Google Earth 5 introduced a great feature called historical imagery which enables you to turn back the clock and see imagery of a location from a previous timeline, if available. Historical images are available on select cities up to several decades back. Google has now added another set of images – historical images going back to the World War 2 era.
The historical imagery feature gives people a unique perspective on the events of the past using today’s latest mapping technology. We hope that this World War II imagery will enable all of us to understand our shared history in a new way and to learn more about the impact of the war on the development of our cities.
Above: The German city of Stuttgart and Below: The French city of Lyon
These aerial images taken during the WW2 show the effect of wartime bombing on more than 35 European towns and cities. At some places, like Warsaw, which was heavily destroyed at the time, imagery is available from both years 1935 and 1945. “They remind us all of the devastating impact of war on the people in those cities and also the remarkable way in which urban environments are reconstructed and regenerated over time.”
[via Google Lat Long Blog]
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