On February 13-15, 1945, British and American Air Forces dropped 3,900 tons of explosives on the historic city of Dresden. Much of the downtown was destroyed, and the bombing started a fire storm that destroyed much more. Up to 40,000 people are thought to have been killed.
Of course such destructive episodes were not at all unheard of during WWII - London, Plymouth, Belfast, and many, many more cities across all of Europe suffered terrible blows. Dresden remains in discussion, though, because the real military value of bombing the city is still debated. Whatever the value, the city was left in crumbles.
It was very slowly rebuilt over the next several decades, using as much of the old stones as possible. Several of the highlight buildings of the city only started being rebuilt in the 1990s.
Needless to say, having grown up on the American side of the Atlantic, and having also some strong connections to Great Britain, I have grown up with a certain view of WWII that comes from those areas. That view doesn't change in seeing a city like Dresden; but it is certainly sobering to see the damage done in places that, though they be not my home, are certainly someone's home. Whoever we choose to call "good guys" or "bad guys," the fact is that all of them have done their share of damage through history. It's the way of a fallen, sinful world.
Anyway, history lesson aside... Here are some pics.
Welcome to Dresden!
An old photo of one of the city highlights, the Frauenkirche, as it was left barely existing after the Feb. 13 bombing.
The Frauenkirche as it stands today, rebuilt (a seven year process, not ending until 2005).
The inside of this church is absolutely beautiful.
A quaint, lovely little side street.
Our hostel!
One view of the Zwinger, a huge complex of four magnificent museums.
"The Crown," one of the best-known aspects of the Zwinger architecture.
Heidi, Angela, and I sit for a moment in the Zwinger courtyard.
Beth, with a view of the courtyard behind her.
St. Georg und der Drache (St. George and the Dragon) - a popular Saint here as well as in England!
The Semper Oper (Semper Opera House). We got a tour of this magnificent opera hall, and found to our surprise that not only is the current building rather more new than it looks (it was destroyed in the war and only rebuilt in the last decade or so), but also an astounding majority of its internal decor is actually "fake"! For instance: the main entrance hall seems to be made of gorgeous wood panels, but it is actually clay that it took one man three years to etch (to look like wood). Also, the vast majority of the marble inside (and there is, goodness me, a great deal of marble!) is actually false marble! But these things are not "fake" because it was cheaper; indeed, the fake marble actually cost quite a bit more! They were fake because Semper, the man who had the original opera house built (and whose plans were copied meticulously for the rebuilding of the current one), wanted it that way. Odd, but true! And whether "fake" or not, the building is still magnificent - and it boasts some of the finest acoustics anywhere!
The River Elbe as it passes through the city.
1 comment:
oh Europe!! You're quaint little side street picture is wonderful!!
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