American aerial photos show Switzerland in 1946

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In this photo series, American bombers flew over Switzerland with the permission of the Swiss government, in 1946. The weapons on board had been replaced with cameras. Frauenfeld in northeastern Switzerland, above, taken in 2014 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

Zurich's international airport in 2016, above, and as the area appeared, below, in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

The municipality of Ecublens on the shore of Lake Geneva, above, taken in 2017 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

The city of Sion in the Rhone valley, above, taken in 2017 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

The city of Chur in eastern Switzerland, above, taken in 2014 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

The municipality of Birsfelden on the banks of the Rhine river, above, taken in 2018 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

The municipality of Cham in the central Swiss Alps, above, taken in 2016 and below in 1946. (Keystone) Keystone

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After the Second World War, American bombers took to the skies over Switzerland on a peaceful mission to capture aerial photos.

After the war had ended, a project was organised between the US and the British to produce a map of the whole of Europe, which would be used for aviation purposes. After the American Embassy approached Switzerland about being involved, the Swiss air force had no objections. But to dispel any suspicions of espionage observers were allowed on board the planes, which were to fly at an altitude between 6000 and 8000 metres over Switzerland.

Cameras replaced weapons

The weapons were dismantled from the bomber planes and two cameras and a viewfinder were installed into the flooring of the aircraft. Flights were to be made from Augsburg in Germany, over Switzerland from west to east and vice versa. A remarkable 4,200 photographs were taken over a period of 34 cloudless days, 530 of these were on one single day in July 1946. The area covered was 17 000 km².

The Swiss observers of the flights noted that the Americans used the most up-to-date technology. While Swiss topography was still working with glass plates, the US used cameras which automatically took 23×23 cm sized pictures. As agreed, the Americans gave the Swiss 64 film rolls with one negative and one positive duplicate each after the project came to an end.

The photos have been made available online by swisstopoExternal link, the Federal Office for Topography.