It's race against time, temps to restore bombed German church

It's race against time, temps to restore bombed German church



BY CRYSTAL R. REID • ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 14, 2008

BERLIN -- The jagged silhouette and smashed spire of Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church make it one of Berlin's most familiar symbols of World War II bombing. But it's in desperate need of repair, and a campaign to raise funds to fix it has fallen short of its goals.
Instead of being torn down or repaired, the half-ruin that became known as the Hollow Tooth was left standing as a reminder of war's destructive force.
But experts warn its crumbling walls could become a danger to the more than 1 million visitors a year who stroll through its wrecked splendor.
Although the stones underwent restoration about two years ago, moisture is still seeping into cracks, which require round after round of sealing to keep the rocks from expanding and, ultimately, tumbling down to the street or the shattered remains of its foyer.
Wolfgang Kuhla, head of the memorial church management board, said a particularly cold winter might have structural consequences that would force the church to close to visitors by spring next year unless $6 million is raised for restoration work.
"If we have a very strong winter with very intense changes of temperature, there's certain risk" that the tower could get worse, he said. "We would have to start the renovations to avoid real danger."
The campaign to save the church began in November with a donation of $1,000 from Charles Jeffrey Gray, who flew on British bombing raids over Berlin, though not on Nov. 3, 1943, when the church was hit.
His contribution attracted news media attention in Britain and Germany, where about $740,000 in contributions was gathered, along with a pledge by the Berlin Senate of about $2.2 million, and a donation of nearly $15,000 by Hertha BSC, a Berlin-based professional soccer club, from earnings of its fan shop.
But restorers say they're only about halfway to the sum they need to keep the church open.
The church was built in the 1890s to honor Kaiser Wilhelm I, the first German emperor, and in its postwar state, provokes differing views.
Gerd Mueller, 52, was born after the war ended and believes the building should be restored outright but not as a monument or war memorial.
"I find that horrible," he said, noting that Germany has too many reminders of darker times. "No other nation lives in the past like we do."
But Hannelore Weise, walking with her sister and brother-in-law through a nearby courtyard, said the church is beautiful and should remain so.
"You look at it, and it is thought-provoking," she said.

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