Church of Our Lady Re-consecrated

Thousands of people gathered in the east

German city of Dresden to see

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)

re-consecrated, 60 years after it

was destroyed by Allied forces.

The baroque church was reduced to

rubble when Allied bombers struck

the city in February 1945.

The city burned for a week

after the raid and at least

35,000 people died.

What remained of the crumbling

walls were left to stand by

East Germany's communist

authorities to serve as a

reminder of the

World War II damage.

The 180 million euro reconstruction

took 10 years to recreate the

church as it stood in this 1930 photo.
As crowds gathered outside for the

re-consecration ceremony, 1,800

guests from Germany and around

the world were also examining

the ornately decorated interior.
A reminder of the war and

destruction, a piece of debris

retrieved from the rubble

is displayed in the re-opened church.

The sandstone dome of the

reconstructed Frauenkirche

dominates the Dresden skyline,

near the Academy of Fine Arts