Why are postcards of Cologne in ruins following WW2 bombing sold in the city?

Question

Two years ago I visited Cologne and while I very much enjoyed my stay, one thing did stick out for me as incredibly odd.

Souvenir shops in addition to selling key rings, fridge magnets and standard postcards of the city, would also sell postcards with images of the Cologne cathedral or other parts of the city ruined by bombing in the Second World War.

Can someone please explain this peculiarity? Am I missing some important aspect of German culture here? I've never seen this anywhere else.

I can't imagine sending this to someone abroad, what would I say with it? 'Look at the beautiful destruction the Allied bombers inflicted upon our lovely city'. It struck me as something very right-wing (probably something the NPD would probably do) and just weird to find in a standard tourist shop.

When I asked my German friend about it, he quipped that it was so '... the Germans never forget who the true enemy is!'. But was otherwise just as dumbfound as I was.

Answer 1

As a German, I can't remember seeing such postcards anywhere, though I haven't been to Cologne (except for changing trains). I'm pretty sure it's not meant politically - a tourist shop is surely the last place that would do anything meant to offend tourists (and an unlikely place for a nationalist to own or work at).

But it is certainly true that the devastation suffered by German cities in WWII is an important part of our history and somewhat of a national trauma (and Cologne was one of the worst-hit cities). Postcards depicting destroyed landmarks like churches were sometimes distributed in order to get people to donate for the reconstruction efforts. It's a bit weird to have them show up in tourist shops, but I wouldn't see it as anything other than a bit of history.

Answer 2

There was a bombing campaign by the RAF only 4 days before the city was captured by the American forces. Perhaps it is to act as a reminder to some of the needless operations against the civilian population right at the end of the war when the outcome was fairly certain.