When you
look at Dresden from Hausmannsturm, you can see two quite distinctive landmarks. Two
churches. One Catholic, being right next to the Residenzschloß. One Lutheran,
visible in the near distance. I know it’s nothing special that one town or one
city has more than one church. But what amazed me was their sizes. Both are
monumental, spectacular. Both are visible, clearly visible from a distance.
The first
one - The Katholische Hofkirche, i.e. the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of
Saxony, since 1980 aka Kathedrale Sanctissinae Trinitatis or Cathedral of the
Holy Trinity.
The second
one – The Dresden Frauenkirche, i.e. the Church of Our Lady.
One of them
was ordered by the royal family, the other was built at the will of the
citizens of Dresden.
Why such a dichotomy?
Frederich
Augustus II, Elector of Saxony. Augustus the
Strong, King of Poland.
Lutheran Dresden and Catholic Poland. 18th
century Europe.
At some
point during his reign, Frederich Augustus II decided that he’d love to become
the King of Poland. However, one of the musts
for all Polish kings was to be Catholic. Poor Frederich decided that no matter
what, he’d make his dream come true. Having said that, he converted to
Catholicism, which gave him the right to gain Polish crown. The majority of
people in Dresden,
however, still remained Protestant. That’s why the town had no Catholic church
of real importance. To mark his faith conversion, Frederich ordered the
building of the Hofkirche, the Roman Catholic Cathedral, to establish a sign of
Roman Catholic religious importance in Dresden.
A church that is connected with the Residenzschloß by a special passage, a kind
of a bridge with walls and a roof, to
protect the royal family from walking in the streets when they wanted to get to
the church.
When the
people of Dresden
found out about that, they felt betrayed. If their Elector was building a
Catholic cathedral in their Protestant town, they’re going to show him what the
power of population means. They order the building of the Frauenkirche, which
is said to be the greatest cupola building in Central and Northern
Europe. The interiors reminded us of the Stockholm Opera House.
Definitely not what I could associate with a church, no matter if Catholic,
Protestant, Orthodox or any other. A huge WOW!
Hofkirche
Frauenkirche
Martin Luther's monument at Neumarkt Square. The Altar inside.
On the left you can see part of the Frauenkirche.
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