It was one of the finest baroque churches in the world (Meg, 1998) in a city that is known as “Florence of the Elbe”, dominating the skyline since its completion in 1743 (Furlong, 2004): The Frauenkirche (“Church of Our Lady”) in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately, the church was destroyed in 1945, when Allied bombers attacked the city and killed around 100,000 inhabitants (Connolly, 2005; Meg, 1998) in response to the Germans bombing the City of London. After the blackened ruins had laid for decades (Connolly, 2004), the church was reconstructed between 1994 and 2005 based on a civilian initiative that aimed to create a symbol for reconciliation and peace (Furlong, 2004).
This report aims to sketch the major characteristics of the according project and the lessons that can be learned from its realisation. It thereby draws on major project management tools and frameworks in the following categories:
- Project description, vision and strategy
- Challenges
- Project stakeholders
- Project risks
- Lessons learned
1. Introduction
It was one of the finest baroque churches in the world (Meg, 1998) in a city that is known as “Florence of the Elbe”, dominating the skyline since its completion in 1743 (Furlong, 2004): The Frauenkirche (“Church of Our Lady”) in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately, the church was destroyed in 1945, when Allied bombers attacked the city and killed around 100,000 inhabitants (Connolly, 2005; Meg, 1998) in response to the Germans bombing the City of London. After the blackened ruins had laid for decades (Connolly, 2004), the church was reconstructed between 1994 and 2005 based on a civilian initiative that aimed to create a symbol for reconciliation and peace (Furlong, 2004).
This report aims to sketch the major characteristics of the according project and the lessons that can be learned from its realisation.
2. Project description, vision and strategy
On 13th February 1990, 45 years after the destruction, a group of committed citizens formulated the “Call from Dresden”, a vision of how they would like the ruins to be treated (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, n.d.; Burger, 2005): The Frauenkirche should be reconstructed to its former glory as a memorial against war and a symbol of reconciliation (dw.com, 2005; Meg, 1998). “From the ruins shall rise a church, and a symbol”, read the New York Times headline in April 1994 (Whitney,1994).
The initiators’ mission essentially comprised four goals. First, they wanted to re-use historic building material to reconstruct the Frauenkirche in accordance with the original construction plans of the architect George Bährs. Nevertheless, second, the reconstructed Frauenkirche was required to allow the vibrant usage of the building in the 21st century (Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden, n.d.). Third, the initiators aimed to combine traditional techniques with modern technologies and the latest scientific findings (Meg, 1998; Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden, n.d.). Fourth, they claimed an international effort to involve the victorious countries in raising the church from its ruins (Whitney,1994).
To achieve those goals, the initiators’ strategy focused on actions to approximate the original building fabric (e.g., by imitating original construction plans and restoring the ruins archaeologically), on raising awareness for the reconstruction and on collecting donations.
To implement ltle strategy, a project was initiated ltlat implied the establishment oftwonew organisations. From among the members of the civilian initiative, ltle "SocietytoPromoteltleReconstructionof the Frauanklrcha" emergedtopromota thereconstructiontoltla ctvll society and to collect donations. Following controversial discussions in ltle public and in numerous committees. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the State of Saxony, ltle Free State of Saxony and the state capitalof Dresden jointly founded the "Foundation Frauenkirche Dresden" as an autonomous legal entity with ltle purposetorealiseltle project (Goetha-lnstitut, n.d.).Theneeanaryfundingof180 Million Euroswas mostty provided by private donations of citizensand companies as well as supported by public budgets.
In 2005,aftera decadeofreconstruction,ltle Frauankircha atood once again initsfull aplandour(dw.com,2005).The outcome has, thue, tully mattheorganlaatlona' founding purposeIn all success dimensions.
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure1:Extended Iron Triangle applied to reconstruction project (Adapted from Atkinson(1999))
3. Special challenges
The project involved various challenges. The “Diamond Framework” by Shenhar & Dvir (2007) helps to identify those standing out from the crowd.
A) Technology - High-tech
To live up its vision, the builder-owner used a sensible combination of traditional and modern technologies (dw.com, 2005), which was technologically challenging. Mr Burger, the responsible master builder, describes it as a “balancing act between the knowledge and application of the old handicraft techniques, in use since the Middle Ages, and the implementation of modern technology" (Goethe-Institut, n.d.). Technologically pioneering was the use of a computer animation to identify the original location of the historic building material (Ruthe, 2005). In order to continue the work throughout the year, heating units were deployed to heat up several workplaces (Burger, 2005).
B) Novelty - Platform
The technological requirements such as the combination of traditional and modern technologies as well as the use of historic building materials provided some novelty to the architectural and static planning of the sandstone dome (Jaeger, Bergander, & Pohle, 2003). To continue the work regardless of weather conditions, a newly developed tent with the special function that it could be adjusted to the building (Züblin, n.d.) was used to cover the site (goethe.de, 2004).
C) Complexity - System
Although the reconstruction of a church has been done before, the technological requirements discussed above and the use of historic building materials implied a certain complexity. A central external firm, IPRO Dresden, was tasked with the coordination and control of subprojects and the various project stakeholders. They set up a “Team Frauenkirche” to cope with the complexity (GPM, 2009; Krach, n.d.).
D) Pace - Regular
The timetable has not been very ambitious but work was continued day and night throughout the year (Goethe-Institut, n.d.). The project planning considered the occurrence or non-occurrence of various contingencies. After a decade of reconstruction (dw.com, 2005), the Frauenkirche stood once again in its full splendour in 2005, one year ahead of the schedule (Q-Park, n.d.; GPM, 2009).
Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 2:Daimond framework by Shenher & Dvir (2007) applied to reconstruction project
Analysing the different dimensions of the "Diamond framework", it appears that what made the project spefically challenging are the technological tasks of, first, combining traditional and mordern technologies and, second, employing the historic building materials. Nonetheless, the technological challenges affected the novelty and complexity of the project accordingly.
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