It was the light that really moved us. The soft, warm autumn glow that characterises rural landscape as well as city architecture in central Europe came flooding in from the west, bathing the side of the dome of this most beautiful of all churches, the Frauenkirche, the Church of Our Lady. A church, my wife and I had to remind ourselves, which had risen from ashes and ruins to once more claim its place as the crowning glory of this quintessential Baroque city.
    Dresden, a city of many gems of architecture, known over the centuries as ‘Florence on the river Elbe’ or ‘Florence of the North’ is also a city which has probably experienced more joys and sorrows than any other. Its Baroque gems of art and architecture have earned it a place among the finest. Georg Bähr, the most prominent Dresden architect of his age, after many years of building, in 1743 completed the Frauenkirche, the most celebrated Baroque church north of the Alps and probably the finest Protestant church anywhere in Europe.
    For two hundred years, the skyline of Dresden has been characterised by many beautiful buildings, a skyline which inspired Bernardo Bellotto who, like his famous uncle, was known as ‘Canaletto’. He painted the city in 1748, and in that painting the Frauenkirche took pride of place. The whole city, the capital of the Province of Saxony, was renowned throughout the world for the flowering of its culture, one of the crowning glories of the Age of Enlightenment in this region of Germany.
    War takes few hostages. When, in 1945, the decision was taken to bomb Dresden, there were probably not many in Allied Command who were concerned with the fate of such a rich cultural heritage. The carpet bombing, which reached its peak on 13 February 1945, wreaked unimaginable suffering on civilians, and destroyed whole swathes of the inner city. More than 35,000, mostly women, children and older people, died in the firestorm created by the bombs. Many irreplaceable buildings fell in ruins. In fact, the dome of the Frauenkirche, almost as high as that of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, stayed seemingly intact until two days after the raids, and then collapsed with what one witness described as ‘a whisper’.
    In the immediate postwar period, when Eastern Germany was under communist rule, little restoration work was undertaken. It is true that the Zwinger, one of the leading art and porcelain galleries in the world, was rebuilt with Russian help, but church reconstruction was not high on the list of communist regime priorities. Indeed, the then leader of the German Democratic Republic, Walter Ulbricht, ordered what was left of the Sophienkirche, the Church of St. Sophia, to be blown up. But the remains of the Frauenkirche became a memorial to the futility of war. As a symbol of what happened to Dresden and its inhabitants, these ruins had a bleak power. As a memorial, they became a focus for those on both sides of the Iron Curtain who had dedicated themselves to the prevention of war in the future.
    In the eastern part of Germany, freedom of conscience was not part of the communist ethos. When, in 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, the disillusionment of the people with their regime was complete. There were many points of focus for silent protest, but the ruins of the Frauenkirche became for many the most potent symbol of passive resistance. Many hundreds of candles were lit at the ruins over many years, ostensibly to remember the dead, but also as a silent protest against the oppressive regime.
    After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, on 13 February 1990, which was the anniversary of the bombing, a ‘Call from Dresden’ proclaimed that the Frauenkirche was to be rebuilt as a centre of peace. This decision was not without opposition: there were those for whom the ruins themselves had become a memorial and a focus for peace-loving people throughout the world, but this opposition was slowly won over. In the same year the Society for the Reconstruction of the Frauenkirche was founded, and the Protestant Lutheran Church of Saxony agreed to the reconstruction.
    Now the healing and the reconciliation were underway, building for the future in a concrete sense as well as symbolically. In 1993 the archaeological clearance and the main construction work began. In the same year, a remarkable organisation, The Dresden Trust, was formed in Great Britain, to raise funds for the project. This body was the brain-child of Dr. Alan Russell, who approached HRH The Duke of Kent, Royal Patron of the British German Asociation. His Royal Highness graciously agreed to be Royal Patron also of The Dresden Trust. In the words of Alan Russell, ‘We decided, when the monument to the many pilots was erected in London, that it would be good to remember also the civilians who had died, to match the statue in London with an action here in Dresden.’
    In 1995, while construction work was under way, the 50th anniversary of the bombing was remembered. On successive nights, tens of thousands gathered around the ruins to light candles and to lay flowers. By that time The Dresden Trust had made great strides in raising funds, and counted among its supporters such men as Canon Paul Oestreicher, the head of the International Centre in Coventry, and this was significant. Links between Coventry and Dresden had begun when, in 1961, sixteen young Germans arrived in Coventry to help build the cathedral’s International Centre. Money to furnish this was given by a Berlin merchant who had lost his entire family in an Allied bombing raid.
    As the work continued for the recovery of the stones that had been used in the original building of the Frauenkirche, a remarkable discovery was made. Each stone bore the original mason’s marks, enabling the architects not only to identify the individual masons who, more than 270 years before, had worked on the construction, but also to locate each individual stone in its former place in the building. Today, it is possible to see which parts have been reconstructed with original materials and which parts had to be re-built using new stone.
    Apart from the invaluable support given by HRH The Duke of Kent, there have been many other tangible signs of support from the masonic movement. In 1999 the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Germany awarded the Humanitarian Prize of German Freemasons to Alan Russell. Another poignant and cogent sign is the involvement of Elmar Vogel, who is the current Master of the Three Swords Lodge, No. 3, in Dresden, and by trade a stonemason. He has worked on many of the aspects of the Frauenkirche since the start of reconstruction, notably one of the ‘flame vases’ which top each of the towers above the interior staircases.
    In the twelve years of its existence, The Dresden Trust has raised 1.5 million Euros (£1m), much of it through private contributions, but also with the generous support of industry and commerce. Of the many projects which Dresden Trust money has funded, surely the most impressive is the funding of the cross and orb which now crown the stone lantern above the dome. This was painstakingly re-created by a London firm, using as a guide the twisted and charred lumps of metal which were all that was left of the original. Alan Smith, the silversmith who lead the work on this, is the son of one of the bomber pilots who flew raids on Dresden. His father told the same story as other bomber pilots, who were not happy about the bombing of Dresden, and remained troubled for many years afterwards by what had happened. When, in June 2004, the completed cross and orb were slowly raised and placed in position on top of the stone lantern on the dome, the outside was complete.
    The interior of this remarkable church has also been restored painstakingly, using old photographs and recollections of the older citizens. The magnificent organ, as close to the original Silbermann organ as possible, was completed and the ornate painting and gilding typical of Baroque architecture was accomplished, in many cases using original 18th century methods.
    And so the day arrived, at the end of October, for the re-consecration, which was conducted by the Bishop of the Diocese of Dresden, Jochen Bohl, assisted by the Anglican Bishop of Coventry, Colin Bennetts. Around 1,700 people, including Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his designated successor Angela Merkel along with representatives and ambassadors of the World War Two Allies attended the ceremony. The President of the Federal Republic, Horst Koehler, told those gathered for the service that the rebuilding of the church ‘ranked among the best that free citizens can achieve. This marvellous building is more than just a building,’ he said. ‘It stands for something that can unite us.’
    About 600,000 donors from around the world, including many from Britain and the United States, contributed a total of 100 million Euros (ca. £66m.) for the reconstruction. HRH The Duke of Kent led a British delegation to the service of reconsecration, but on the evening before, he had been decorated by the Prime Minister of Saxony with the Federal Republic’s Order of Merit at a simple ceremony in the Dresden State Chancellery on the banks of the Elbe.
    The day of the Consecration clearly made a deep impression on all those who attended. Their sentiments were summed up in the words of one British national newspaper’s editorial the next day:

‘The Frauenkirche was reconsecrated in a service that brought together German, American and British wor-shippers. They were not there to debate the rights and wrongs of the attack on the city but to commemorate a remarkable spiritual and artistic achievement. The return of Dresden’s Frauen-kirche is a fine act which has helped heal an open wound and encourage one of Europe’s great cities to look to the future.’