After seven years of planning, The Boeing Employees Choir realized its ambition to sing at a Dresden cathedral on July 5, 2002.It was a highlight of the choir's 2002 tour "to make new friends with our music" in its first visit to former Eastern block countries.

Cathedral in Kolobrzeg, Poland, July 4, 2002.

The tour left Seattle June 28 for Wolfenbüttel, Germany, and ended 17 days later in Vienna, Austria. It included stops in Berlin, Szczecin (Poland), Prague, Hradec Kralove and Cejkovice (Czech Republic), and three home stays where choir members enjoyed visits with local families. There were eight concerts, in castles, chateaus, cathedrals and churches, where the choir was regularly greeted with full houses, standing ovations and calls for encores.

In 1995, on an earlier tour of Germany, people asked if we were planning to come back and sing in Dresden's Frauenkirche. At the time, the 18th century baroque church with its fairy tale spires and bell-shaped dome was starting to be rebuilt, after being destroyed in the last weeks of World War II. On an earlier tour to England, the choir had sung at Coventry Cathedral, rebuilt after World War II bombings. The beautiful new structure contrasted sharply with the adjacent ruins of the old cathedral and left an indelible image in the hearts and minds of those who were there. We became committed to the Dresden reconstruction.

Contributions were coming from all over the world. The Boeing Employees Choir gave several benefit concerts for the reconstruction and initiated formal plans to return to Germany in 2002.

The choir gathered in the crypt to sing for an ecumenical service, and a silent prayer for peace. We followed the service with a concert.

On July 5, 2002, choir members and their companions spent the afternoon walking around the busy Dresden construction site with other tourists.

The Frauenkirche, the beloved symbol of Dresden where Bach had once played the organ, was indeed rising again over the River Elbe. Swabbed in scaffolding and more than half complete, its doors will open to worshippers in 2006.
But the crypt was finished when we were there, and regular services are held daily. A few weeks after we returned home, there was a horrible flood in the region. With advance warning of the flood, items in the crypt were protected, but there was some minor damage. On the other hand a number of our friends in Dresden lost property and homes in the flood.
On October 30, 2005, the Frauenkirche was rededicated with an opening ceremony.

For more information, see "Dresden's Frauenkirche Opens With Help from The Boeing Employees Choir."