20 Amazing Then and Now Photos That Show How Much Paris Has Changed Since the 1900s

French art director Julien Knez spent a summer taking photos of Parisian streets overlaid with vintage photos of what they used to look like.

The vintage photos range from 1871 to 1968, and highlight key moments in Parisian history, from the great flood of 1910 to the city's Nazi occupation and liberation.
Knez turned his project into a book, Paris, Fenêtres Sur l'Histoire, published by Parigramme, which contains 80 images of modern Parisian streets overlaid with old photographs that reveal what the French capital looked like over 100 years ago.

1. Place Vendôme, 1871


2. Rue du Faubourg-du-Temple, 1871


3. The Statue of Liberty on Boulevard de Courcelles, 1883


4. Jardin du Luxembourg, 1895


5. Moulin Rouge, 1900


6. Quai de Conti, 1900


7. Rue du Calvaire, Montmarte, c.1900


8. Place de l’Opéra, 1900


9. Eiffel Tower, 1900


10. Arc de Triomphe, 1909


11. Métro Odéon, 1910


12. Gare du Nord, August 1914


13. Station Concorde, August 1914


14. Quai d’Orléans, 1930


15. Printemps, Boulevard Haussmann, 1930


16. Hitler's visit to the Arc de Triomphe, June 1940


17. Hitler's visit to Place de l’Opéra, June 23, 1940


18. Rue de Rivoli, during the Nazi occupation, c.1942


19. Avenue du Général-Eisenhower, August 1944


20. Friends meeting during the Liberation of Paris — Place de l’Hôtel de Ville, August 1944

 


(Photos © Julien Knez, via Business Insider)