1945
The destroyed city as seen from city hall.
Image: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images
1955
A view from city hall over the cleared former city center.
Image: bpk/Hilmar Pabel/ullstein bild via Getty Images
Over two days and nights in February 1945, American and British bombers dropped 2,400 tons of high explosives and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs on the German city of Dresden.
The barrage turned the cultural jewel of Saxony into a hellish inferno. A firestorm raged across the city, generating hurricane-force winds and temperatures near 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Civilians sheltering in basements suffocated as the city above them was consumed by flame.
When the fires were finally extinguished, an estimated 25,000 people had died and the baroque city center had been reduced to rubble.
A few months later, the war in Europe ended. Under Soviet occupation, the survivors began the daunting task of cleaning and rebuilding their city.
c. 1945
A statue of Martin Luther lies toppled in front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche.
Image: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images
March 1945
Image: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images
c. 1945
The ruins of the Frauenkirche and the dome of the Kunstakademie.
Image: ullstein bild/getty images
1945
Image: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
Volunteers spent years clearing the rubble by hand and carting it away, while architects and city planners sketched out what the reborn city would look like — what would be rebuilt as it was, and what would be replaced with something new.
One destroyed landmark of the old city, the 18th-century Lutheran Frauenkirche, was left untouched, its scorched ruins serving as a memorial against war.
Some historic buildings, such as the Zwinger palace and Semper Opera House, were rebuilt to match their former glory, while large sections of the city center were cleared to make room for new complexes built in the Socialist Modern style.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall and reunification of Germany, a group of citizens made a new push to rebuild the Frauenkirche. Sorting through the rubble began in 1993, and the rebuilt church finally retook its place in the skyline in 2005, 60 years after its destruction.
c. 1946
Residents ride trams through the rubble of the city.
Image: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images
c. 1946
Volunteers spend a Sunday morning clearing rubble.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images
1946
Propaganda director Heinz Grunewald, Mayor Walter Weidauer and architect Dr. C. Herbert discuss plans for rebuilding the city.
Image: Fred Ramage/Getty Images
March 1946
Gustav and Alma Piltz help to clear rubble.
Image: Fred Ramage/Getty Images
March 1946
Gustav and Alma Piltz help clear rubble.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone Features/Getty Images
March 1946
Women clear debris from the Zwinger art gallery.
Image: Fred Ramage/Getty Images
March 1946
A man works on restoring the Zwinger art gallery.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone Features/Getty Images
March 16, 1946
Women clear debris from the Zwinger art gallery.
Image: Bettmann/Getty Images
March 1946
Workmen assemble a scale model of Dresden as it should look in 1958 after its reconstruction by the Russian occupying forces.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone Features/Getty Images
March 1946
Volunteers clear rubble on a Sunday morning.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone Features/Getty Images
March 16, 1946
Image: Bettmann/Getty Images
March 1946
Women pass bricks atop a ruined building.
Image: Fred Ramage/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1949
A man makes repairs to a damaged statue.
Image: ullstein bild/getty images
January 1952
People clear rubble in front of the ruins of the Frauenkirche.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
1956
Image: ullstein bild/Getty Images
Sept. 13, 1957
Sheep graze near the ruins of the Frauenkirche.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
1961
Image: ullstein bild/getty images
1969
A model of planned construction in the city center.
IMage: ullstein bild/getty images
1969
Image: ullstein bild/getty images
February 2015
The rebuilt Frauenkirche, 70 years after the bombing.
IMage: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
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