Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes
Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes | Culture & Lifestyle | Deutsche Welle | 29.10.2005
This is a remarkable story of a cathedral that was consecrated today after being rebuilt. It was destroyed in an air raid in 1945.
posted by Darren at 8:13 PM
1 Comments:
I had the unexpected priviledge to see the Frauen Kirche one week before the official Dedication. We were visiting a missionary friend in the area. He showed us downtown Dresden which also is very beautiful. We were not allowed into the sanctuary, but did get to walk up the dome ( Kuppel ) up to the very top . We had a wonderful view of the Elbe river.
Dresden was bombed by the British and Americans during the Second World War , all of the artistic downtown was in flames and thousands of people burned to death.
Ten years ago people from many countries decided to give donations to rebuild the church to it's exact former beauty. The stones left in the ruins as a reminder of the war were used in the exact places they had been in the original building.
The colors of the interior are soft oranges , pinks and blues. The organ is majestic and it's wonderful to know that there are still artists who can do the masonry , woodwork, the construction of the huge dome and the murals .
Just think how they did it many years ago when they did not have all the modern helps.
The dedication was televised on a Sunday all over Germany . The restoration sybolized that the past was forgiven and that former enemies wanted to work together and build a new and better future inspite of the hurts.
We are not only talking about Germans , British and Americans, but also East Germans and West Germans putting their past aside.
Dresden has shown more progress than any other east German city , so I was told.
I had grown up in Germany from the Fifties til the early Seventies. So for me this was a thrill to not only see this unexpected new treasure ,but also also the fact that this whole area was that of the Reformation and that it was actually being celebrated that very weekend.
I could not believe all the wonderful surprises in a two week period.
2:27 AM
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