A Gothic hall church was first built in the 13th century, which was then rebuilt
in a late Gothic style at the end of the 15th century. During the Reformation it
served as a burial church for twenty years from 1539 onwards before church
services were once again held within its walls. Since the church found itself
within the city of Dresden following the relocation of the fortifications in the
late 16th century, Augustus the Strong urged that the churchyard be dissolved
for town planning and hygienic reasons. This was carried out gradually as of
1714 with the loss of many graves.
After the Gothic church had to be temporarily closed at the beginning of the
18th century on account of it being in a state of disrepair, the Council of the
City of Dresden decided to erect a completely new building in 1722. They
commissioned the city master carpenter George Bähr to build the church. He
planned a masterpiece whose unmistakable dome was to become a landmark
of the city of Dresden.
The foundation stone was laid for the new Frauenkirche on August 26, 1726
after four years of planning. The commissioned architect George Bähr had
previously submitted several drafts and had had to carry our corrections on
account of opposing opinions. It was finally decided to erect a central building
with a dome on a square base. As a parish church it was the responsibility of
the surrounding parishes to finance the building work, which meant that the
work was always in financial straits. The church was consecrated in 1734
whilst still under construction – without an organ and with only a provisional
altar. The stone dome was completed in the following years up to 1738. In
1743 the building was finally completed with the erection of a stone lantern.
Bähr's goal that the Frauenkirche be ‘like a single stone from the ground to its
highest point’ had been achieved.
On the morning of February 15, 1945 – two days after the devastating
bombing raid on Dresden – the burnt out Frauenkirche finally collapsed.
Although it had apparently survived the direct attack and fire storm, unlike the
majority of buildings in the city centre, the extreme heat that had been
generated finally took its toll. In the early hours of February 14, when the fire
reached the church, not only were the wooden galleries and pews consumed
by the blaze, more and more sandstone exploded from the piers until they
could no longer bear the immense weight of the dome – 12,000 tons.
Often guests of Dresden can be found gazing at the combination of light and
dark stones in the fassade of the Frauenkirche. Even some Dresdeners only
then are reminded again that this massive baroque-style church arose out of
a huge heap of rubble between 1994 and 2005. True to the original and
funded by donations from all over Germany and even foreign countries this
church was resurrected. As much of the old material as possible was used
and - with burning ambition - was put back to its original position whichm of
course, had first to be traced.