Dresden
Dubai can either refer to one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), or that emirate's main city, sometimes called "Dubai city" to distinguish it from the emirate. Dubai has attracted world-wide attention through innovative real estate projects, sports events, and has become a world business hub. This is probably one of my favorite postcards so far.
The tall building that looks like a ship's sail is called Burj Al Arab, which means Tower of the Arabs. It is a luxury hotel, and is the world's tallest hotel. However, this month a new hotel built in Dubai will steal this title. The Burj Al Arab stands on an artificial island and is connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge.
Nothing new to report. My wisdom tooth surgery is looming in the near future, and so is my trip to Arizona. I will be so relieved when the surgery is over, and I am also looking forward to my three weeks in the U.S.
Last weekend the weather looked half-way decent, so Mike and I decided to go to the center and try to take some nice pictures of the Elbe Panorama and Dresden in general. But as soon as we got there, the sun disappeared and it started to rain, so I did not get many pictures. I took this one of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).
I knew that Dresden was bombed during WWII and that many buildings had been rebuilt, but I never realized how great the destruction had been.
I did some research and found these old pictures of Dresden from the Saxon State Library. This one is a picture of the Frauenkirche before the attack. It has been basically rebuilt from rubble.
The bombing of Dresden by the Allies occured between February 13th and 15th of 1945, only twelve weeks before Germany surrendered. The bombing is very controversial, as many question whether it was a justified or necessary action from the Allies. Also, some Right Extremists (or Nazis) have called the attack of Dresden a Holocaust and claim it was a terrorist attack. Some view the attack as a war crime.
The Allies dropped over 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs on the city of Dresden causing a firestorm. Estimates of civilian casualties vary greatly because there were many refugees in the city at the time, and because some people have over- or under-exaggerated the numbers, but recent publications place the number between 24,000 and 40,000. The Allies say that it was a justified military action because Dresden was a major hub of transportation, and there may have been military factories there. Others claim that there were no military factories in Dresden, only refugees and wounded soldiers, and that the attack was aimed at destroying the last standing city in Germany and to crush Germany's spirit.
War is a terrible thing, and many horrible things happen that we later regret. But hopefully we learn from them. I know that when I walk through the center of Dresden it will be hard for me to forget the history of suffering and violence that occured there.
die Wohngemeinschaft- people sharing a flat/apartment/house, WG for short, I do not recommend it!
wohnen- to live
gemein- to have something in common with somebody