At 8 a.m. on August 10th,
the largest original stone
fragment of the original
Frauenkirche was lifted 124
feet by a special crane to
the top of the construction
site. The effort to lift the
105ton stone took 50
minutes, but planning for
the maneuver took weeks.
“This was the riskiest stage
of the rebuilding up to this
point“, noted Construction
Director Eberhard Burger.
The 12 by 7 foot piece of
wall was nicknamed The
Butterfly for the two
portions of arches that
emanated from its top. For
many years it remained only
partially visible in the
Frauenkirche’s rubble heap.
Finally in 1991, as the site
was being cleared for
reconstruction, the piece
was completely uncovered.
“The Butterfly” and the angel atop the Academy of Arts meet in the sky |
Lifting of “the Butterfly” in front of the skyline of Dresden
After being restored and
tested for fractures, the
fragment was placed in a
steel cage and lifted by an
882ton crane. It hung for 30
minutes over the site, as
hundreds of observers
watched, while the plastic
roof covering the
construction was opened and
the piece set in place.
Now the Butterfly has
returned to the exact spot
it was situated when, on
February 15, 1945, it fell
to earth with the rest of
the Frauenkirche.
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