Call from Dresden
The call from Dresden is the title of the text published on February 12 and 13, 1990 - 45 years after the air raid on Dresden - by the citizens ' movement Citizens ' Initiative for the construction of the Frauenkirche , in which global support is asked for the reconstruction of the Dresden Frauenkirche .
prehistory
Shortly after the end of the Second World War , calls for the reconstruction of the destroyed Frauenkirche were loud. Since neither the regional church nor the city of Dresden had the necessary financial means, technology and construction workers to carry out a reconstruction, the Evangelical Lutheran regional church of Saxony launched a fundraising campaign that was supposed to make the construction financially possible. The first investigations into a possible reconstruction took place, but were not continued in the later GDR. In 1966, the GDR officially designated the ruins as a memorial against the war.
Only in the course of the political turn of 1989/90 the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche to a real possibility. On Reformation Day 1989, the dentist Günter Voigt wrote an open letter to 40 personalities in Dresden and Germany, in which he suggested rebuilding the Frauenkirche as a symbol of peace. In the days that followed, eight people in writing discussed a possibility of making their concerns public. Soon the team grew to 14 and later to 22 people. In 1989 they founded the citizens' initiative for the construction of the Frauenkirche and won trumpeter Ludwig Güttler as a prominent supporter and speaker. On February 12, 1990, the eve of the 45th anniversary of the destruction of the Frauenkirche, the citizens' initiative appeared before the press with the call from Dresden , and it was published the following day.
content
The publication Ruf aus Dresden begins with a brief review of the significance of the ruins of the Frauenkirche for the people in Dresden and the world. Its function as a memorial for peace has given many people hope, but the ruins of the Frauenkirche are threatened with further decline. "Securing and maintaining them would require extensive structural and financial efforts."
Since neither the regional church nor the city of Dresden had the financial means to rebuild the Frauenkirche or, in view of the many existing but dilapidated buildings, the priority could not be on the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, one consciously turned to the call from Dresden World population: "We call for a worldwide campaign to rebuild the Dresden Frauenkirche into a Christian world peace center in the new Europe." The money is to be collected in an international foundation. The victorious powers of the Second World War are explicitly called upon to participate in the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche.
“We are particularly addressing the states that led the Second World War. We are painfully aware that Germany has unleashed this war. Nevertheless: We also turn to the victorious powers and the many people of goodwill in the USA, in Great Britain and around the world: make this European "House of Peace" possible! "
The call from Dresden ends with the words: "That is why we call for help from Dresden." The first version of the "Call from Dresden" was written by the Dresden pastor Karl-Ludwig Hoch at one of the first meetings of the "Citizens' Initiative for the Reconstruction of the Dresden Frauenkirche" submitted.
Signatory
The signatories of the call from Dresden were all 22 members of the citizens' initiative, including the musician Ludwig Güttler , also the spokesman for the initiative, the theologian Karl-Ludwig Hoch , the physicist Manfred von Ardenne , the art historian Heinrich Magirius , the monument conservator Hans Nadler and the initiator of the Günter Voigt initiative.
Other signatories:
- Otto Baer, architect
- Hans-Helmut Bickhardt, pastor
- Karlheinz Blaschke , church historian
- Steffen Gebhardt, architect
- Hans-Christian Hoch, dentist
- Hans-Joachim Jäger, civil engineer
- Friedrich-Wilhelm Junge , actor
- Walter Köckeritz, architect
- Joachim Menzhausen , art historian
- Heinz Miech, art dealer
- Hans-Joachim Neidhardt , art historian
- Wolfgang Preiß, civil engineer
- Hermann Rühle, civil engineer
- Dieter Schölzel, architect
- Rudolf Stephan, microbiologist
- Roland Zepnik, civil engineer
consequences
The reactions to the call from Dresden were divided. Above all, the Saxon regional church turned against the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche, as they wanted to preserve the ruins as a memorial against the war and as a memorial for peace. Monument preservers and art historians also opposed the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche.
“If you listen to the apologists for the new building - and the engineers who have long (invisibly) avoided the faulty construction of the Bähr dome - they are no longer concerned with the warning, especially not with a church, but alone a purely aesthetic correction, to restore the famous vedute . A history correction. "
The intention of Ruf from Dresden to implement a structure through worldwide support worked. In the years that followed, numerous development associations were founded in Germany, but also in the USA (“Friends for Dresden”), in Great Britain (“Dresden Trust”), Switzerland (“Swiss Friends of the Frauenkirche Dresden”) and France there were development associations that gave money collected for reconstruction.
In March 1991 the synod of the regional church of Saxony voted to support the reconstruction, in the following year the city of Dresden decided to support the reconstruction financially. The "Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden eV", which among other things took over the coordination of donations, was founded in 1992. Almost two thirds of the construction costs came from donations and the sale of merchandising products such as the Frauenkirchen clock up to 2005, the last third was taken over by the city of Dresden, the Free State of Saxony and the federal government.
The Dresden Frauenkirche was reopened on October 30, 2005.
Another call from Dresden
- See also Dresden Bridge Dispute
Following on from the call from Dresden , in 2007 citizens' initiatives published a paper against the construction of the Dresden Waldschlößchenbrücke under the title Renewer Ruf aus Dresden . Among the signatories were Ludwig Güttler and the construction manager of the Frauenkirche, Eberhard Burger . Günter Voigt was one of the initiators of the controversial tunnel variant, which was supposed to help maintain the status of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Dresden Elbe Valley, but was not implemented.
literature
- Citizens' initiative to build the Frauenkirche: Frauenkirche Dresden . Self-published, Dresden 1990.
- Gundula Schmidt-Graute: The call from Dresden was heard: the reconstructed Frauenkirche will be consecrated tomorrow . In: Die Tagespost , October 29, 2005.
- Hans Joachim Neidhardt : Reformation and Revolution . On Friday , November 18, 2005. ( Online ).
Web links
- Text of the call from Dresden (PDF file; 27 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Hans Joachim Neidhardt: Reformation and Revolution (see section literature )
- ↑ a b c It all began with the "Call from Dresden". In: frauenkirche-dresden.de. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .
- ↑ See fourth paragraph in Ruf aus Dresden - February 13, 1990. (PDF) Retrieved April 10, 2020 .
- ↑ cf. 15th and 16th paragraph, by call from Dresden - February 13, 1990. (PDF) Retrieved on April 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Manfred Sack: Dresden Treasures - Erlwein-Speicher, Hellerauer Festspielhaus, the Frauenkirche - wasted opportunities? In: The time . tape 1995 , no. 12 , March 17, 1995.
- ↑ See Renewed Call from Dresden