For almost fifty years, the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) was nothing more than a pile of rubble, the result of a 1945 bombardment. Since its reconstruction in the 1990s the majestic dome of the Frauenkirche once again dominates the cityscape of Dresden.
Already in the eleventh century a church - the 'Zu unser lieben Frauen' - stood at the site of today's Frauenkirche but by the early eighteenth century the church had become too small for Dresden's Church growing population so in 1722 the city's town council decided to build a new and larger church.George Bähr, Dresden's master carpenter, designed an impressive 95m (311ft) high baroque church with a stone dome, 23.5m (77ft) in diameter, on a square ground plan, measuring 45 by 45 meters. Construction of the Frauenkirche started in 1726 and the church was consecrated just seven years later. The impressive dome, which became known as the 'stone bell', was finished in 1738 and consists of a double shell with two casings that make up the inner and outer dome. The magnificent church was completed in 1743. Thanks to its dome - the largest north of the Alps - the church soon became a world-known symbol of the city.