Wittenburg - reconstructions

Wittenburg: Martin Luther in the foreground, the Schlosskirche behind the new buildings.

It is not a smooth transition between the reconstructed buildings, and the old, in East Germany. How could an entire country be rebuilt as it was, and with the same detail and materials, and this sector did not value preservation of religious sites.

Wittenberg chose to reconstruct - but in the simple, evocative style. It takes your eye from the old church, rather than lead you to it, but there was not enough money to create ambiance, especially here, in the old East Germany. That is Martin Luther in the center. We wish they had focused at least on recreating the old in this critical space. Other towns did combine both, the old half-timber and the new, so the some of the old tone remains. Not here, yet.

Wittenberg is in the old East Germany, however, and funding and interest in those things was limited.

It still is jarring, though, when you do see the very old. Nothing can compare.

What a waste. A culture decimated.

There are constant reminders of the wars, with most of the focus (we thought) on the Allied damage, and not why they were there in the first place. In Wurzberg, there is an entire room with a model of the city; then, in the next room, the model of 22 minutes later, after the bombing. Devastation, but perhaps a reference as to why the bombs fell, even if it had been overdone (I have no idea, but it was awful) would be helpful to the next generation.