Shards of history: interesting and rare photographs of Europe (21 photos)

In this collection we will look at life, culture, traditions and simply interesting photos from different cities.





Hugs. Paris, 1934.



Photographer: Fred Stein

One of the first models of a chainsaw. Berlin, 1931.

German engineer and inventor and founder of the Stihl company, Andreas Stihl, invented the world's first chainsaw in 1926. It was electric and had two handles at both ends. It weighed 64 kilograms and required two people to cut it.

In 1930, the Stihl company created the first chainsaw in history that could be operated by only one person. The company continued to grow, and in 1931 it became the first European company to export chainsaws to the United States and the Soviet Union.





A worker hangs pasta to dry. Italy, 1932.

A worker collects pasta from a pasta tree!

Neapolitan or solar drying is an old way of drying pasta. During the day, the products were hung on special poles in the scorching sun, and at night they were put away in the basement. This process took from 3 to 5 days, depending on the thickness of the pasta.



A suspended monorail over the Wupper River in the German city of Wuppertal, 1913.

This is the oldest electric elevated railway with suspended carriages in the world. It was opened in 1901 and is still in operation today.

In 1950, the Althoff Circus organized a publicity stunt by putting a baby elephant on a train at the Alter Markt station. When the elephant began to jump during the ride, she was pushed out of the carriage and fell into the Wupper River. The elephant, two journalists and one passenger received minor injuries. After this jump, the elephant was named Tuffy, which means "diving into water" in Italian. After the incident, the operator and the director of the circus were fined.



Laundresses Ebba Stendahl and Lisa Johansson. Sweden, 1958.



Photographer: Rolf Olson

Woman with a goat. Sweden, 1913.



Prague Embankment, 1955.

The Vltava Embankment is a popular attraction in the city. It starts at the Stefanik Bridge and ends at Vysehrad, its length is 5.6 km. Walking along it you can see many historical buildings or take a boat ride.



Photographer: Eva Fuka

A baby elephant frolics with children. GDR, 1958.

Race with Kosko. The little elephant was a gift from Vietnam, and she was allowed to move freely around the zoo, since there was no open-air enclosure for her yet. When she grew up, of course, her freedom ended.



Parisian fashion, 1919.

France, as the metropolis of North Africa, apparently took some of its culture from there, the girl on the left is wearing zouaves - an item of national clothing of the Algerians. And the headdresses are surprising.



Children burn Soviet literature and propaganda materials on Vaci Street, Budapest, 1956.

Similar propaganda photographs can be seen during almost any military conflict.



A gymnastics director demonstrates gymnastics equipment at a metallurgical plant, Sweden, 1957.

A Swedish wall or a Swedish woman at the wall. After a shift at the blast furnace, this is a lot of gymnastics!



Photographer: Lennart Olofsson.

A woman tramples grapes to make wine in Frascati, Italy, 1957.

Grape trampling, or grape stomping, is part of the maceration method used in traditional winemaking. Instead of being crushed in a wine press or other mechanized method, the grapes are repeatedly stomped in vats by barefoot participants to release the juice and begin fermentation.

Grape trampling was widespread throughout the history of winemaking, but with the introduction of industrial methods it now survives mainly as a recreational or competitive activity at cultural festivals.



Two women in deck chairs on the beach, 1935 – 1940.



Photographers: Andre and Irene Reiss

Budapest, 1956.



Photographer: Mario De Biasi

Family portrait. Blenio Valley, Switzerland. Early 20th century.



Photographer: Robert Donett

Greece, 1903-1911.



Photographer: Frederic Boisson

Mass on an ice field. Switzerland, 1943.

Mass is a service in the Catholic and Lutheran churches. Here, they apparently decided to get closer to God to perform the sacrament.



Photographer: Leonard von Matt

St. Mark's Square. Venice, 1950-1970s.

Snow is not uncommon in this city, and in the 1960s there were such severe frosts that even the canals froze.



Photographer: Gianni Berengo Gardin

A rally for the legalization of abortion. Italy, 1975.



On an Italian beach, 1960s.

It's hot there on the beach. Literally and figuratively.