Lewes Links members in Dresden for Frauenkirche ceremony (June)

Celebration on 1st May 2004

Minutes of the AGM 22 March 2004

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Restoration of Dresden Frauenkirche completed

Lewes Links members and friends, together with members of the Sussex branch of the European Movement were present on 22 June for the final installation of the huge golden cross that completes the reconstruction of Dresden's historic Frauenkirche cathedral.

The Frauenkirche is the symbol of the bombing of Dresden, a huge and controversial British attack in 1945 that consumed 35,000 people in a ferocious firestorm. Critics have claimed the city had no military significance, and some have described it as a war crime.

In Britain the Dresden Trust has collected donations from the general public to pay for some of the reconstruction costs of the cathedral, and British craftsmen have been involved in the restoration. "It's a very important symbol of German-British reconciliation," said Alan Russell, chairman of the Dresden Trust. The cross and orb that crowns the Frauenkirche was made by a British goldsmith whose father took part in the raid in February 1945. Alan Smith has said his father Frank had always thought the attack was "morally wrong". The Frauenkirche at first actually survived the bombing, but then collapsed in a cloud of soot. The East German authorities left the ruins as a symbol.

Photo by Marilyn Dodd, who was there at the ceremony

The pre-war Frauenkirche had been a masterpiece of baroque architecture, dominating the city's skyline since its completion in 1743, and rebuilding it was not easy. "We have some old plans and some black-and-white pictures from the 1930s and 1940s, but we can only be sure of 60% of the interior," explained the chief architect Thomas Gottschlicht, who has been working on the project for seven years. "The other 40% we built on the basis of what we found. We analysed every bit of remaining rubble. Every old stone was a sample for us."

The latest 3D computer technology was allied with the painstaking search through the remains to come up with the design. It is as authentic as possible, and also includes whatever original pieces of the building remained.

Its rebuilding is important as a 20th century historic symbol because the Frauenkirche was a meeting point for Christians who opposed Hitler, and it is seen equally as a symbol for the rebuilding of Germany.

Scaffolding still surrounds parts of the towers. The cathedral will be finally inaugurated in a ceremony planned for the end of October 2005.

Link:  The Frauenkirche website (English language version)