Visiting the rebuilt Dresden Church, known as the Church of Our Lady in Dresden, Germany, remains one of the most inspirational experiences of my life.

Welcome to Letters From Windermere, where I write about:

• HISTORY: mostly Western Canada history, plus any other subject that captures my interest (such as the Dresden Church, for example).
• WRITING: updates regarding my new historical novel about women homesteaders titled Finding Flora, to be released on April 1, 2025.
• BOOKS: I recommend a good book every month.

* * * * *

Friends, I first wrote this incredible story in December 2014. Ten years later, I want to share it again. In these dark days, the Dresden church still stands as a shining example of human resilience and redemption.

The Bombing of Dresden

The bombing of Dresden, Germany, took place near the end of the war.

To this day some experts feel that it was entirely justified, while others (including Winston Churchill) later expressed their doubts.

Dresden is the baroque capital of Europe, a cultural landmark on the banks of the Elbe River in eastern Germany.

In one three-day period, from February 13th to 15th in 1945, the British Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force carried out four bombing raids.

The exploding bombs, plus fire-starting bombs called incendiaries, created a firestorm that flattened the city centre, and killed an estimated 25,000 to 35,000 people.

The city lacked anti-aircraft guns and was virtually defenceless.

These shocking photos show what the city looked like after the raid. This 1945 photograph of the statue on top of city hall overlooking the ruined city became one of the iconic photos of World War Two. (Photo Credit: Richard Peter, Getty Images).

There were far too many bodies to bury, so the remains were stacked up in the Old Market Square, called Altmarkt, and cremated instead.

This woman’s body was found in an air raid shelter, which was no defence against the intense heat. (Photo Credit: Deutsche Fotothek).

* * * * *

Dresden Church History

The landmark church in the centre of Dresden, visible for many miles around, was a baroque-style Lutheran church named Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, completed in 1744.

Here’s a photo of the Dresden church in 1890. It was already 150 years old in this photo.

In 1945, the Church of Our Lady withstood two days and two nights of attacks before surrendering to the bombs. The heat generated by 650,000 incendiary bombs set the city centre aflame, and caused the supporting pillars to glow bright red.

At 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 15th, the pillars of the Dresden church finally gave way, and 6,000 tons of stone collapsed into rubble.

Here’s what remained of this historic building.

Less than three months later, Germany surrendered. As part of the Allied settlement, the country was divided into two parts. Since Dresden was situated in East Germany, it fell under the control of the Soviet Union.

The Communists decided to leave the rubble as a symbol of Allied aggression. Miraculously, this bronze statue of Martin Luther survived, to stand guard over the remains of his church.

And there the ruins remained for another five decades!

Even as the buildings around the city centre were gradually replaced, the people of Dresden became accustomed to seeing a pile of rubble in the heart of their beautiful city. Here’s a photo taken in 1973, twenty-eight years after the war ended.

* * * * *

Hope for Dresden Church

Finally, in 1990, the wall separating East and West Germany came down. The Russian soldiers withdrew to their own country and Germany became one united country again.

It was a long-held dream among many residents that the Dresden church would rise again. It seemed that their dream was just that — a hopeless fantasy.

However, the work soon began. Hundreds of architects, art historians, and engineers jumped on board, sorting through the rubble, while others began the monumental task of fundraising.

The blackened stones that had been lying in a heap since 1945 were meticulously sorted into shelves, and catalogued.

The restoration team gathered evidence about what the Dresden church once looked like. They relied on thousands of photographs, drawings and sketches, plus verbal memories from residents.

The work went on for years. Only scaffolding was visible as the work continued inside.

Beneath the scaffolding, the 96-foot dome atop the Dresden church gradually took shape.

Finally, the Dresden church was revealed and the new dome was lowered into place, to the cheering of the watching crowds below.

Of all the stones used in the original building, 8,500 were salvaged and 3,800 were pieced back into the structure. It must have been like putting together a gigantic, three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle!

I took this photo when we visited Dresden in 2012. The new stones are cream-coloured, while the black spots on the church walls are the original, fire-blackened stones.

The black corner on the left is the original part of the Dresden church that withstood the bombing, and remained upright.

One big chunk was simply left outside the church as a memorial, so people could see the extent of the original damage.

The interior was painstakingly restored with the help of old photographs — many of them wedding and christening photos contributed by the families of Dresden. It is lavishly decorated in pastel shades with ornate gold trim.

When we entered the sanctuary, people were speaking in hushed voices. There was a palpable sense of awe at the beauty of the church and the amazing feat of its recreation.

I found it especially meaningful that we were there on Remembrance Day 2012. Many people sat silently in the pews, their eyes raised to the domed ceiling, while others prayed.

It took thirteen long years to rebuild the Dresden church. But it was finished in 2005, one year earlier than planned, and opened in time for Dresden to celebrate its 800th anniversary the following year.

* * * * *

Dresden Church Donations

The restoration cost 250 million dollars, donated from people all over the world. A British charity called the Dresden Trust — dedicated to healing the wounds of war — collected money from British donors to help raise the Dresden church.

The single largest individual donation came from a German-born American named Gunter Blobel. He won the Nobel prize for medicine in 1999 and donated the entire cash award — nearly $1 million — towards the restoration.

One of the most touching stories was that of Alan Smith, a goldsmith from London. His father, Frank, was a member of one of the aircrews who bombed the Dresden church. Alan Smith created the golden cross that sits at the pinnacle of the church’s dome.

Before travelling to Dresden, the cross was exhibited for five years in churches across the United Kingdom. The cross was placed on the top of the Dresden church dome a few days after the 60th commemoration of D-Day on June 22, 2004.

The original cross that once topped the dome, now twisted and charred by the firestorm, stands inside, beside the new altar.

In the nearby Altmarkt Square, the historical city centre near the Dresden church where the bodies were gathered for cremation, is a somewhat obscure memorial to the victims of the bombing.

We were surprised that the memorial is so understated. It is no more than a simple inscription engraved along the entrance to an underground tube station.

Each year, the square that once served as the resting place for so many bodies is filled with Dresden’s Christmas Market, bustling with life and activity. This market is the oldest one in Germany, dating back to 1434.

Here’s what it looks like more than five hundred years later.

You can see the dome of the Church of Our Lady in the background — a powerful reminder of our ability to heal old wounds, and renew our hope and faith in the future.

* * * * *

Book of the Month

This month I chose a book that is both short (because we don’t have as much time to read) and uplifting (because who needs more bad news?)

Based on a true story, this novel by Velma Wallis is about two old Indigenous ladies, members of a famine-stricken tribe in what is now Alaska, who are abandoned to their fate. Rather than lie down in the snow and die, they decide to fight back.

This is an amazing and even amusing story of survival. First published in 1993, a thirty-year anniversary edition was released in 2023. It’s available in both print and digital format. Book clubs, take note!

* * * * *

My Writing Journey

Promotion for my new novel Finding Flora has begun in earnest. Since the book will not appear until April 1, 2025, my local bookstore, Four Points Books here in Invermere, B.C., created a special gift card to be purchased in advance and presented to the recipient on Christmas Day. The book will be waiting for them on the first day of April.

Perhaps you would like to preorder the book at your own bookstore, or from Amazon, and present a handwritten gift card to your own favorite reader!

* * * * *

Merry Christmas To All!

This family photo includes my husband, our three daughters, their three husbands, and our five grandchildren. We got together for Christmas brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel earlier this month, and a random passerby snapped this shot on somebody’s cell phone.

Amazingly, everyone is looking at the camera (even the little clown on the floor!)

My dearest friends — I do hope you enjoy a lovely Christmas with whoever makes you happy, whether it’s your family, friends, neighbors, or pets.

I’m also sending the warmest thanks for your continued support of my writing. Have a very happy new year, and I’ll see you in 2025!

With great affection, Elinor