April 26, 2011

Moscow, 1931

 
 

Sent to you by Raj via Google Reader:

 
 

via Poemas del río Wang by Studiolum on 4/25/11

Kuznetsky Most street, here

We have already published some photo galleries of Moscow from the 1980s and 1960s. Now a great leap follows back in time, to the beginning of the 1930s.

The Kremlin from the Bolshoi Kamenny Most, here

The Library of the University of California in 1971 received the photo legacy of photographer and travelogue lecturer Branson DeCou from his heirs. Between 1921 and 1941 DeCou traveled all over the world, and took about 8 thousand glass slides, not only on the historical monuments but also on the everyday life of the visited cities. He then regularly held presentations with projected slides in various cities of the USA. The library has recently started the digitization of the hand-colored slides.

The Kremlin from the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Most, here

Russian blogger Nikolas11 over the past few days looked over the already digitized material and picked out the photos representing Moscow. In addition, he also placed them, with a laborious work, on the map of the collective site "The photos of Old Moscow". The links "here" in the following captions lead you to the respective point of the map.

The Kremlin from the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Most, here

These pictures are unique not only because of their fascinating atmosphere or the attentive representation of street life and faces. But also because perhaps this was the last moment when the old Moscow could be seen still intact and without the erosion of the following decades. Stalin had just recently blocked the new economic policy announced ten years earlier, and the period of collectivization and repressions as well as of the Socialist transformation of Moscow began. On almost each of the following pictures we see – for the last time – monuments that did not survive the end of the 30s.

The Mosvkoretskaya street and the Vasilevsky spusk from the Moskvoretsky bridge, here

Kremlin, Granovitaya Palace, here

Kremlin, the Blagoveschensky (Annunciation) cathedral, here

The Great Ivan bell tower, here

The Red Square, here

The GUM supermarket, here

Resurrection or Iversky gate (destroyed in 1931), here

Sverdlov (Theatre) square, here


Teatralny proezd towards the Lubyanka, here

The CUM supermarket, here

The Second Moscow Art Theatre (then Central Children's Theatre), here

TORGSIN, the "foreign currency" shop for foreigners (1931-36), here

Ohotny Ryad street, here

The Soviet square, here

Agitation poster for the five years plan on the Soviet square, here

Soviet square, Lenin Institute, here

Strastnaya square (where the giant lion was sleeping), here

Tversky square, with the still standing New Triumphal Gate, here

The Christ Savior cathedral, blown up in 1931, here

The Christ Savior cathedral, here

The Novodevichi monastery, here

The Pyatnitsa street with the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa church (destroyed in 1935), here

The Resurrection of Christ church in Sokolniki, here

Tower of the Church of St. Pantelemon of Athos, here

 




Anti-NEP propaganda

"Fire Protection Propaganda Station"




Sukharev Tower, blown up in 1934, here

The Vladimir Gate on Lubyanka square, destroyed in 1934, here

House of Culture of the "Kauchuk" factory, here

The "Zuev" House of Culture, here

The "Rusakov" Workers' Club, here

Moiseevskaya square, here

Tram station on the Moiseevskaya square, here

New car in old Moscow, here

Foreigners taking photos at MosTorg, here

Foreigner taking photos, here

Kvas and mors (berry beer) seller, here

"A better customer service for the workers!", here

Manifestation along Krasnoprudnaya street, here

Perhaps the interior of the TORGSIN (foreign currency shop), here

Queue in front of the shop of Armenian drinks along the Pyatnitsa street, here

Birzhevaya square, here

Sokolniki, Green theatre, here

Sylvester Stallone's father selling foreign currency at the wall of Kitaigorod :) here

"Soyuzpechat", newspaper seller at the wall of Kitaigorod, here

Taxi station at the Leningrad railway station, here

Carter along the Strominka, here


Worker's Canteen Nº. 1, here

magyarul

 
 

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