I was born in a U. S. Army hospital in Münich, Germany
shortly after World War II.
On the left is the official crest of Münich, and on the right is the illustration that accompanied my birth announcement. In those dark days, Münich was devastated. It had been bombed heavily, and one of the casualties was Münich's cathedral, the Frauenkirche, seen below.
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| tripwow.tripadvisor.com |
Most of the roof — which was copper — had collapsed.
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| wikipedia.org |
That roof had survived a lot of history. This is an engraving of Münich and the Frauenkirche dating to before 1525, when the distinctive turnip domes were finally added to the two towers. The copper roof was in place at the time of the engraving, which comes from the Nuremberg Chronicle.
Almost immediately after the war, the Germans began the restoration of the Frauenkirche, and funds were raised in an innovative way. The remaining copper was stripped from the roof and hammered into 13-inch platters, emblazoned with a medieval-looking crest of Bavaria.
My parents bought one of the platters, and I own it today. By my calculation, it is — in terms of the copper material — approximately 520 years old.
Here's how the Frauenkirche looks today. Restoration was done in several stages, the last one ending in 1994, exactly 500 years after the church was consecrated.
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| wikipedia.org |
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Hello Mark, Another great architectural souvenir, made even better by an important personal link. I once was where an historic copper dome was being replaced. The copper sheets were saved, but the little copper clips that held them in place were scattered to the winds. I picked up a few to save.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, who drew the very cute illustration for your birth announcement?
--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteI don't have his name, but the illustration was done by a German illustrator hired by my parents. I have some other souvenirs of Munich, but I personally have no memory of Germany; my father was reassigned before my first birthday . . .
Dear Mark - the roof must have made a hugh impact for miles around when it was covered in a verdigris copper colour.
ReplyDeleteYou are fortunate to have such a historic souvenir of Frauenkirche in the form of the very attractive copper platter, and it is lovely that you still have your birth announcement too - I had imagined that your father probably illustrated it before seeing your comment to Jim.
I wonder if you have ever returned to Munich to see the place of your birth?
Dear Rosemary,
DeleteI never returned to Germany, but my father did, thirty years later. He was amazed at how Munich was rebuilt and restored. In the 1940s, so my mother said, one could drive for blocks and blocks and see only rubble. Sometimes at night one would see a single candle in the rubble, and know that someone was reclaiming a space. And within thirty years Munich was a modern city again.
Dear Mark, I was going to ask the same question; who drew your birth announcement?
ReplyDeleteYou are always full of surprises. To have such an important piece of history must make you very proud.
My memories of those days are a bit different. I was unfortunate to be born in the wrong year and in the wrong country.
Dear Gina,
DeleteIt's hard for me to imagine what a childhood in East Germany must have been like. My impression of that country is of endless drabness, and yet your postings suggest a colorful childhood that celebrated an earlier heritage. At any rate, I am glad for you that there is a happy ending to the story!
Interested in the "turnip dome" architectural element. Do you know if the design is related to the Russian "onion dome", (at St Basil's in Moscow, for example, but all over Russia). I wonder who influenced whom.
ReplyDeleteDear Columnist,
DeleteThe domes are unusual, and they are not what was originally intended. The Frauenkirche's towers were completed in 1488, but for lack of money, the spires were left off for another 37 years. The original plan was for the tops to be open-work Gothic spires, but because the towers had caused leaks and because the budget was reduced, the closed "turnip" domes were chosen instead. It is said that they are modeled after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.
I love this plate; what a great relic to have from your birthplace. I was in Munich many years ago but I remember the Frauenkirche. I think its twin spires are icons of the Munich skyline. I seem to recall it wasn't far from the Hofbrauhaus which shows you where my mind was on that trip.
ReplyDeleteHi, Steve,
DeleteBecause I was the child who was born there, I have most of my parents' mementos from Germany, even though they were re-stationed while I was still an infant. It's sort of eerie; I look at those articles, remember my parents' associations to them, and they seem now almost like my own memories. . .
Dear Mark,
ReplyDeleteAs you can see I am late in my blog reading…
I nearly bought a spekulatius mold in the shape of the Frauenkirche on ebay but it went for far more than I was prepared to pay.
How wonderful to own a small piece of the roofing, and with such a story behind it. War is sometimes necessary, but it is always a terrible thing.
Bye for now
Kirk
Dear Kirk,
DeleteI've seen a number of spekulatius molds, but never knew what they were called, so thank you for mentioning them by their proper name. Now I'm wondering whether you have a collection of spekulatius molds. Could that be a future posting subject?
I think this is such a wonderful life-affirming birth announcement, Mark. In the wake of all the destruction and devastation, life does go on.
ReplyDeleteAnd as I have learned from your own blog, your parents probably shared some of my parents' experiences, in that same general time frame. My parents had lovely memories of Germany, but they were there during some anxious times, too, including the Berlin Airlift.
DeleteI do plan to write someday about the many wartime experiences of my German mother and her family. I grew up with these stories, Mark, and feel it's time I record them somewhere.
ReplyDelete