Dresden

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Dresden around 1900. Often called the Florence on the river Elbe

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Another beautiful view from across the river

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The Stadtschloss “ City Palace “

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The famous Zwinger “ Squeeze portal “ around 1900

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The Frauenkirche “ Church of our Lady “ built in 1743

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The Theatre square and Hofkirche

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“ August ll the strong one “ was born in Dresden in 1670, and ruled Saxony from 1694 till 1733 as Prince-Elector. From 1697 - 1704, and again from 1709 - 1733 he ruled as King of Poland also. August ll the strong, had the most influence on Dresden. Many baroque style buildings were built during his rule as Kurfürst. “ Prince-Elector. He loved the Italian architecture’ and employed many skilled craftsmen from Italy, to build his dream city of Dresden.

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Lust-Schloss Pillnitz

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August ll the strong ( he was known for his physical strength, he could bend horseshoes and coins with his bare hands ) used this gondola on the river Elbe. Often when he saw young women along the shores, working in the fields, he would summon them to join him on his gondola. Many at times this had natural consequences. Although he had only one rightful heir to his thrown, he fathered 267 illegitimate children with many mistresses ( most prominent was : von Cosel ) concubines and ordinary women. His first illegitimate son ( Maurice de Saxe ) nevertheless became Marshal General of France.

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Schloss Albrechtsberg very mediterranean looking

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August ll the strong, died 1733 in Warsaw as King of Poland, and as Prince-Elector of Saxony. He had ordered, that his heart shall be buried at the Hofkirche in Dresden. “ My heart will always be in Dresden “. His body was laid to rest at the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow Poland. Under his rule, the city of Dresden became one of the world’s great cultural treasures.

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The evening sky over Dresden on February 13. 1945, is just about to become hell on earth !

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Night time attack by British bombers on February 13. 1945

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The glow of incendiary bombs being dropped on Dresden

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After the heavy bombing of Dresden, in the night of February 13 - 14. 1945, many fire brigades and rescue workers, as well as Doctors and Nurses were called in from surrounding towns, They tried to douse the inferno in vain, and save people, and the wounded, if possible. When the second unexpected attack commenced in the night of February 14 - 15. 1945, they were caught off guard, and most of them perished in this second unrelenting and fierce bombing raid. American bombers gave it the finishing touch with more daylight bombings on the 15th. of February.

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British Stirling bombers attack Dresden on February 14. 1945

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The next wave is on the way

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Let it rain…let it rain…American B17 bombers unloading

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More American bombers over Dresden

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Daylight bombing by the Americans on February 15. 1945

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Dresden was attacked on the evening of February 13. 1945 by approximately 700 - 800 British bombers, dropping about 3000 high explosive bombs on the city, in order to destroy the rooftops of the typically sturdy built apartment houses. In the second wave of the bombing, again with about 700 to 1000 bombers, more than 500.000 ! Smaller but highly flammable bombs, containing napalm and other combustible materials were used, to burn out the buildings and their inhabitants. From a strategically point of view, this worked perfectly. A firestorm raced through the city, generating hurricane like winds due to the high heat. Official numbers of people killed in this raid, are said to be 35.000, but this number is totally unrealistic, since there were many thousands of German refugees, mainly from Silesia living in tent cities ( camps ) within and on the edges of the city. There’re estimates, that in reality up to 130.000 people lost their lives in the 3 days of bombing.

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The inner city full of human corpses everywhere

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Corpses are being burned, to avoid typhoid and other diseases

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The grim task of collecting bodies continues at the Altmarkt

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The burning of humans in “ AGFA colour “

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Dresden burned for 7 days. Smoke is still lingering over what is left

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He, who has forgotten how to cry, will relearn it again by the sight of this fallen city of Dresden. Gerhart Hauptmann in 1945 Poet and Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature in 1912

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As if the statue wanted to say : Look, what has happened to my beloved Dresden.

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A woman walking through the rubble

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The removal of debris in front of the destroyed Frauenkirche begins

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A surreal picture of sheep grazing next to the former Frauenkirche

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Dresden in 1949. Four years after the war

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This is the ruin of the old Frauenkirche as it stood for more than 48 years in the centre of Dresden, as a reminder of world war ll. It was totally incorporated into the new building, along with thousands of stones which were laying in the rubble. With the help of an elaborate computer program, it was determined, where each stone may was located before its destruction.

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This is the skyline of Dresden without the “ Frauenkirche “. Only the silhouette is shown here, where the church once stood. The effort by a group of citizen, to rebuild this landmark, was soon joined by a world wide campaign to raise funds, to pay for the resurrection. In 1994 the rebuilding process began, and in 2005 it was completed. In the decade long process, many lost skills had to be relearned by the stone masons. Some of the young masons made their “ Masterpiece “ here, and donated it to the project.

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The new Frauenkirche is slowly taking shape

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More progress is being made

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Grant McDonald a British artist and metal sculptor, was commissioned by a group of friends of the Frauenkirche, from all over the United Kingdom, to make this gold cross on top of the cupola. Ironically, during world war ll his father flew bombing raids over Dresden. A lot of donations have been made by British people and from others from around the world, towards the resurrection of one of the world’s most beautiful building. Thank you !

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Ik wens jullie allen een gezond 2007 Groetjes jantjebeton The cupola with the gold cross. Part of the old ruin can be seen here

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The cupola with the cross is being lifted into place

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The church is almost complete again

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It’s like a miracle. Dresden has its soul again. The beautiful all new Frauenkirche. The dark spots clearly visible, are the old stones, which have been reused, and are sitting in their former original locations.

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The city of Dresden looks intact and whole again once more

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The inside of the all new Frauenkirche in its former splendour

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The charred old cross is permanently displayed as a reminder

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A view of the marvellous new inner dome of the rotunda

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The beautiful rebuilt “ Zwinger “

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The Semper Opera House

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A nice beautiful afternoon in Dresden

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A peaceful reddish glow over the Frauenkirche at sunset

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Dresden is going to sleep. May peace be with you always

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This presentation of the destruction of the city of Dresden, just tries to show, what man is capable of doing to each other, by going to war. The 3th Reich of Germany is responsible for a lot of atrocities during World War ll. But no blame should be attributed to one country alone. Instead we all must learn from the past, and today it is more important than ever, when we witness the horror in the middle east. Double click to end presentation