Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche)

The Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche), the landmark of the City of Dresden, is a worldwide symbol of peace and unity in thought and action. Destroyed in February 1945, reconstruction work began in 1994 under the direction of the Frauenkirche Foundation of Dresden. The renovation process was completed in 2005, financed by international support and private donations.
History: The origin of the Protestant domed church was a small Romanesque church dedicated "To Our Dear Lady", constructed in the 11th century. This church, which was modified several times through the years, no longer met the size and quality requirements requirements of the time. Therefore, the city council decided to build a new church in 1772. George Baehr, chief council carpenter and architect, was commissioned to design it. After four years of planning, his design was approved by the city on June 26th 1726. The construction work was largely funded by donations made by the citizens of Dresden. The interior was ceremonially dedicated on February 28th 1734, but work on the exterior of the church was halted initially. It was then that George Baehr announced his plan to build the dome of solid stone, in spite of the grave misgivings many people had about this. However, Bähr had a powerful advocate in the shape of Augustus the Strong. And there was another good reason for the citizens of Dresden to make the dome of stone - copper roofing would have been more expensive than sandstone which could be sourced from quarries near Dresden. On May 27th 1743, almost five years after the death of George Bähr, the monumental construction work was completed by positioning the cross on the dome. The stone dome was not the only special feature in Baehr's design - two other churches in Europe also had stone domes (e.g. the cathedral in Florence) - its most fascinating aspect was the concave shape of the dome, which is reminiscent of a bell. This is the only one of its kind in the world, and the reason the building is referred to as "the stone bell".

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