This is the Silesian town of Görlitz. It is a rare survivor of both the bombings as well as post-war soviet neglect. The town and surrounding countryside remain largely unspoiled, a rare combination these days.
It is basically what your average old German town looked like right up until WWII. Many of the smaller towns that escaped bombing were destroyed as the allied armies pushed for Berlin. Somehow Gorlitz escaped this destruction.
What most people don’t know is that many towns in Germany that survived the war intact were demolished in order to provide building materials for the reconstruction of Warsaw. This is a sordid little fact that you will not hear on any tour group or read in an American textbook. Görlitz just barely escaped this fate as well.
Görlitz is actually split. One half, which is the aldstadt, belongs to Germany. The other, going by the name Zgorzelec, belongs to Poland. Little surprise that the only unattractive part of this town falls on the polish side, which was built up with unsightly communist-style blocks.
The old town contains an astounding collection of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture, most of which you will see here and in the following posts. I have read that Dresden looked very much like Gorlitz. Many filmakers are now taking advantage of the wealth of buildings as a backdrop for their movies.
This is part 1 of a 3 part photo essay, which will show images of both the town as well as the surrounding countryside.
Please enjoy.
(These photographs were found on Foto-community, flickr, Imageshack...
Please click on photos for larger image)
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Originally Posted by Valkyrie
In fact, I had been planning to PM a moderator asking them to do just that before I post the third installment. Thank you. 
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