Tag der Deutschen Einheit und Die Frauenkirche

Looking across the Elbe toward Dresden's Altstadt.
Bottom left corner is the Aussie boy that bought me a beer.
We sat on the hill and watched the sun set.

I apologize for missing a week! I was planning on catching up only a few days late and the last half of the week and most of the weekend Internet has been fickle. Much has happened in the last week and tomorrow, week 2 of class begins. This course is much more difficult than the previous course. I am thankful for the weekend but also look forward to joining all the other students as we learn with and from each other. My new friend, Lynette has kept me busy with everything from exploring the city to watching YouTube videos of "Winnie Puuh" auf Deutsch. 

Typical "East German" architecture in Dresden's Altstadt.

3 Oktober, 2011 marked the 21st anniversary of German unity, Tag der Deutschen Einheit. This day is the celebration of West and East Germany uniting, following a series of events that began early in 1989 with openings in the Iron Curtain into Hungary. The fall of 1989 saw the non-violent demonstrations of the Friedliche Revolution (Friendly Revolution), the fall of the Berlin Wall in November, and in March of 1990, the GDR's free elections. The Unification Treaty and the Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany led to the official unity of Germany on 3 Oktober, 1990. Here in Dresden there was much celebrating, loud music, tents with crafts and of course, food.

die Frauenkirche

http://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/startseite+M5d637b1e38d.html

Check out the "History", "Reconstruction", and especially the

"Peace and Reconciliation" links!

This past week was the first week of class in Dresden. I have been here a week and a half now and what a difference there is between Bremen and Dresden. Unintentionally, I chose two cities, one in the former "West" and one in the former "East". Much less English is spoken here in Dresden, the city is not as "kept up" as Bremen is, and whether intentional or not (I make no judgement) a mild sense of hostility from the locals. Yet, the reason I chose Dresden has already been worth everything: die Frauenkirche.  From the first time I saw this church in 2009, I was drawn to it, and still now, I feel deeply connected to it as it speaks to me about myself and my relationship to God and to the world.

Die Frauenkirche was destroyed in the bombing of Dresden in February, 1945.  It was left a pile of rubble, as a memorial, until 1985 when the process of restoring the church began.  It was not until 2005 that it opened.  You can see in the picture a few black bricks.  Those are the original bricks usable after the bombing.  Inside die Frauenkirche, the old spire cross is now displayed in its blackened and bent form...as it was left when the building collapsed.  What draws me to die Frauenkirche is the restoration of the old--with many of the same materials--into a new creation; new beauty while still bearing the scars of its painful past.

http://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de/turmkreuz+M5d637b1e38d.html
Link to pictures of the old and new spire crosses and their stories.

Pax.