June 1, 2019 | Solidarity Campaign: Notre-Dame concerns all of us!

On the evening of April 15, 2019, when the pictures of the burning Paris Cathedral Notre-Dame went around the world, many people were holding their breath. Following the great fire catastrophe, there was not only a huge willingness to donate - more and more questions came to the fore concerning the general handling of such extraordinary cultural monuments. Aachen sees itself in a special role here, not least because the city with the Cathedral is home to the first German UNESCO world cultural heritage site. The City of Aachen, together with numerous renowned experts and institutions, is therefore inviting you to a solidarity campaign in the Citykirche St. Nikolaus on Saturday, June 1st.

 "We want to express solidarity with the people of France and Paris and try to offer professional help. We are people who work daily with cultural monuments in a variety of ways," said Aachen's city archaeologist Andreas Schaub at the presentation of the programme on May 22, 2019. Together with Dr. Angelika Ivens, Honorary Consul of the French Republic in Aachen, the Aachen chief Cathedral architect Helmut Maintz and Professor Dr. Anke Naujokat, head of the Chair of Architectural History at RWTH Aachen University, Schaub spoke about the background and necessity of the event. (de) (...)

The program of the solidarity campaign combines history, craftsmanship, building history, university, religion and architecture and is organized by people which are professionally involved in a wide variety of ways with conservation sites and cultural monuments. From the media reaction to the the fire about the building history of the Cathedral, from monument protection to reconstruction: The campaign shows how diverse the discussion about the April 15th fire is. However, it also expresses the solidarity in Germany and especially in Aachen with the fate of the Parisians and the the great will to help in all possible ways.

(Text (shorted): City of Aachen, Press and Marketing Department. English translation: Chair of Architectural History, RWTH Aachen University)