Why isn't Germany doing more to restore its Historic monuments?

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frackledJJ

Well, the second world war has been over now for over 60 years, and what formerly was a medieval city center is now expensive building ground, and mostly covered with sky scrapers. At least int he case of Frankfurt am Main. What holds true for all the cities which had been bombed and very much completely destroyed in the end of WW2 is that the people who had lived there and the people who had fled there were more concerned with having a roof above their heads than with heritage or decorative value of whatever they lived in, at least in the first few years. They built what they could effort, and stucco and oriels were not high on the agenda.
Some cities made an effort (see WÃ¼rzburg), some cities just had too many historically really important buildings (see Berlin, Munich, Potsdam... all the castles and political buildings) to spend their collective money on to worry about individual private houses, which, undoubtedly, carry a lot of charm if reconstructed historically. But the cost is just enormous, and there is no economical sense in doing it now. Especially not in cities like Frankfurt. That would equal to rebuilding the old brick buildings people from "New Amsterdam" had originally built at the space that is now know as "Ground Zero". And nobody would seriously suggest that, either.

dbdoit

So now you are saying Germany is no longer beautiful?
Frackled mentioned several good points. The main one being that when the war ended people wanted food and a roof over their heads. At that time 'Historic Restoration' was not the most important thing.
Are you asking about repairing old bulidings or having new ones built that resemble the old ones? Germany could do that. Germany could also make the US pay for it since US made bombs did all the destruction?
Another point is that while old historic buildings may look nice and be charming, they are not very practical in regards to modern technology, you know things like indoor plumbing, electricity, satalite dish, InterNet, etc. I know first hand as I am in the process of renovating my 'charming' 200 year old half timbered historically(outside) protected house.
You might be happy to know that millions were spent to rebuild the Dresden Church as it was before the bombing.
All in all I think Germany is doing a good job in preserving/reconstructing it's cultural landmarks. Certainly better than America.

finestrat1

After the war there were other needs than to restore old buildings, which were just rubbish after the bombings. Germany had to take in all the refugees from the east, and give them housing in the shortest possible time. There are now property rights for existing houses, and you canÂ´t just buy those houses. There must be also someone willing to sell it.
If you refer to the "Roemerberg" in Frankfurt, the townhall is in parts reconstructed in a simplified way. The town of Frankfurt doesnÂ´t have the money to redo it now historically correct (kind of broke). And the houses just opposite are new buildings, exactely like old postcards show them.
Even so, many buildings in Frankfurt are as ugly as they can be, but they are also an example for the reconstructing of a city after the war, and more than 60 years after the end oif the war, they start to become historical too. And if they are used as an example for ugly buildings, but at that time more than necessary.

Alwin E

What the hell are you talking about? We Germans did a lot since WWII to rebuild historical landmarks and even city centers; and mind that we didn't bomb our own country down. Yeah, sure, we could rebuild things with modern materials, making Germany look like plastic Disneyland. Sometimes it's just better to tear things down, and forget about them.

We Germans are different from the rest of the world in as far as we can say, and be proud of it, "No, that can't be done! Give it up.". And once we made that decision, we blow up a building, or destroy an ancient Roman fortress, because reconstruction can't be done. We give up on old things and build something new, like people always did. There's nothing wrong about that.

celebrate_me_home_2000

It costs money . . .

A trained worker (master) would be very expensive. Some of these buildings are sold off to someone willing to upkee, pay and reconstruct the buildings.

There are castles for sale on the cheap if you are willing to do the upkeep and reconstruction.

I guess like the Germans would do. Shrug . . .

Money . . .

Austin d

I dont know. I'd like to visit Germany someday

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