The Dresden Trust

The Dresden Trust is a British charity dedicated to healing the wounds of war and furthering harmonious relations between the people of Britain and the German city of Dresden in Saxony, one of the greatest centres of European culture.

Founded in 1993 by Dr Alan Russell, it was a response to the 'Call from Dresden' to help rebuild the city, in particular the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) which was destroyed by the British and American bombing in February 1945.

With HRH The Duke of Kent as its Royal Patron and a high visibility campaign, the Trust raised over £1 million. It commissioned a Golden Orb and Cross by goldsmith Alan Smith at Grant Macdonald in the UK. His father Frank was one of the pilots who bombed Dresden in 1945. The Orb and Cross now stand atop the cupola of the Frauenkirche as a symbol of enduring friendship.

The Dresden Trust also fulfils its mission of furthering reconciliation through educational and cultural initiatives, memorials and visits.

The Dresden Trust as a vibrant organisation with a forward-looking Board of Trustees and distinguished Patrons is open to new ideas and projects to further its aims.

In February 2022 the Dresden Trust launched THE DRESDEN TRUST ANNUAL POSTGRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH BURSARY Read More

News

“IN MY GRANDFATHER’S SHADOW” by ANGELA FINDLAY Published by Penguin Transworld and Bantam Press, July 2022

REVIEW by Marcus Ferrar, author of “A Foot in Both Camps: a German Past for Better and for Worse” and Chair of the Dresden Trust.

Daniel Schieferdecker of the Dresden Trust speaking on the 13th February in Dresden

Dresden Trust Trustee Daniel Schieferdecker speaking in front of the Frauenkirche Dresden on the 13th February, at the commemoration of the bombing of the city in 1945 by Allied forces.

Dresden, Germany classical cathedrals and spires on The Elbe River at night.

Research Bursary

The Dresden Trust is proud to advertise a Research Travel Bursary for Postgraduate Students in the UK working on any aspect of a Dresden-related subject in Cultural Studies (literature, music,…

Donation to Dresden Trust Scholarship Scheme

The Dresden Trust has received a four-figure donation in recognition of its sponsorship of a British schoolboy to spend three weeks in Dresden last autumn attending a school and staying…

Remembering Dresden; Forgetting Hamburg:Professor William Donahue 15th February 2022

Remembering Dresden; Forgetting Hamburg The assertion of radically different numbers of victims of the horrific bombing of Dresden in February of 1945 prompted the founding of a special historical commission…

Coventry Cathedral Events 6th November

Reading: Phoenix (Antony Owen) Coventry Cathedral, Priory St, Coventry CV1 5FB Saturday 6 November 2021, 14:00 – 15:00 Coventry’s own Peace Poet, Antony Owen, born and raised in the city,…

Marcus Ferrar Chair of the Dresden Trust on Victor Gregg in the Times

Obituary: Victor Gregg, long term friend and supporter of the Dresden Trust

From the Times 14th October 2021: To say that Victor Gregg was in the wrong place at the wrong time on the night of February 13-14, 1945, would be to…

Bishop Christopher of Coventry honoured by Germany’s Federal President

On 1 October, the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andreas Michaelis, presented the Bishop of Coventry, The Rt Revd Dr Christopher Cocksworth, with the Commander’s Cross of the Order…

Dread versus Hope On Michael Göring’s Dresden. Novel of a Family by Rüdiger Görner

Dread versus Hope On Michael Göring’s Dresden. Novel of a Family Rifts, divisions, antagonisms are global phenomena, national traumata, and individual burdens – often too difficult to bear. But…

Remembering

Anlässlich der Gedenkfeier am 13. und 14. Februar 2022 sendet die Dresden Trust herzliche Grüße an die Dresdnerinnen und Dresdner.

Trotz der Pandemie-Einschränkungen der vergangenen zwei Jahre fördern wir weiterhin Schüleraustausche zwischen Dresden und Großbritannien. Diejenige, die Dresden besuchen, sprechen begeistert von lebensverändernden Erfahrungen.

Wir danken den Dresdner Familien und dem St. Benno-Gymnaisum herzlich, dass sie dies ermöglicht haben. Wir setzen uns weiterhin dafür ein, aus Versöhnung dauerhafte Freundschaft zu machen, und hoffen, in naher Zukunft wieder mehr persönliche Kontakte zu knüpfen.

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