The love padlocks, called cadenas d’amour, multiplied until there were thousands of love tokens on the bridge, each engraved with a message of love. (Photo by Charles Platiau/Reuters)

It is already one of the world’s most iconic cities, but this incredible collection shows how much Paris has changed over the course of the past century. The collection, by French photographer Julien Knez, shows Paris in the 1940s against a backdrop of how the same places look today. Knez says he put the striking collection together to celebrate the 71st anniversary of the city’s liberation from Nazi control in August 1944. Here: Soldiers outside the Hotel De Ville in the 1940s. (Photo by Julien Knez/Caters News)

The Toyota FCV Plus fuel cell concept car is displayed on media day at the Paris auto show, in Paris, France, September 29, 2016. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” Coupe is displayed during an exhibition of vintage and classic cars by Bonhams auction house at the Grand Palais during the Retromobile week in Paris, France, February 8, 2017. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

The Mercedes Vision EQ Silver Arrow is displayed at the Auto show in Paris, France, Tuesday, October 2, 2018, 2018. The one-seater vehicle is an homage to the record-breaking W 125 car from 1937. (Photo by Thibault Camus/AP Photo)

Boys in ceremonial uniform at the civil wedding ceremony of American actress Grace Kelly and Rainier III, Prince of Monaco at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, 18th April 1956. Original publication: Picture Post - 8336 - The Hour Of Marriage - pub. 28th April 1956.

Audrey Tautou attends “La Delicatesse” Paris Premiere on December 13, 2011 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Participants of the Sarenza High Heel Race 2015 warm up prior to the race during a party of the online shoe store, in Paris, Thursday, October 15, 2015. Competitors in teams of three girls race wearing shoes with more than 8 cm-high heels. (Photo by Francois Mori/AP Photo)