Dresden's symbol of peace and reconciliation

A Frauenkirche was first mentioned in the 11th century, even before Dresden itself was documented. After Romanesque and Gothic predecessors, the baroque central building was erected by George Baehr between 1726 and 1743 and remained standing until the bombing of Dresden in February 1945.

After its destruction, the ruin remained as a ‘memorial to the victims of the bombing war’ during the GDR era, until a citizens' initiative at the turn of the century sought to rebuild it, which was implemented from 1993 to 2005. Since then, the Frauenkirche has become a symbol of peace and reconciliation in Dresden, which it represents in numerous events as part of the Nagelkreuzgemeinschaft (Nail Cross Community) and in a special connection to the English city of Coventry.

Resurrection in music and architecture

The Dresden Kreuzchor is known far beyond the city and state borders, and the Nagelkreuzzentrum Kreuzkirche is closely linked to the history of the city. The church building was destroyed and rebuilt several times, most recently after the bombing of Dresden in February 1945, when the church burnt down.

The art nouveau elements in the neo-baroque building have since become barely visible, as the interior was restored with roughcast during the GDR era. Initially intended as a temporary solution, it has since become a listed building and is symbolic of the wounds that war leaves in its wake. The world premiere of ‘Requiem A’ by composer and art prize winner Sven Helbig on 9 February 2025 will open a series of concerts in memory of the end of the Second World War 80 years ago.

(formerly the Sophienkirche-Bußmannkapelle memorial)

A chequered history with no happy endings

The building now known as the Sophienkirche was first mentioned in 1272 as part of the Dresden Franciscan monastery. In the 14th century, it was converted into a Gothic hall church, and the Busmann Chapel was added a little later. After the Reformation, the monastery fell to the dukedom, which used it for secular purposes. In 1602, the church was re-consecrated as the Sophienkirche and in 1737 it was elevated to the Protestant court church. After the neo-Gothic expansion in the 19th century, it became a Protestant Lutheran cathedral church in 1926.

It was gutted by fire on 13 February 1945 but its foundations were preserved. Despite resistance from many, it was demolished in 1962 to make way for a large restaurant. In the new millennium, the present-day DenkRaum – formerly the Sophienkirche-Bußmannkapelle memorial – was established and in 2019 it became the fifth Dresden centre for active peace work.

New place of worship for the Jewish community

Gottfried Semper built the old synagogue on Hasenberg between 1838 and 1840. It was set on fire and destroyed by the SA during the Reichsprogromnacht pogrom on 9 November 1938. Since 1975, a memorial stone in the shape of a menorah has been erected a few metres from the old location.

Exactly 60 years after the destruction of the old synagogue, the groundbreaking ceremony for the new synagogue took place, and on 9 November 2001, it was inaugurated together with the community centre. The ensemble consists of two simple cubes with a sandstone character, separated by an inner courtyard, which received the World Architecture Award in 2002. Themed tours can be booked on request through the Hatikva association.

Changeful history on the oldest square in Dresden

The Altmarkt is Dresdens oldest square and important location for remembrance. Since 2005 there is a metal memorial by the artist Einhart Grotegut, on the ground, just south of the center of the square.

In February and March 1945, the bodies of 6,865 people are cremated on Altmarkt, and their ashes are interred in a mass grave at the Heidefriedhof Cemetery. They are victims of the bombing raids on Dresden from February 13 to 15, 1945, during which 25,000 people lose their lives.

On February 13th, we are called to honor the memory of those who perished in the bombings resulting from Germany's initiation of the Second World War, as well as the millions who lost their lives under the brutal Nazi regime. This remembrance serves as a constant reminder of the imperative to preserve and promote peace both in Europe and across the globe.

Research and communication on the caesura in Dresden's city history

In February 1945, British and American air forces destroyed large parts of Dresden's city centre and neighbouring districts. The bombing in February 1945 led to the deepest incision in the history of Dresden and is the subject of the permanent exhibition at the Dresden City Museum, which is located in the Landhaus, a building that was also destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in the 1960s. A wedge running through the middle of the ‘Democracy and Dictatorship’ exhibition room symbolises the destruction of the city on 13 and 14 February 1945, which is told with its pre- and post-history. Unique exhibits and several media stations are dedicated to this turning point in the city's history.

(Text by Christina Ludwig, Director of the Dresden City Museum)

From place of execution to university building

Where students now study at the TU Dresden was once one of the main execution sites in the German Reich. Opened in 1907 as the Royal Saxon District Court, the building complex served as a court, remand prison and execution site, and not only during the Nazi era. During the subsequent Soviet occupation and in the early years of the GDR, the judiciary was also misused for political purposes at this location.

In 1957, the building was handed over to the then Dresden University of Technology, and in 1959 an ‘Anti-Fascist Memorial and Museum’ was set up. Today, the Münchner Platz Memorial, which opened in 2012, is part of the Saxon Memorials Foundation and commemorates the victims of political criminal justice from 1933 to 1957.

From armaments to cultural offerings

Before the Nazi era, a production facility of Clemens Müller AG was built on the site of the present-day Zentralwerk to manufacture sewing machines and large typewriters. Even before the start of the Second World War, the site became state property and was handed over to Zeiss Ikon AG for the production of armaments. Numerous female forced labourers were recruited for this purpose, and they also lived in the factory – particularly women from the Flossenbürg, Auschwitz and Ravensbrück concentration camps. One of the forced labourers was the Jewish woman and contemporary witness Henny Brenner, after whom the event hall of the Zentralwerk is named. Today, the site consists of residential, studio and cultural spaces that enable people to engage with the past.

Military conversion of an iconic cultural site

Built in 1911 by Heinrich Tessenow as a school building for the ‘Educational Institute for Music and Rhythm’ founded by Émile Jacques-Dalcroze, the HELLERAU Festspielhaus and adjoining buildings now house various institutions, including the European Centre for the Arts, which provides a stage for dance, performance, music, theatre and media art.

In 1938, however, a police academy was set up on the site, including some reconstruction work. After the end of the Second World War and until 1992, the Red Army used the site. The history of these military conversions can be seen in a permanent exhibition in the west side building. In addition, there is a tour of the festival hall every Friday lunchtime and regular tours of the garden city in the Nazi era.

Rebuilding an opera of world renown

Before the Semperoper as we know it today, there were various other opera buildings around the Zwinger, the castle and the theatre square. Gottfried Semper built the Royal Court Theatre from 1838 to 1841, which burnt down in 1869. The second Semper building was constructed from 1871 to 1878, but fell victim to the bombing of Dresden on 13 February 1945.

On 13 February 1985, 40 years after its destruction, the rebuilt Semperoper was reopened with a performance of Carl Maria von Weber's ‘Der Freischütz’. 40 years later, the Semperoper is planning a number of events to mark the anniversary of its reconstruction, including an exhibition, a film screening and a matinée. And, of course, ‘Der Freischütz’ will be performed.

A cultural-historical examination of war and violence

The Military History Museum of the Bundeswehr is one of the most important history museums in Europe. It was built between 1873 and 1877 as an arsenal for King Albert I of Saxony and was used as an army museum time and again. In 1990, the Federal Ministry of Defence took over the building, which has been run as a military history museum ever since. After its renovation by the American architect Daniel Libeskind, it will reopen in October 2011.

Since then, a large wedge has symbolically split the museum in two. On the one hand, it represents the destruction of Dresden in February 1945 and its reconstruction, but above all, it represents a cultural history of violence and its destructive forces. Accordingly, the causes and consequences of war and violence are at the centre of the museum's work.

A cemetery as an ideological focal point

As early as 1913, Hans Erlwein was commissioned to plan a new main cemetery for Dresden, but it was not until 1936 that the first urn burial took place at the Heidefriedhof in the north of Dresden. After coming to power and in preparation for the Second World War, the National Socialists planned a grove of honour. After the air raids on Dresden, some 18,000 dead actually found their final resting place at the Heidefriedhof.

Between 1949 and 1954, the first grove of honour was created, and from 1950, wreaths were laid on the anniversary of the bombing. For a long time, Dresden was presented as a city of victims and equated with sites of National Socialist crimes. Further memorials are being created that require critical examination, but at the same time are witnesses to their respective times and political discourses. Here it becomes visible how history is interpreted and claimed for different purposes.

Children honour children

The St. Pauli Cemetery, consecrated in 1862, is one of the largest in the city of Dresden. Not only 200 people who died in the bombing of Dresden are buried here, but also prisoners of war and victims of political executions, as commemorated by a memorial that was dedicated in 1999.

Above all, however, it is the final resting place of 225 children whose mothers were forced to work in and around Dresden during the Second World War. Shortly after the children were born, the mothers had to return to their place of work. The children remained in the ‘Kiesgrube’ (gravel pit) ‘birth camp’ on the Hellerberg and were divided into those ‘worthy of life’ and those ‘unworthy of life’, with the latter being deliberately neglected and dying in agony in large numbers. In 2015, schoolchildren and local residents created a dignified children's grave for them.