Just two months before the European part of World War II came to a close in 1945, Allied air forces firebombed the city of Dresden killing as many as 25,000 people. Among the many buildings destroyed was the 18th century Dresden Frauenkirche. The rubble of the Lutheran church remained in place for the next 49 years as an anti-war memorial. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche#Reconstruction

In 1994, following the reunification of Germany, the huge pile of stones was finally cleared so that the church could be rebuilt. Thousands of the fire-blackened original stones can be seen in the reconstructed shell in contrast to the newer blocks. Elsewhere in central Dresden many other buildings still bear the scorch marks of those fiery days in February 1945.