FRAUENKIRCHE

Dresden's famous skyline, with its spires and steeples, was dominated by the cupola, turrets and enormous dome of the Frauenkirche. Finished in 1743, the Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, was an architectural and engineering masterpiece. The church's most astounding feature was its bell-shaped dome of solid stone, the construction of which confounded critics. It was a monumental edifice comparable in importance to Michelangelos's dome for St. Peter's in Rome.

On the night of February 13, 1945 it was totally destroyed during the bombing of Dresden. But the Frauenkirche had always been more than just a beautiful building. It was built as a Protestant cathedral, even though Saxony's king at that time, August the Strong, was a Catholic convert. His support of the church's construction made the Frauenkirche an important symbol of religious tolerance.

Reconstruction of the Frauenkirche began in 1994 and was expected to be completed by 2006 but the work was just about done by the time of our visit on October 19, 2005. The cathedral has been reconstructed to exact measurements, using the latest technology. Old stones were used in the construction as much as possible, and new stones quarried at the same site as the originals. It is, as Historic Preservation magazine described it, "the most ambitious restoration effort under way in the world." The cost of the project is estimated at $175 million. The darker stones are from the original building. When quarried they have the lighter tone color which, with age, becomes dark. Because construction was not quite finished we were not allowed to go in but, on Friday, November 18th, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert in the church, barely a month after we were there. Our guide, Petra Kurzweil, the lady who can be seen in the following picture facing the camera, was present at that concert.





























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