Welcome to the truly beautiful Frauenkirche, also known as The Church of Our Lady.
The church was originally constructed between the years 1726 and 1743 and was designed by
the Dresden city architect George Bähr.
The church was built as a Lutheran Protestant church during the Prince Elector Frederick
August I's time.
The fact that Frederick August I, who was a catholic, did not hinder the construction
of a new and large Lutheran church in one of his cities has surprised many historians.
I guess you and me should both be grateful that this masterpiece was allowed to be built.
Today, the church is one of the more well known churches in Germany.
The churched have housed many famous people throughout the years.
Johann Sebastian Bach gave for example a smaller concert after the organ had been installed.
The church architecture if very different compared to other major churches and cathedrals
in Germany.
Instead of typical Gothic architecture with tall towers and spires, the baroque-styled
Church of Our Lady is focused around its massive, 96 meter high dome, called "die Steinerne
Glocke"; "the Stone Bell".
The dome weighs a massive 12.000 ton and is made of sandstone.
The church gave the city of Dresden a distinctive silhouette.
Even though it was attacked during the Thirty Years War, the church held its ground.
For more than 200 years, the bell-shaped dome stood over the skyline of old Dresden, dominating
the city landscape.
However, The Church of Our Lady that you are looking at sadly is not the original church
that once stood in that very same spot.
During the Second World War, on 13 February 1945, allied forces began the bombing of Dresden.
The church withstood two days and nights of the attacks before surrendering to bombs.
The heat generated by the 650,000 incendiary bombs that were dropped over the city caused
the dome to collapse at 10 a.m. on the 15th of February.
The pillars glowed bright red and exploded, shattering the outer walls, causing nearly
6000 tons of stone to crash down and flatten the buidling.
The building that had dominated the Dresden skyline suddenly had vanished.
Not only the church, but more or less the whole old city centre of Dresden was flattened
during the air raid of February 1945.
The blackened stones would lie in wait in a pile in the center of the city for the next
45 years as the Communists took control over what by now had become East Germany.
The new government lacked both the real will and the money to reconstruct the church, but
rather left it the way it was and had it serve as a memorial against the madness of war and
as a symbol over the Allied forces aggression.
Even though the government did not intend any reconstruction of the church, the residents
of Dresden took matters into their own hands and began, shortly after the end of the war,
to salvage parts of the church which potentially could be used in a future reconstruction.
In 1985, Dresden finally decided that the time to reconstruct the church had come.
After the reunification of Germany, the process gained momentum as people started to get involved
in the reconstruction of the once magnificent church.
As hundreds of architects, art historians and engineers sorted the thousands of salvaged
stones, identifying and labeling each for reuse in the new structure while others worked
on raising money.
Using the original plans used by builder Georg Bähr in the 1720s, the work to reconstruct
the church to its former glory finally began in January 1993.
In order to create a good replica of the original church, the building team relied on everything
from thousands of old photographs, memories of worshippers and church officials to crumbling
old purchase orders, detailing the quality of the mortar or pigments of the paint.
The foundation stone one the church was laid one year later in 1994.
Of all the millions of stones used in the reconstruction work, more than 8,500 stones
had been salvaged from the original church and around 3,800 could be reused in the reconstruction.
If you take a closer look at the outside of the church, you will be able to see these
stones.
The older stones are much darker in color, due to fire damage and more than 200 years
of weathering.
If you look at one of the side window sections on the north side of the church, you will
see the largest implementation from the original church.
It will give you a good look at how much the weathering and fire changed the colors of
the stones, as the original church once was as bright shining as the one standing in front
of you today.
The reconstruction of this famous landmark stood finished in 2005, one year earlier than
originally planned.
In total, the rebuilding the Church of Our Lady cost around €180 million, mostly raised
by ordinary people from all over the world.
Today the church, together with a bronze statue of the reformer Martin Luther - which actually
survived the bombings, stands as glorious and as beautiful as ever.
Since its reopening, it has been visited by an estimate of seven million people, seeking
to discover its beauty.
The church interior's pastel color, its angels and many grand balconies makes many people
think the church looks more like a catholic church, or even a theatre, than a protestant
church.
It clearly shows that this church is something more than just an ordinary church.
The rebuilt church is a monument reminding people of its beautiful and troublesome history
and a symbol of hope and reconciliation.