The 800-year old city of Dresden was once known as "Florence on the Elbe." When the historic capital of Saxony was bombed just a few months before the end of the Second World War in February 1945, it was completely levelled after four nights of intense firebombing by the RAF and US Air Force. The once beautiful Baroque city languished until well after German Reunification in 1990 as it was left largely in ruins, with any rebuilding efforts being of the cement, Soviet-directed, East-German variety. 

Dresden, 1945, Frauenkirche ruins centre, image via Bundesarchiv, Bild via Wikimedia Commons

A long-held symbol of both the destruction and eventual reconstruction of the completely destroyed Neumarkt district of central Dresden, the Frauenkirche, the ruins of which can be seen in the centre of the above archival photo, became the site of reconstruction efforts beginning in the early 2000s. Using archival images from before the War, the 1726-built Baroque Frauenkirche was reassembled, stone-by-stone, in one of the most labour-intensive architectural reconstructions in modern history. 

Frauenkirche, Neumarkt in Dresden, c. 1880, public domain image, author unknown

By 2005, the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, along with the surrounding Neumarkt district was complete, garnering a mixture of public opinions. While most agree that the work was done to an incredibly high historic architectural standard, there are those who feel the surrounding structures, recreated with a somewhat lower attention to detail and materiality than the centrepiece church, offer passersby with something of a "Disney," or "Las Vegas" feeling, one which was assuredly not the intention of those involved in the multi-year, multi-million-dollar, Neumarkt reconstruction project. 

Frauenkirche, Neumarkt, 2008, image by Ronny Kreutel via Wikimedia Commons

Seen above in a photo from 2008, the completely restored Frauenkirche and Neumarkt district have returned a significant portion of Dresden to its former glory, the area now a major tourist destination. The darker colouration seen to the left side of the reconstructed church represents the only original pieces of the structure left standing following the bombings in 1945.

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