The Fifties have a particular place in our collective imagination: the decade of elegance and sophistication, of the economic boom, of “the Golden Age” of radio, of the birth of rock and roll, of the beginnings of television, and the dawn of commercial air travel.
However, these iconic characteristics of the Fifties represent only one side of the decade, inspired by the bright and optimistic eagerness for change that spread all over Europe after the Second World War ended. The Cold War, the fear of a nuclear conflict, the authoritarian regimes in Spain and Portugal, a divided Germany, and a controlling conservative society were also part of European citizens’ everyday life.
These wonderful photos were taken by huebner family photos that show street scenes of Europe countries such as West Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, Belgium, England, Scotland in 1958.
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| Belgium. British pavilion at Expo 58, the World's Fair in Brussels, August 1958 |
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| Belgium. Outside the Czechoslovak pavilion at Expo 58, the World's Fair in Brussels, August 1958 |
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| Belgium.Japanese pavilion at Expo 58, the World's Fair in Brussels, August 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. A Velorex three-wheeled car parked somewhere in southern Moravia, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. Column of the Holy Trinity (completed 1754), Olomouc, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. In the Prague Castle, Prague, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. National Museum, Prague, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. Slovak women in peasant costume on Sunday morning, somewhere in the Tatra mountain region, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. Street scene in Havířov, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. The colonade in Mariánské Lázně, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. The Lower Gate, Domažlice, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. The spa in Luhačovice, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. View from the Prague Castle, Prague, July 1958 |
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| Czechoslovakia. View of Wenceslas Square from the National Museum, Prague, July 1958 |
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| England. Chapel Street, Stratford-upon-Avon. The half-timbered building on the left is the Shakespeare Hotel, the stone building at the end of the street is the Guild Chapel, August 1958 |
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| England. Member of the Queen's Guard at Windsor Castle, Windsor, August 1958 |
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| England. The Palace of Westminster, including the Clock Tower ("Big Ben"), London, August 1958 |
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| England. The Victoria Memorial (1911; sculptor- Sir Thomas Brock) in front of Buckingham Palace, London, August 1958 |
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| England. Tower Bridge, London, August 1958 |
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| England. View of the ruins of St. Michael's Cathedral and the statue of Lady Godiva (1949; sculptor- Sir William Reid Dick), Coventry, August 1958 |
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| France. Cathedral in Strasbourg, July 1958 |
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| France. Flower stall, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. Fountain of the Observatory (with statues by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux) in the Jardin Marco Polo, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. Luxembourg Palace and Gardens, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. Luxor Obelisk (c. 1300 BC), Place de la Concorde, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. Market street in Paris, August 1958 |
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| France. Museum d'Histoire Naturelle and the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. Notre Dame, Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. The Moulin Rouge nightclub, Paris, August 1958 |
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| France. The Panthéon (architect- Jacques-Germain Soufflot; completed- 1789), Paris, July 1958 |
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| France. The Place Stanislas, Nancy, July 1958 |
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| France. Town hall and the Place Stanislas, including a statue of Stanisław Leszczyński, duke of Lorraine (sculpted by Georges Jacquot, 1794–1874), Nancy, July 1958 |
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| France. View of Strasbourg, July 1958 |
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| France. View of the Eiffel Tower from atop the Arch of Triumph, Paris, July 1958 |
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| Scotland. Alexander Redford, the blacksmith with whom the travelers stayed in Glendoick, August 1958 |
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| Scotland. The Sir Walter Scott Monument (1841-45; architect- George Meikle Kemp), Edinburgh, August 1958 |
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| Scotland. View including the Sir Walter Scott Monument (1841-45; architect- George Meikle Kemp), Edinburgh, August 1958 |
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| West Germany. Half-timbered buildings (including the hotel-restaurant Im wilden Mann, which still exists as of 2022), Soest, June 1958 |
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| West Germany. Modernist building in Stuttgart, July 1958 |
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| West Germany. Postwar reconstruction of the New Palace (Neues Schloss), Stuttgart, July 1958 |
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| West Germany. The Heidelberg University library, Heidelberg, June 1958 |
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| West Germany. Traffic in Munich, July 1958 |
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| West Germany. View in Goslar, June 1958 |
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| West Germany. Wagon with sugar beets, somewhere in Bavaria, June 1958 |
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| West Germany. Walter Lamb in front of the town hall in Munich, July 1958 |