In pictures: Dresden's Frauenkirche

• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:57

  
  
  Thousands of people gathered in the east German city of Dresden to see Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) re-consecrated, 60 years after it was destroyed by Allied forces.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:57

  
  
  The baroque church was reduced to rubble when Allied bombers struck the city in February 1945. The city burned for a week after the raid and at least 35,000 people died.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:58

  
  
  What remained of the crumbling walls were left to stand by East Germany's communist authorities to serve as a reminder of the World War II damage.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:58

  
  
  The 180 million euro reconstruction took 10 years to recreate the church as it stood in this 1930 photo.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:58

  
  
  As crowds gathered outside for the re-consecration ceremony, 1,800 guests from Germany and around the world were also examining the ornately decorated interior.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:59

  
  
  A reminder of the war and destruction, a piece of debris retrieved from the rubble is displayed in the re-opened church.
• poon cho tang

  31 Oct 05, 21:59

  
  
  The sandstone dome of the reconstructed Frauenkirche dominates the Dresden skyline, near the Academy of Fine Arts (left).