This is another set of pics taken in 1950 by a neighbor whose husband was stationed in Germany while serving in the US Air Force Counter Intelligence Corps. These are from Vienna, and the writing on the backs describe what we are looking at.
This tank was supposed to be the first Russian tank that rolled into Vienna. After the war Vienna was divided into sectors, like Berlin. And this monument to Russian prowess implies this was in the Russian sector. The handwriting says there was propaganda on the building in the background, although it's impossible to read.
This is a photo a big Ferris wheel, and the handwriting says it's the same one that was in the 1949 movie The Third Man which was about international intrigue in post war Vienna. I recorded "The Third Man" from a TCM broadcast the other day and planned to have screen shot of the scene in which Joseph Cotton walks toward the Big Wheel and gestured at it to his adversary off screen. But unfortunately, the Windows 7 upgrade refuses to acknowledge the TV tuner that came with my old HP computer. So you'll have to trust me on that. Or you can watch it in this clip at Youtube.
Added later: Here's that shot of Joseph Cotton in front of the Big Wheel in "The Third Man," captured from the above linked Youtube video.
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