Dresden, Germany, Jun 23, 2004 / 22:00 pm
It was an historic occasion of reconciliation for German and British citizens yesterday when a cross and orb were placed atop a newly rebuilt church in Dresden, which had been destroyed by Allied bombers almost 60 years ago.
First built in 1743, the Church of Our Lady was once one of Europe's most important baroque churches. It lay in ruins for almost 50 years, but it was rebuilt from scratch in an ambitious reconciliation project, involving Britain and Germany.
The project took 10 years and cost £90 million. Of the church’s million bricks about 8,000 are original.
The cross and orb are in themselves significant symbols of reconciliation and peace since they were both fashioned by the son of a RAF pilot, who took part in the 1945 attack.