National Geographic revolutionized photography and the photo essay.
The magazine's photographers, who are sometimes armed with up to nine different cameras and 500 rolls of film for a single assignment, have captured the world with tack-sharp images.
More than 200 photos from the past 125 years are featured in the new book "National Geographic: Around the World in 125 Years - Europe."
"The ideal Geographic picture should command attention," writes Photo Editor Franklin Fisher, who worked for the magazine in the 1920s.
Below, see our favorites.
Captions are from "National Geographic: Around the World in 125 Years - Europe."
SEE ALSO: 15 stunning photos that show why Portugal should be on your travel bucket list
West Germany, 1973
Shafts of sunlight stream through the windows of Munich's Augustiner Beer Hall, illuminating thousands of stein-hoisting patrons celebrating the annual Oktoberfest.
Writing in the March 1974 Geographic about Bavaria's 1,200 breweries, author Gary Jennings quipped: "One could have a Bavarian beer with his meals three times a day — and some do — for more than a year without drinking the same brand twice."
Soviet Union, 1965
A Russian fantasia in masonry, Moscow's multicolored, many-domed St. Basil's Cathedral stands mirrored in a Red Square rain puddle. Dating back to 1552, the dazzling edifice, with no fewer than eight side churches clustered around its central sanctuary, has survived not only fire and war but also the horses that Napoleon had stabled in its nave and the Bolsheviks who had hoped to raze it. It remains a state museum today.
Sweden, 2015
The setting sun silhouettes Mount Nammatj in the Rapa Valley of Sarek National park in northern Sweden. Nothing exemplifies wild Scandinavia like this sprawling reserve, home to more than a hundred glaciers, six of the nation's 13 highest peaks, and myriad lakes and streams.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider