War memorials: lesson 5

Why bother rebuilding ruined monuments?

The final lesson in the series takes the issues of significance and interpretation into the present and into a Citizenship context of conflict resolution. Linking with the examination of the significance of local war memorials in Britain one part of this lesson may focus on the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche in Dresden. Students will need to understand the historical context of the bombing of Dresden as a controversial issue where there is some content overlap with the previous four lessons. It is possible to use the resource sheet 'Rebuilding the Frauenkirche' as a straightforward tool for class discussion with the four questions at the end as prompts. Equally it is possible to use the GREAT criteria again to assess the significance of the bombing of Dresden itself and apply Wrenn's site evaluation factors to the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche.

It is also possible to address some of the same issues by examining the opening of the reconstructed bridge at Mostar using 'Peace in Mostar' as a resource. Which is drawn from an article from the BBC website. The questions at the end of the resource could be used as a useful prompt for discussion. Wrenn's site evaluation factors could be a used as a means of evaluating issues of significance and interpretation to the rebuilt site. The focus of this discussion is on the Citizenship issue of conflict resolution.

The class could make use of both resources in this way.

1. Divide class into groups and give each group one of the two stories. Ask groups to work out the answers to the questions.

2. Ask each group to report on one of the questions and discuss the answers with the whole class in order to make comparisons between the stories. Identify the factors which are similar and those which are different in the answers to the questions.

Consider an answer to the question:

• Does the rebuilding of ruined monuments assist the process of reconciliation between opposing groups of people?

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Downloads

War memorials Lesson 5 (, 59 KB)
War memorials Resource 6 (, 74 KB)
War memorials Resource 7 (, 119 KB)