)
12. San Sebastian, Spain (c.1914-1919 vs. 2019)
13. Perast, Montenegro (1926 vs. 2018)
14. Bled, Slovenia (1926 vs. 2018)
15. The Castle Of Alcalá De Guadaíra, Spain (c.1914-1919 vs. 2019)
Share these photos with those who love vintage photography!
