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Frauenkirche is german for Church of Our Lady. Naturally there are a lot of churches namend Frauenkirche. Probably the two most famous ones are the Frauenkirche in Munich and the Frauenkirche in Dresden to which this following report refers.
General Informations
The Frauenkirche is a Protestant church. The church is ca. 91m high and has a basic surface of 1681 m² (square meters). The dome, which is singular in the world and called “Stone Bell”, beginns in ca. 40m height and weigh ca. 9000t.The church is completely made of sandstone, inside of her is room for 4000 people.
History
The church was built in the years 1726 to 1743, designed by George Bähr. After initial doubts the dome proved to be extremely stable: In 1760 it was shelled by the Prussian army led by Friedrich II, but the shells simply bounced off , the church survived.
In 1849 the Frauenkirche was at the heart of the revolutionary disturbances known as the May Uprising, also here the church survived.
After the Bombing of Dresden in the night of February 12 on February 13, 1945, the church burnt out and its dome finally collapsed at 10:00a.m. on February 15.
Reconstruction
There had already been intentions to rebuild the church during the last month of the Second World War. However, due to political circumstances in the GDR, the reconstruction later came to a halt. The heap of ruins, which was 13m high, was conserved as a monument.
After the reunificatin of germany efforts were revived; in 1994 the foundation stone was laid, and in 1996 the construction work began. The reconstruction, costing an estimated 178,7 million €, is mainly financed through donations from all over the world. The private donations amount to over 100 million €.
As far as possible, the church, expect for its dome, is being rebuilt using original material and plans, with modern technology. Every usable piece then was measured and catalogued.
As older stones are covered with a darker patina, due the weathering, the difference between old an new stones will be clearly visible during the early years. Because of that, the rebuild church will remain a monument, reminding people of its history. It is created to be a symbol of hope and reconsiliation.
In the year 2000 the gildet cross was hand over, it is also called grace of reconsiliation, this shows the friendship between Great Britian and Germany. The grace is 8m high and cost 500.000 €. Insteat of a facsimile of the original organ of Johann Gottfried Silbermann, a modern organ will stand in the church in a baroque case. Also, seven new beels were cast and rang for the first time for the Pentecost celebration in 2003.
The external structur of the Frauenkirche was completed on June 22, 2004. The intensive efforts over the last few years to rebuild this world famous Protestant landmark give justifible hope that by the year 2006 – the 800th anniversary of Dresden- the Frauenkirche will be completed in its entirety – interior and exterior.
(As its destruction in the Second World War was a testament to the worst realities of mankind, its reconstruction is a testament to the highest aspects of our nature.)
The poet Gerhard Hauptmann write to the Bombing of dresden: “ Those who have forgotten to cry, learned it again by the sinking of Dresden”
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