Paris (d.de) – Following the devastating fire of 2019, restoration work on Notre-Dame is now complete and the cathedral in Paris has reopened. A ceremony was held to mark the occasion on Saturday, with some 40 heads of state and government travelling to Paris for the reopening of the 850-year-old landmark. Among them was Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: he paid tribute to the work that went into reconstruction, saying it was the result of an “immense joint effort on the part of the French people”. Steinmeier described the church as a European landmark that reflected the continent’s 1,000-year history “with all its ups and downs”.
Some 2,000 experts worked on the reconstruction for more than five years, including numerous German artisans. As German reconstruction aid coordinator Barbara Schock-Werner said in an interview with Deutsche Handwerks Zeitung (DHZ): “Germany was the only other country to participate in the restoration. There were around 250 offers of help – from artisans such as carpenters, stonemasons and bricklayers, and even from a crane company.” According to the DHZ, German experts made a vital contribution to the restoration of the stained glass windows, for example, with four windows from the southern clerestory being taken to specialised construction workshops at Cologne Cathedral.
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