In this country, westerners like Americans, French, and British were considered enemies. To remind the people that the “West” was evil, the government refused to rebuild most of Dresden. The rubble was supposed to remind people of what the British and Americans had done to them.
During a warm fall day last year, an 80-year-old woman and I sat at the fountain by the Kulturpalast (Palace of Culture). The Palace was built during the communist period as a performing arts center. She told me about how almost all the buildings across from us were built when Stalin led the Soviet Union.
Fast forward to 1989. Germany was reunified, meaning that instead of two enemy German countries, they joined together to become one Germany again.
A few friends I made told me that they were kids when Germany was reunified. As schoolchildren, they took a field trip to the Frauenkirche to see the rubble for themselves and learn about the tragedies of war.
Since then, the German government and donors paid a lot of money to rebuild Dresden. Architects took special care to consult original blueprints to make Dresden look almost like it once did. They even used some of the original stones that were charred from the bombing.
Now let’s get to the jewel thieves! On 25 November 2019, thieves broke into the museum and stole jewelry made of gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds! The entire Dresden community are so sad and angry at the heist. Friends at my school talked of little else for several weeks. We all wonder if the thieves will ever be caught and the jewels returned.
I’ve made lots of friends by learning about Dresden’s history. I also feel a strong connection to Dresden now that I know more about its story.
