Frauenkirche Reconstruction

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Back to a story posted on the main page on 4 June 2004:

Frauenkirche nearing completion

The fascinating reconstruction project for the famous Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), destroyed in the Dresden firestorm in February 1945, is finally approaching its end, with the consecration scheduled for October 2005. This Protestant sandstone cathedral with its impressive bell-shaped dome was probably the finest and most important piece of baroque architecture in the northern part of Germany, and an irreplaceable landmark in the skyline of the Saxonian capital city. The burnt-out structure collapsed two days after the devastating allied air raid of 13/02/45. The blackened mound of ruble formed a scar in the historic city centre and for the coming 47 years served as a grim reminder of the bombing's horrors.

Some people in Germany were opposed to the idea of rebuilding the monument, wanting the site to remain a ruin, as a memorial against wars. But I agree with the majority that the reconstruction is absolutely essential; apart from that, the new church will hopefully become a symbol of peace and reconciliation. The gilded pinnacle cross that will crown the dome was financed by British donors and crafted in Great Britain - by the son of one of the bomber pilots. Also, Dresden and Coventry (the English town that most suffered from German air strikes, also losing its cathedral to bombs) have become sister cities. Shortly after the German reunification in 1990, a citizens' initiative was founded, calling for the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche. Later a foundation was established and the reconstruction was approved and started in 1992 - largely being financed by donations. (For example, you could, and still can, symbolically adopt a stone or a seat in a pew.)

It was attempted to reintegrate as many of the remaining original stones as possible (which, due to the colour difference, will have the side effect of reminding the beholder of the building's painful history). Thus the work was sometimes similar to a giant puzzle. During the first 2 years of the reconstruction, the rubble was cleared from the site and all the usable fragments numbered and stored on some sort of giant shelves in a 'field warehouse' in front of the church ruin which I saw myself when visiting Dresden in 1994.

Some Facts:
Original building started: 1726
Original building completed: 1743
Destroyed: 15 February 1945
Reconstruction started: 1992
Reconstruction ends: 2005 (Interior: 2006)
Overall height of the structure: 91.24m
Estimated cost: 130 million Euro

Project site: http://www.frauenkirche-dresden.org/
(in German and English)
Photos/description of reconstruction progress over the years: click on "A Place of Hope", then "Chronology" > there also: webcam.

Excerpt from the site:

The rebuilding process essentially pursues three central ideas:

- The Frauenkirche of George Bähr should be rebuilt according to the historic plans using as many of the original stones as possible.
- The latest findings in the field of statics and building physics as well as state-of-the-art technology should be employed in this process.
- Every aspect to ensure a lively usage of the church building in the 21st century must be taken into consideration.

Since original stones are being used wherever possible the Frauenkirche will still show signs of its fate and destruction even after its restoration. The dark colour of the old stones and dimensional deviations where new and old stonework meet call to mind the scars of an old wound. The Frauenkirche will thus continue to bear witness to the history of its destruction in future. But at the same time it will be a testimony to man’s ability to overcome enmity and a symbol of hope and reconciliation.

Wikipedia articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frauenkirche (English)
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frauenkirche_%28Dresden%29 (German version, with more photos)

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Frauenkirche again: the copper roof and golden cross were finally installed. Good stories + photos on Yahoo News (don't know how long the articles will be accessible, so I pasted them here):

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...y_dresden_dc_1

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...story_religion


Dresden Church Gets British Cross in WWII Gesture
Tue Jun 22, 1:04 PM ET

By Lars Rischke

DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - A British-built cross was hoisted onto Dresden's Frauenkirche cathedral Tuesday in a gesture of reconciliation that coincides with new controversy over whether the 1945 Allied bombing of the city was justified.

The giant golden cross was built by the son of a British bomber pilot who took part in the World War II raid that killed an estimated 35,000 people and destroyed 80 percent of the city, including the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).

Left in rubble for half a century, the Baroque bell-shaped church has undergone extensive reconstruction since German reunification.

Tens of thousands gathered in Dresden's historic center to the sound of a brass band and choir, to watch a crane gingerly lift a copper roof topped with the cross on a golden orb onto the church's main tower.

The 23-foot cross completes the church's outer shell and restores the city's prewar skyline.

British supporters of the reconstruction, due to be completed in late 2005, see the cross as another symbol of reconciliation weeks after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder became the first German leader to attend D-Day memorial ceremonies.

The Duke of Kent, who heads a British foundation helping to rebuild the church, told the ceremony in German, "This is a wonderful project that unites people who were once enemies in a strong and lasting friendship."

The raid, just three months before the end of the war, caused a firestorm that left one of Europe's most beautiful Baroque cities in ruins. So many were killed that piles of charred bodies had to be burned in public squares rather than buried.

NEW DEBATE OVER BOMBINGS

The new cross, an exact replica of the 18th-century original, was designed by British blacksmith Alan Smith, whose father, Frank, flew a Lancaster bomber in the first wave of attacks.

"I think it is so moving that the cross was made by the British son of one of the bombers. I think that is great," said Gertraude Preusser, who at age 26 in 1945 stood on a hill watching her city burn after the raid.

Others in Germany see the Allied bombing campaign as a war crime.

Opposition lawmakers have called for a national memorial day for the 635,000 civilians killed in bombing raids across Germany amid a new debate over whether it is justified to speak of German victims of World War II.

It was long considered impolite, unwise and even dangerously nationalistic for Germans to question whether Allied bombings in World War II were necessary or legitimate.

The taboo was shattered last year with a book, "The Fire - Germany and the Bombardment 1940-1945," by historian Joerg Friedrich, which condemns the attacks as war crimes.

Many British historians have criticized Friedrich for what they call a lopsided narrative that fails to reflect that Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany was first to launch airstrikes on civilians in Warsaw, Rotterdam, Belgrade, London and Coventry.

Most recently, a new book by British historian Frederick Taylor, "Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945," contends that as Germany's seventh largest city it was a legitimate strategic target with an industrial center contributing to the war effort.

Taylor argues the number of dead -- frequently cited in excess of 100,000 -- was greatly exaggerated by Hitler's propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels, and that the actual death toll was likely between 25,000 and 40,000.


Landmark Dresden church returned to splendour years after bombing
Tue Jun 22,12:11 PM ET

DRESDEN, Germany (AFP) - Thousands of people gathered in Dresden's old city as a new gilded cross was lifted atop the landmark Church of Our Lady, more than half a century after it was destroyed in World War II.

The ceremony marked the beginning of the final phase in the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, the biggest Protestant cathedral in Germany before it was destroyed in an Allied firebombing overnight on February 13, 1945.

"The Frauenkirche symbolises like no other building the glory and splendour of Dresden," Britain's Duke of Kent, in remarks prepared for delivery in German, told an estimated crowd of 30,000 people who came to watch the ceremony.

"Its destruction in the inferno that was inflicted on Dresden in February 1945 was a tragedy. Its reconstruction is a great achievement, and it fills me with pride to be allowed to make a small contribution to this," he said.

After a delay caused by a stiff breeze, the cross and its huge bronze base, weighing some 28 tonnes and together almost eight metres (26 feet) high were together lifted to the cathedral's summit with a special crane, in light rain.

An orchestra played as engineers, some with tools and ropes, others taking photographs as the cross was lowered into place, began the last major step in rebuilding before the Frauenkirche opens to the public on October 30, 2005.

The church has been a potent symbol of the horrors of war.

Built in the heart of the old city in 1743, it fell victim to the firestorm caused by the Allied policy of saturation bombing that levelled Dresden and killed an estimated 135,000 people a few months before the end of the war.

"The Frauenkirche is a symbol, it was preserved to demonstrate the responsibility of Germany in its own destruction," Ludwig Guettler, president of the society leading the reconstruction of the cathedral, told AFP.

"People thought that if this symbol disappeared the feeling of guilt would be forgotten and that this would lead to another war. But no one really asked why it was destroyed," he said.

It is estimated that around 650,000 incendiary bombs were dropped on Dresden that night. The city had virtually no air defences which meant the aircraft could operate at low altitude.

The plan to rebuild the Frauenkirche saw the light of day after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 thanks to about a dozen residents in the city on the Elbe River, but it faced several early obstacles.

However slow progress was made and in 1991 the society leading efforts to rebuild the historic landmark was formed and began officially collecting donations.

The renovations are estimated to have cost about 130 million euros (157 million dollars), two-thirds of which was provided by private donors.

Work got underway in 1992. Using a computer programme based on documents from the 1940s, a three-dimensional model of the cathedral was built to locate the position of each stone that remained and polish it to the right size.

The main cross was gilded with the help of Alan Smith, a British goldsmith whose father took part in the firebombing. His mother was also among the thousands attending Tuesday's ceremony.

But the project is not over. Part of the dome and the interior are expected to be finally completed in 2006 on the city's 800th anniversary.

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http://de.news.yahoo.com/051030/286/4qt2v.html

[-my translation from the German original-]

Dresden's Frauenkirche to be consecrated

Sunday 30 October 2005 - 09:51

Dresden (AFP) - After a construction period of more than eleven years, Dresden's Frauenkirche will be solemnly consecrated today. Apart from Federal President Horst Köhler, outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, his designated successor Angela Merkel and the Duke of Kent are expected for the consecration service and the following ceremonial act. Around 100,000 visitors are anticipated to join the festivities, including an open air festival, organ concerts and religious services.

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) had been destroyed during the allied air strikes on Dresden on 13 and 14 February 1945. In May 1994 the complex reconstruction began, adhering to the original building plans. For this purpose, more than 100 million Euro have been donated in Germany and all over the world.

Some more stuff:

image gallery 1 (one day before the consecration) mentioning these interesting facts - 43% of the stones used are original ones (dark in the pictures); of 7110 facade pieces recovered from the rubble mound, 3539 could be used to be built in again. 2000 fragments of the baroque altar were salveged from the debris as well.

image gallery 2 (day of consecration)

pics from the beginning (first lifting of the protective roof back in 1997 - the part of the church seen here was all that had been left standing after the bomb raid)

gallery summarizing the reconstruction

video summarizing the reconstruction in fast-motion

facts & figures (in German language)
28,000 cu.m of sandstone - weight of the cupola: 12,000 tons - total weight of the building: 59,000 tons - base: 41 x 41m - height: 91m - seating capacity: 2,000 - total cost: 179.7 million Euro (approx. 70% donations, 30% state & federal government)