historic Frauenkirche or ‘Church of Our Lady’, Germany’s largest Protestant Church, was reconsecrated Sunday, October 30.
An estimated 60,000 people attended the emotional ceremony, news reports said.
Originally built in 1743 the Baroque church, was rebuilt at a cost of $218-million, German officials and media said. Sixty percent of the money came from private donations with government cash making up the difference, Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s international broadcaster, reported.
The British-based Dresden Trust reportedly raised about $1.8-million and Queen Elizabeth II and Britain provided a new orb and cross for the top of the dome, DW said. The 1,700 invited guests, who attended the ceremony inside the church included Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel and outgoing leader Gerhard Schroeder.
TENS OF THOUSANDS KILLED
Up to 50,000 people were killed in the air raids that destroyed 85 percent of the city in February 1945, according to historians. Some 15 square kilometers of the historical city center were turned into nothing but a gigantic heap of debris. After one of the most severe air raids on February 15, 1945, there was hope the Frauenkirche had survived, but at 10:00 am local time the church eventually collapsed, according to documents published by DW.
However with the reconstruction "a deep wound that has bled for so long can be healed. From hate and evil a community of reconciliation can grow, which makes peace possible," said Dresden Bishop Jochen Bohl in published remarks.
Throughout the communist era of East Germany, the remains were left where they had fallen as a ghostly reminder of the Allied attack. Only when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 were plans made to raise the Frauenkirche from the rubble and reconstruction began in 1994. The consecration was an emotional moment for Katarina Koenig, 78, who recalled seeing the
"sky lit up red" the night the bombers came.
"I was working in what we called civilian service in a small town outside Dresden, but when I heard about the attacks I rushed home. From my village you could see smoke rising from the city for days," she told the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP). "In communist times, we never believed we would see the Frauenkirche again."
During four decades of communist rule in East Germany, the church, where both Richard Wagner and Johann Sebastian Bach once performed, was a blackened heap of rubble.
EASTERN GERMANY "NEEDED MORE"
German President Horst Koehler acknowledged in his speech that there was considerable opposition in the immediate post-reunification period to committing any state funds to the Frauenkirche project.
"Did eastern Germany not need roads, roofs and factories more than an expensive church? But a group of residents said Dresden needed more. And now we can see that those people were right," Koehler reportedly said.
Lifelong Dresden resident Herbert Rummel, 67, one of the 60,000 people watching the service on giant TV screens outside the church, said the Frauenkirche’s worth could not be measured only in financial terms. "I was not near the church on the night of the bombings, but many people had taken shelter nearby. They were never seen again," he told AFP.
PALE PASTELS AND GOLD
The Frauenkirche was reportedly rebuilt according to the initial design by Georg Baehr and with as many of the original materials as possible, combined with modern technology that includes under-floor heating.
The interior is painted in pale pastels, with gold in the dome and around the altar. Like the stonework, the altar is a mix of old and new: Some of the figures, including a statue of Jesus, were rescued from the ruins, while others had to be recreated from the original design, Bloomberg news agency reported.
However those supporting the reconstruction have said the rebuilt church will always include the principle that nobody must forget the destruction and the suffering in this once burning city. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Germany).
