ddb NOLA: recovery:Dresden

The last case study of a revived city is a study of Dresden. Dresden had a much longer and arduous recovery from being nearly leveled by World War II than did Hiroshima or San Francisco. It is believed that the firebombing of Dresden caused more than 10,000 deaths in one night. Bombing Dresden was part of a strategic effort on the part of the Allies to confront Germany from its eastern, Soviet front.

Dresden shortly after its bombing. image courtesy Wikipedia.com.

It had been a beautiful tourist destination for many Europeans for a hundred years, full of art museums and theaters. It was famous for its China.

images of the Dresden devastation as graphic as these were kept hidden from the public for decades. image courtesy bbc.co.uk.

How could Dresden regain identity as a tourist attraction, as a center for culture and art and music as it once had been? The answer, for many people, was in rebuilding certain monuments, such as the Frauenkirche, Zwinger, and the Semperoper. The problem was this: these landmarks were rebuilt to imitate as best they could their former selves; it seemed to many people like a forced and false way to pretend that the bombing had never occurred.

Dresden struggled to find its identity among its ashes. These monuments (particularly the Frauenkirche, which is still not fully restored) took a long time to rebuild, and by the time they were finished, people may have been expecting something "more spectacular."

The city began its rebuilding process through the new Socialist government's agenda: bland, socialist architecture to help the people break away from their history and nationalism. The historic buildings were rebuilt but it was over time and done by private organizations. What was laid was an infrastructure of research and industry for the Soviets. While Dresden fought to find and reestablish its identity, another land had seized control and turned it into what she wanted.

Another important fact to state is that residents of Dresden were not allowed to go to the west, while trains to the west from Prague and other countries went through Dresden. The city's populations lacked the ability to choose their own homes or destinations. The identity of post-war Dresden was defined by imprisonment and war itself. The reconstructions of those sacred landmarks almost made a mocking of current affairs around the citizens.