Life East Germany Photos on Google Images

[ehrentitle]

I saw a simular posting on the US Military Forum and thought folks here would be interested as well. Google has now scanned two million of the 10 million photos in the LIFE archives and placed them online. You can also type in a keyword in the Google search box and then follow it with the phrase source:life - so if you wanted to see images of East Germany you'd type in East Germany source:life

Here are a couple of examples using East German, East Germany and Soviet Zone:

http://images.google.com/images?q=ea...&safe=off&sa=2

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

[ehrentitle]

Other interesting searches are:

Berlin Wall:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

East Berlin:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

Otto Grotewohl:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...=Search+Images

Walter Ulbricht:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...3Alife&spell=1

Erich Honecker brought up nothing.

[ehrentitle]

Here is an example of one of the photos, East German Army Generals at Army day reception. Prague, Czechoslovakia May 1956

From the collar tabs they don't appear to be Generals, maybe Colonels.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life...a3cefff6fa8f17

[torstenbel]

lovely painting of Nikolai Lenin .... http://images.google.com/hosted/life...N%26ie%3DUTF-8

[Knuckles930]

Thanks for sharing, very usefull.

[grenzflieger]

Thanks very much, this must be one of the most beautiful photo collection I've ever seen

[Gene T]

Was this a common sight at DDR costume parties? Were there imperial collectors in the DDR?!

http://images.google.com/hosted/life...8207dcf87cc848

[torstenbel]

certainly not a common sight, but there were collectors in the DDR. Do you know when this pic was taken? There are a mixture of East German and West German cigarettes on the table ... it is possible that this pic was taken after the wall came down...? Cheers, Torsten.

Was this a common sight at DDR costume parties? Were there imperial collectors in the DDR?!

http://images.google.com/hosted/life...8207dcf87cc848

[Gene T]

certainly not a common sight, but there were collectors in the DDR. Do you know when this pic was taken? There are a mixture of East German and West German cigarettes on the table ... it is possible that this pic was taken after the wall came down...? Cheers, Torsten.

This one is from a series of snapshots apparently taken at a party, under the heading "East German Industrial Development", credited to Ralph Crane. None of the photos was tagged otherwise. Judging by that lady's buffant, I would venture that this party took place no later than December 31, 1969.

But what kind of industrial achievement were they celebrating? It must have been something beauty- or youth-oriented, given the absence of non-photogenic party-goers or anyone obviously over 40 (which means most of these people are alive today, and can easily answer this question for us by coming forward and identifying themselves, now that their once-forgotten photos pop up so easily and prominently on Google).

Perhaps these young workers belonged to an industrial theatre group?
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=east+germany++source:life&imgurl=1f472eae0f880 d4e

I don't know of too many regular folks who would (or could) perform this kind of party tricks, especially after much drinking:
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=east+germany++source:life&imgurl=9bb24ca538b2d c39

Here is another view of a nice imperial Rock making an appearance at that party, partially obscured by contemporary rock'n-rollers from the decadent and goofy West (I think):
http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=east+germany++source:life&imgurl=791505d5d037a 8ed

Pretty intriguing stuff...
Gene T

[torstenbel]

Hi Gene, I am not convinced that Lady is a 'Lady' .... don't forget this looks like a historically themed dressing up party and I do also not think that this is 1960s ... pretty sure that it is late 80s ... but of course, I can only guess from those pics ... but, whenever it took place, it certainly looks like they had a good time ... so, Party On Dude, Torsten.

[Gene T]

Your guess should be better than mine, Torsten, since you are speaking from experience.

However, I think mine may have come a bit closer than yours in this case. Ralph Crane was apparently German-born, and didn't live long enough to see the reunification:
http://theimagemuseum.com/photographer/Ralph-Crane.html

Here is another photo taken by him in 1953 that should be of interest to members of this board. The caption is very obviously erroneous:
http://images.google.com/hosted/life...9130e50f969537#

Maybe we can ask Rita Crane, his daughter, who is also a photographer, to see if Ralph wrote down any notes in association with these photos.

Gene T

[torstenbel]

Hi Gene, looks like he took most of his Life photos in Germany in 50s and 60s, so maybe you are right about the timeframe ... just kind of does not look like it ...? Cheers, Torsten.