Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

CELEBRATING DRESDEN'S FRAUENKIRCHE

Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

Remembering Dresden

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

Dresden: Rising Out of the Ashes

A New Cupola for Dresden's Frauenkirche

Stone by Stone

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

Ludwig Güttler is one of the world's most successful trumpet

virtuosos. From the former East Germany, he also played a key role

in the campaign to reconstruct Dresden's landmark Frauenkirche,

or Church of our Lady.

Güttler used his musical talent to foot the bill for Dresden's renovation

Born in 1943 in Sosa, Saxony, Ludwig Güttler says that October 3, 1990 is a

date he'll never forget.

"German unification was one of the most extraordinary and moving times of

my life," he said. "It was as if a wound that had never stopped hurting finally

began to heal."

Success in east and west

Ludwig Güttler has played a crucial

role in the reconstruction effort

In fact, Güttler had been one of the lucky ones. During East Germany's

communist years, he was solo trumpeter at the Händel Festival Orchestra in

Halle and the Dresden Philharmonic before going on to teach at the

International Music Seminar in Weimar and the Carl Maria von Weber

Conservatory in Dresden, where he was a professor until 1990.

Even so, gaining permission to travel outside the confines of the GDR was a

constant battle. But by the time the Berlin Wall had fallen in 1989, Ludwig

Güttler was performing where and when he wanted. He was recognized as a

virtuoso of international stature and acclaimed around the world as a

conductor, scholar, concert promoter and sponsor.

Unlike many others from the GDR, he went from strength to strength over

the next 15 years, appearing as a soloist and conductor at major concert

venues both at home and abroad.

Reclaiming an East German landmark

Not content with his illustrious career, he threw himself into the

reconstruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche, a project that cost over 100

million euros. Güttler's appeals and fundraising activities proved invaluable.

"Nothing is impossible," he said. "The reconstruction of the Frauenkirche

has a crucial social significance -- it was an overwhelming task in terms of

building, but it also represented so much more than that."

The advantages of fame

The Frauenkirche (left) is now part of

Dresden's skyline again

After Dresden was destroyed in the Allies' fire-bombing in 1945, the

Frauenkirche remained a ruin for decades. The ruling communists were

uninterested in its renovation, but it became a touchstone to East Germany's

grass roots peace movement. Then, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain, a

lobby group came together that was committed to seeing the Frauenkirche

returned to its former glory -- a development that would never have come to

fruition in the GDR. Despite his successful career, Ludwig Güttler worked

tirelessly as its spokesman.

"From the very start, I wanted music to remain my main priority," he said.

"But at some point I put my work as a teacher on hold in order to devote

myself to the reconstruction project."

Güttler participated in charity

concerts, such as this one on Dec. 23, 1993, from the beginning

But it was also his musical credentials that made his fundraising so effective.

Ludwig Güttler played many concerts on behalf of the Frauenkirche. Today,

he says it was worth it.

"Coming here now and seeing all the people gathered gives me a great sense

of joy," he said.DW.DE

Remembering DresdenCELEBRATING DRESDEN'S FRAUENKIRCHE

Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

Remembering Dresden

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

Dresden: Rising Out of the Ashes

A New Cupola for Dresden's Frauenkirche

Stone by Stone

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

Sixty years ago Sunday, Allied bombers attacked Dresden and the

thousands of residents and refugees who lived there. Traces of the

militarily dubious decision to bomb the city remain visible today.

The new cross atop the rebuilt Frauenkirche is a British donation

On the evening of Feb. 13, 1945, nine Mosquito fighter planes and 244

Lancaster bombers from the Royal Air Force's 5th fleet took off from their

base in the south of England. Dresden's air raid sirens started to wail at 9:39

p.m. Around 20 minutes later the first target-marking bombs fell on the

stadium just outside of the city center. The first air raid lasted about 30

minutes and was so dense that the entire inner city was engulfed by a

firestorm.

"There, between exploded trams, I saw the first scorched dead, charred,

shrunken, some of them just brushed by the flames but still asphyxiated," a

soldier recounted. "Women, children, men -- the horrible death had taken

them all."

The Allies didn't just attack Dresden to break the civilians' morale; the idea

was also to cut off communication lines to the front.

August Schreitmüller's sandstone

sculpture "The Goodness" from the Townhall Tower overlooking the city in 1945 and

2005

The second air attack took place between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Feb. 14. More

than 500 planes bombed 15 square kilometers (9 square miles) of the city.

All told, 650,000 firebombs, air mines and 1,800 demolition bombs were

dropped on Dresden in the first two air raids. They totally destroyed the

densely inhabited historic city center, mainly hitting residential buildings,

churches, offices and museums.

"Our house was hit many times during the second attack," a survivor said.

"We all threw ourselves on the floor and my husband said, 'It's burning, it

smells like fire.' And he opened the first door and the flames were already

blazing. There was nothing to do to save our lives but run through the

flames."

Strategic after all?

The military's Albertstadt, the industrial areas and the airport where

barracks were located, remained largely untouched. In the next raid, around

noon, the US Air Force targeted the transportation infrastructure.

Though the bombing of Dresden has for years generally been viewed merely

as pointless destruction, British historian Frederick Taylor claimed that the

city was strategically important after all. Taylor's book "Dresden: February

13, 1945" has caused controversy in the city itself.

The Frauenkirche in 1945

"There was a train junction, a garrison, troops came and went as in any

other German city near the front," Taylor said. "The English planners wanted

to prevent the replenishment of supplies to the eastern front. The attack was

not exclusively directed against Dresden; it was also against Chemnitz and

Berlin."

But similarly large carpet bomb attacks on Chemnitz, Plauen or Leipzig

killed far fewer people, because thousands of people had taken refuge in

Dresden at the time of the air raids. Though there's no way knowing exactly

how many people died, the official death toll is 35,000, and the city has

become a symbol of World War II aerial warfare.

Raids saved Jews

Aside from the suffering and destruction they caused, the air raids saved the

last 175 Dresden Jews. On the morning of Feb. 13, orders were dispatched

to deport them. During the bombing though, many of the Jews were able to

go underground, including the family of Heinz Joachim Aris, today head of

Saxony state's Jewish community.

A combo of two photos shows the

inner courtyard at the Zwinger art galleries in central Dresden lying in ruins slightly

more than a year after the Allied firebombing in a file photo taken March 12, 1946, left,

and a similar view of the same wing of the building being under restoration on Thursday,

Feb. 10, 2005

"I was born in Dresden and this city's ruin and the endless suffering of many

innocent citizens was dreadful," Aris said. "One must simply see it in the

context of cause and effect."

For, Aris added, the Semper Synagogue was burned down on Nov. 9, 1938,

and six years later the entire city followed. The Dresden inferno was part

and parcel of a horrible war that included the destruction of cities like

Rotterdam, Coventry and Leningrad.

Dresden's residents showed an immense willingness to rebuild their

devastated home after the war. Their determination is exemplified by the

reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady. For nearly 50

years, the church's ruins evoked destruction and death.

But after German reunification in 1990, the Frauenkirche was rebuilt thanks

to generous donations -- also from the partnership with the city of Coventry.

The new cross atop the church was donated by Britain's "Dresden Trust" and

forged by the son of one of the bomber pilots.DW.DE

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

CELEBRATING DRESDEN'S FRAUENKIRCHE

Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

Remembering Dresden

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

Dresden: Rising Out of the Ashes

A New Cupola for Dresden's Frauenkirche

Stone by Stone

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

As the final stones are put in place in Dresden's Frauenkirche,

long-time residents of the city recall their horrifying memories

when Allied bombers destroyed the city.

Dresden's Frauenkirche in the old city center on the banks of the Elbe

"February 13, 1945 was a day that reminded me of pre-Spring. I still

remember every detail. My family and I were sitting at the table and were

listening to the radio program. That evening theRundfunk transmitted a

program that created a rather happy atmosphere when suddenly during a

song named 'On the wings of colored dreams' we heard the sirens....."

Bombs were falling all around Ilse Walter and her family.

In the inferno of Dresden tens of thousands of people fell victim to the Allied

bombing raid. Some 15 square kilometers of the historical city center were

turned into nothing but a gigantic heap of debris. The former palace, the

Zwinger, the Semper Opera, the arts gallery and the theatre were reduced to

smoking ruins. Even the monumental Frauenkirche, whose impressive dome

towered above the silhouette of the city, was leveled in the bombing.

Destroying history

US planes drop bombs near Dresden

on Feb. 6, 1945

Dresden's famous church with its often admired sandstone roofed dome had

stood proudly in the city center for 200 years, but when Allied planes

dropped their bombs in one of the most severe attacks in World War II, it

was hollowed out. After the air raid, there was hope the Frauenkirche had

survived, but on February 15, 1945 at 10:00 a.m. the church eventually

collapsed.

Up to this point the city of Dresden had only experienced the horrors of war

through stories told by frontier soldiers or reports of eastern Europe

refugees, who thought they were safe in Dresden. Ilse Walter recalls the last

days before the Dresden bombing:

"It was reported that bombing squads were approaching

Hannover/Braunschweig. Yes, Hannover/Braunschweig, we were used to

hearing this every day. For us in Dresden these cities were far, far away."

Senseless bombing

From a military point of view the bombing of Dresden was completely

senseless. The plan of splitting Germany had been finished long before. The

protocol of London had already set the borderlines of the occupation zones

in Autumn 1944 and the end of the war was obvious for everyone, even

though Berlin still professed otherwise.

Demolished Dresden after the air

raids on Feb. 13 and 14, 1945

Dresden was not a garrison city and its industry was located far away from

the city's core. Still today there is a question mark over the motives for the

destruction of one of Europe's sites of cultural heritage. Many speculations

and rumors concerning the attack existed and still exist today. Winston

Churchill said at the time:

"It seems to me that the moment has come when the question of bombing of

German cities simply for the sake of increasing the terror, should be

reviewed. Otherwise we shall come into control of an utterly ruined land.... I

feel the need for more precise concentration upon military objectives ...

rather than on mere acts of terror and wanton destruction."

Rebuilding Dresden the socialist way

After the war in 1945 East German leader Walter Ulbricht dreamed of a

socialist Dresden with wide boulevards and large squares for state functions.

However, art historians, city planners and protectors of Dresden's historical

architecture fought for a thorough reconstruction of the baroque city. Their

dream began to materialize on Aug. 9, 1945 when renovation work began on

the Zwinger palace and theater. The Frauenkirche, however, did not enjoy

the same fate.

A symbol of destruction and rebirth

The dome of the Frauenkirche in Dresden

Unlike many other churches in the German Democratic Republic which were

demolished during the 40 years of communist rule, the thirteen-meter high

skeleton of the Frauenkirche was preserved as a reminder of war's

destruction.

After the fall of the wall in 1990 a foundation was established to gather

money for the reconstruction of Dresden's famous church. Since then, vast

sums of money have poured in from across Germany and around the world,

and the church has slowly, piece by piece, been rebuilt. On Feb. 13, 2006, 61

years after Ilse Walter witnessed the destruction of the city's emblem right

in front of her eyes, the Frauenkirche will once again dominate Dresden's

historic sky line.DW.DE

Stone by StoneCELEBRATING DRESDEN'S FRAUENKIRCHE

Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

Remembering Dresden

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

Dresden: Rising Out of the Ashes

A New Cupola for Dresden's Frauenkirche

Stone by Stone

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

A significant masterpiece of European architecture, the Dresden

Church of Our Lady, is being rebuilt after heavy Allied bombing

destroyed the cathedral during World War II. It is a unique symbol

of reconciliation.

Still a building site - the Frauenkirche in Dresden

In 1945, Dresden, the capital of the German state Saxony, was the target of

concentrated Allied fire-bombing which devastated the city, killed 100,000

and reduced the city’s beautiful baroque cathedral to rubble.

In 1990, a group of Dresden’s citizens embarked on a project to rebuild the

monument which prior to the bombing, had graced the city’s skyline for 200

years. As reconstruction is well under way, the church is expected to be

completed one year earlier than originally planned.

A symbol of reconciliation

The Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, was built between 1726 and 1743

and was renowned as the most magnificent baroque church in northern

Europe. After two days of heavy Allied bombing, the thick, stone walls

literally crumbled. It is said that the temperature of the remains of the

church’s masonry reached a temperature of 1000 C.

After the war the leftovers of the once majestic church were left where they

fell until an international appeal was launched in 1991.

One step forward, two steps back

First wishes to rebuild the church were expressed as early as 1945, and

detailed plans were soon conceived to begin with preliminary planning . In

1948-49, around 600 square metres of stone were salvaged for reuse.

However, first steps taken to the extensive restoration of the Church of Our

Lady were soon daunted by the former GDR government.

During the GDR era, especially in the 60s, numerous churches were

destroyed, including the Sophienkirche in Dresden and the Nikolaikirche in

nearby Leipzig. But Dresden’s Church of our Lady was a world-famous

symbol and still a centre of attraction to the city’s population. Every year,

Dresden’s citizens would flock to the church on February 13, the day of ist

destruction and light candles in remembrance of the bombing which marred

the city and left so many dead. Thankfully, the government decided to leave

the ruins to reside in peace – but no moves to restore the crumbling walls

were made, either.

German unification saw a turning point for the development of the church.

On February 13 1990, the 45th anniversary of the destruction of Dresden, a

group of Dresden citizens took the initiative for the rebuilding of the church.

"We declare herewith a worldwide action for the Rebuilding of the Dresdner

Frauenkirche as a center of world peace in the new Europe. For this purpose

we appeal from Dresden for help," the group stated in a paper titled "Call for

Dresden". In 1991, the Frauenkirche Foundation was established, a year

later, the Dresden City Council voted to support reconstruction actively.

Stone by stone

First, the 13 metre high heap of rubble had to be cleared. By May 1994 the

cruciform shape of the church slowly became visible. Those ruins that had

remained standing after the bombing were left standing, to be incorporated

in the new church’s walls.

Today, the walls reach a height of 38 metres, and the last of the scaffolding

which has covered the church for almost a decade, may be removed in April.

According to the Frauenkirche Foundation’s Finance Director Dietrich von

der Heydn, the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche’s reconstruction may be

completed by 2005, a year earlier than originally planned.

Progress has been surprisingly swift since the first stone was laid for the

church’s "new" foundation in 1994. However, building progress would never

have been as fast without the tremendous moral – and financial - support,

both in Germany and worldwide. According to von der Heyden, more than 50

per cent of the reconstruction’s costs, estimated at around 250 million

marks, are donations.

The Dresden-based Frauenkirche Foundation has partners all over the

world, including the Friends of Dresden in the US and the Dresden Trust in

France. "The fact that donations come from all over the world is unique,"

Dietrich von Heydn told DW-online.

The extraordinary support for the reconstruction of the church was

symbolized in 2000, when the Duke of Kent presented to the public a replica

of the orb and cross which will replace those destroyed in the devastation

Allied bomb attacks of 1945. At the presentation, the Duke called the replica

a symbol of suffering, reconciliation and rebirth.

The orb and cross will stand over 90 metres from the ground, topping the

stone dome of the 18th century baroque cathedral.

However, the replica does not only symbolize reconciliation due to the

number of British donations, which made ist construction possible. The

eight-metre high orb and cross were made in London by goldsmiths Gant

MacDonald. One of the craftsmen is the son of a pilot involved in the 1945

Dresden raid.Date 23.01.2002

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

CELEBRATING DRESDEN'S FRAUENKIRCHE

Blowing a Trumpet for the Frauenkirche

Remembering Dresden

The Destruction of Dresden's Frauenkirche

Dresden: Rising Out of the Ashes

A New Cupola for Dresden's Frauenkirche

Stone by Stone

Landmark Dresden Church Completes Rise From the Ashes

Dresden's Frauenkirche, a symbol of the suffering of German

civilians after its destruction in World War II bombing and now of

reconciliation, was consecrated Sunday after painstaking

restoration.

The interior of the restored Church of Our Lady cathedral in Dresden

The church is perhaps Dresden's most famous landmark and the image of it

in ruins is known worldwide as a symbol of the destruction of World War II.

On Sunday, the Dresden Bishop Jochen Bohl said in a sermon during the

consecration service: "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."

German President Horst Köhler acknowledged in his speech that many

critics had suggested before the project began that the money would have

been better spent on rebuilding the broken-down former East Germany.

"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," Köhler said.

The Baroque church stood for decades as a decapitated, empty shell. But

that changed in 1990 when a group of people began gathering funds to

rebuild it. Now, after a decade of reconstruction, the Frauenkirche stands

once again in its full splendor, with Sunday's consecration ceremony

officially reopening the church to the public.

The Frauenkirche in ruins in 1945

People from around the world are visiting Dresden for the festivities.

Outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and his designated successor,

Angela Merkel are there.

Britain, which led the bombing raids, has contributed more than one million

euros in donations towards the reconstruction and the Duke of Kent, who is

patron of the fundraising Dresden Trust, is attending Sunday's ceremony to

represent the British royal family.

The tens of thousands of spectators at Sunday's consecration can marvel at a

golden cross and orb donated by the English city of Coventry, which itself

was flattened by German bombing during World War II.

The "stone bell" returns

Dresdeners themselves are particularly elated that their Frauenkirche is

finally opening its doors for Protestant services following its restoration.

The church was rebuilt according to

original plans

Until 1945, the "stone bell" atop the Frauenkirche lent the Dresden skyline

its distinctive silhouette. Ilse Walter remembers when the church was

bombed by British and American forces during World War II.

"Spring was almost in the air on Feb. 13, 1945," she said. "I remember it

vividly. I was sitting in the living room with my family listening to the radio.

They were playing relatively happy, light music when suddenly, right in the

middle of the song, we heard the air raid sirens."

What kind of memorial?

What followed was one of the most destructive of all Allied attacks, with tens

of thousands losing their lives. The city, dubbed "Florence on the Elbe" for

its baroque splendor, was practically wiped out. From a military perspective,

no one even knows why the city was targeted. The end of the war was

already in sight, Dresden had no garrisons, and its industry was outside city

borders.

The Frauenkirche (left) is now part of

Dresden's skyline again

But destroyed it was and with it, Dresden's Frauenkirche. As the city was

being rebuilt in the following decades, the church remained in shambles -- a

skeletal reference to an ugly past.

Many Dresden citizens felt it should stay that way -- a necessary reminder of

war's destruction. But for others, the dilapidated Frauenkirche was an

eyesore. It was time to move on, they believed. Not forget, but progress.

A merger of past and present

In the end, those in favor of rebuilding the Frauenkirche won. Yet the

restored church's architectural design reflects only part of the Baroque style

from the 1700s, when the original Frauenkirche was built.

"We had to delve into the Baroque and Middle Ages and study how the

stones were laid back then," said Eberhard Burger, the reconstruction

director. "We have done that the same way now, but we've used better

materials. So the reconstructed building is based on a mix of old and new

techniques."

The church's new golden cross

About a third of the new Frauenkirche building is made from the old, dark-

colored stones that were left in the ruins. The rest are new, light colored

sandstones. Together they create a kind of mosaic of past and present. The

golden cross atop the church's dome was even created by the son of an

English pilot who dropped bombs on Dresden in 1945. And of course, there

is a new organ.

A global project

The total cost of the project came to 180 million euros ($218 million).

German historian Arnulf Baring, who as a boy witnessed the bombing in

Dresden, said he believes the project was worth the enormous cost and said

it showed that Germans could find elements of their past of which they can

be proud.

The recreated frescoes inside the

church

"The Frauenkirche was more than a church, it was a symbol of the downfall

of a city," Baring told Der Spiegel magazine. "I think it is a good thing that

Germans, wherever possible, regain part of their old cities, so they know

that we come from somewhere."

And Ludwig Güttler, the chairman of the Society to Promote the

Reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, said many nations had played a part in

helping to restore the church to its former glory.

"I am enormously grateful," he told AFP news service. "Not just for the

donations, which have just kept coming, but for the level of interest shown

by other countries. So many people can say that this project is theirs --

whether they be Britons, Americans, Danes, Poles or whatever else."DW.DE