Article

2005-10-29 Europe

Dresden prepares for crowds as Frauenkirche re-opens

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Posted by lotp 2005-10-29 07:43|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It's too bad that once all the opening ceremonies are complete it will be mostly empty (except for tourists). I guess it will be more functional after it is converted like St. Sophia's in Constantinople.

Posted by whitecollar redneck 2005-10-29 08:43|| 2005-10-29 08:43|| Front Page Top

#2 Remind me, but didn't TGA have a hand in this?

Posted by Steve White">Steve White 2005-10-29 12:00|| 2005-10-29 12:00|| Front Page Top

#3 I'm sure the Frauenkirche will get plenty of use for christenings and weddings (I'm not sure how funerals are handled). It is for this, after all, that most Germans are willing to register with the government as either Catholic or Lutheran, and pay the Church Tax (levied as an added percentage of their income tax each year), when they could get out of it by filling out a form.

It is interesting, how carefully the Germans have been rebuilding the architectural heritage destroyed in the Second World War. I had a cousin in the town of Hildesheim, near Hannover, who was involved in rebuildng the Rathaus there. Not only was the rebuilding paid in large part with donations from the local citizenry, but old photos and building plans were searched out so that the new building was close to indistinguishable from the original (only with central heating and dryer basements, I'm sure). Even though Cousin Reinhilde had been actively quarreling with the town council since 1946 (the members coveted her house situated on main square, and deeply resented that she stayed and rebuilt that which had been bombed to pieces, instead of giving up and disappearing quietly like a half-Jewish woman ought to have done after the war), she gave unstintingly from her time and her meagre purse to support that and similar projects around town.

Posted by trailing wife 2005-10-29 13:44|| 2005-10-29 13:44|| Front Page Top

#4 Hi trailing wife - great story about your tough- minded Cousin Reinhilde. A few years back I went through Europe (Rick Steves Tour) and while going through the German part we stopped at a Jewish Cemetary that was over a thousand years old, The tombstones had engraved Hebrew lettering which was over 900 years old. I was amazed, partly because the beasts somehow missed this and maybe some humans helped in this ironic outcome. Germany was once the greatest European nation (pre-1914) along with Austria (my partial background). The beasts come in all ages and disguises but one thing for sure, they still keep coming and they do not discriminate.

Posted by Bardo 2005-10-29 19:47|| 2005-10-29 19:47|| Front Page Top

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