Architecture Commons^™

Restoring The Gothic: The Fate Of Medieval Cathedrals In A Divided Germany, 1945 - Present, Haley Walton

Architecture Undergraduate Honors Theses

At the end of World War II, Germany faced some of the greatest levels of destruction of any country in Europe, leaving their historic cities and iconic architecture in ruin. Across the country, some monuments were restored with the upmost attention to detail, while others were maintained in a state of rubble for decades. Following the 1949 division of the state into West Germany (a democratic republic) and East Germany (a socialist autocracy), most of the rebuilding took place against the backdrop of strong ideological differences. But the two new nations shared a centuries-long history, and, after rehabilitating basic infrastructure …