Dresden Frauenkirche a.k.a Church of Our Lady, is an impressive and striking building that stands prominently in the center of historic downtown Dresden, Germany (Beautiful Old Town in Dresden, Germany.). Originally built between 1726 and 1743, it stood for 202 years before it was destroyed during the 1945 bombing of Dresden by Allied Forces during WWII. The pile of rubble remained untouched for 50 years as a war memorial before being rebuilt, starting in 1994. It took 9 years to rebuild, with the official reopening on October 30th, 2005.

Since it was rebuilt to resemble the original church, it’s built in the “highly decorative and theatrical” Baroque style that became popular in the 17th century. While open to visitors who just want to look Monday – Friday from 10am to 11:30am, and then again from 1pm to 5:30pm, it’s still an active church, with services every Sunday at 11am and 5pm. They also do “spiritual words” and play organ music every day, Monday – Saturday, at 12pm. One can also book the church for weddings and baptisms.

Officially located at Georg-Treu-Platz 3, 01067 Dresden, it’s right in the center of the downtown square and impossible to miss. I stayed at the Hilton Dresden (highly recommend!!), which was within eyesight of the church and approximately a 60-second walk. Also, I went during the last week of October, which was chilly, but not bad, and appeared to be a popular time for visitors (just an FYI 😊).

Next to the current church is a large piece of the original church, now 279 years old. There is a plaque embedded into the piece, in German, and I had to enlist the help of a German man standing next to me with translating it. Unfortunately, due to the language barrier, he could only gave me a quick synopsis. In English, it reads (this is Google’s best translation attempt):

“… When I was looking for the cathedral dome in the milky fog on Thursday, February 15th at around 11 a.m., when I entered the dead city, I was shocked to see nothing, because an hour earlier my wife had already been to see me witness. This tragedy happened when, after an initial soft crackle, the dome slowly collapsed and then with a tremendous bang the outer walls of the church burst and a cloud of dust that was black after dark filled the whole area…”, noted church inspector Weinert in February 1945. In 1993, the fragment of the dome in this area was recovered from the Trümmerberg (“Rubble Mountain”) and finally set up here in 2005.

Originally a Catholic church, then Protestant, it’s now Lutheran, so you will find a statue of the famous priest and founder of Lutheranism, Martin Luther, directly next to it (please see below).

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Overall, no visit to Dresden, Germany would be complete without visiting this beautiful, grand, and spectacular church. While it’s sadly not the original church that had stood for over 200 years, it was rebuilt to almost perfectly resemble it, and is still amazing, nonetheless. You can walk in for free and see the beautiful inside, as well as sit outside in the square and take in the beautiful outside. There were also people at the top; I’m unsure how they got up there or how much it cost, but that’s apparently an option too! Whatever you do, please give this majestic church a visit when visiting Germany.