Rebuilding Dresden

PowerPoint Show by Andrew

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Over two days and nights in February 1945, American and British bombers dropped 2,400 tons of high explosives and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs on the German city of Dresden.

The barrage turned the cultural jewel of Saxony into a hellish inferno. A firestorm raged across the city, generating hurricane-force winds and temperatures near 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Civilians sheltering in basements suffocated as the city above them was consumed by flame.

When the fires were finally extinguished, an estimated 25,000 people had died and the baroque city center had been reduced to rubble.

A few months later, the war in Europe ended. Under Soviet occupation, the survivors began the daunting task of cleaning and rebuilding their city.

1945 - The destroyed city as seen from city hall.

1945 - A statue of Martin Luther lies toppled in front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche.

"Everything was in flames, even the roads, which were burning rivers of bubbling and hissing tar. Huge fragments of material flew through the air, sucked into the vortex.

We could see people being torn from whatever they were hanging on to and drawn into the ever-deepening red glow less than 200 yards away."

Victor Gregg, British POW and Dresden survivor

March 1945

1945 - The ruins of the Frauenkirche and the dome of the Kunstakademie.

Everything was in flames, even the roads, which were burning rivers of bubbling and hissing tar. Huge fragments of material flew through the air, sucked into the vortex. We could see people being torn from whatever they were hanging on to and drawn into the ever-deepening red glow less than 200 yards away.

Victor Gregg, British POW and Dresden survivor

1945

Volunteers spent years clearing the rubble by hand and carting it away, while architects and city planners sketched out what the reborn city would look like — what would be rebuilt as it was, and what would be replaced with something new.

One destroyed landmark of the old city, the 18th-century Lutheran Frauenkirche, was left untouched, its scorched ruins serving as a memorial against war.

Some historic buildings, such as the Zwinger palace and Semper Opera House, were rebuilt to match their former glory, while large sections of the city center were cleared to make room for new complexes built in the Socialist Modern style.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany, a group of citizens made a new push to rebuild the Frauenkirche. Sorting through the rubble began in 1993, and the rebuilt church finally retook its place in the skyline in 2005, 60 years after its destruction.

1946 - Residents ride trams through the rubble of the city.

1946 - Volunteers spend a Sunday morning clearing rubble.

1946 -Propaganda director Heinz Grunewald, Mayor Walter Weidauer and architect Dr. C. Herbert discuss plans for rebuilding the city.

March 1946 - Gustav and Alma Piltz help to clear rubble.

March 1946 -Women clear debris from the Zwinger art gallery.

March 1946 -A man works on restoring the Zwinger art gallery..

March 16, 1946Women clear debris from the Zwinger art gallery.

March 1946 - Volunteers clear rubble on a Sunday morning.

March 16, 1946

March 1946 - Women pass bricks atop a ruined building.

1949 - A man makes repairs to a damaged statue.

January 1952 - People clear rubble in front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche.

1955 -A view from city hall over the cleared former city center.

1956

Sept. 13, 1957 - Sheep graze near the ruins of the Frauenkirche.

1961

1969

February 2015 - The rebuilt Frauenkirche, 70 years after the bombing.