Sunday, May 03, 2009

Paulskirche Frankfurt

Sunday was an other "relaxed" day: getting up relatively late, then driving to downtown Frankfurt, doing a bit of sigh-seeing there and a lot of just sitting in the sun and enjoying the beautiful day before heading to Wiesbaden where there was an event in the evening.


(Yes, the speakers are on this photo. Perhaps you can find them?)

The "Paulskirche" is not only a building in Frankfurt but also an institution in German history. It was here, where in 1848 the first German parliament met to formulate a German constitution. In this constitution the death penalty was abolished already. Unfortunately it never really had a chance and so Germany had to wait about 100 years longer until it finally really abolished the death penalty with its constitution.

During World War II, allied bombings completely destroyed the Paulskirche together with most of Frankfurt's historic center. Because of its historic significance, the Paulskirche was the first building reconstructed after the war. The Paulskirche reopened on the 100th anniversary of Germany's first parliament.

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