British Donate Cross For Dresden Steeple

Britain’s Duke of Kent marked the 55th anniversary Sunday of the Allied firebombing that devastated Dresden, giving the city a gilded orb and cross to place atop a church leveled in the attack.

The 18-foot handmade ornament is a replica of one that once graced Dresden’s skyline. The original sat atop the Baroque Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, until the 1945 Anglo-American raid that killed about 35,000 people.

East Germany’s communist rulers left the church in ruins, viewing it as a reminder of the horrors of war. Work on clearing away the rubble began in 1994, and a $125 million reconstruction is scheduled to be completed by 2006.

The cross and orb replica was commissioned by the Dresden Trust, a British group that raised around $450,000 from individuals, charities and companies. It was turned over by the duke, Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, at a liturgy attended by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.