Freiberg Germany Temple Open House

The Freiberg Temple has a unique history.  Not only was it the first temple to be built in a communist country, but it was also done at the East German government's request, not ours!  The government had become tired of Church members continually petitioning for permission to attend the temple in Switzerland; consequently, they surprisingly offered the solution of the Church building its own temple in the GDR (German Democratic Republic).  Freiberg was selected because it was close to four large cities--Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, and Prague--and yet was an out-of-the-way small town in which the Church would not be making too big a statement.
Amazingly, over 90,000 people visited the temple open house in 1985.

By 2002 increased temple attendance from other Eastern European countries necessitated enlarging the building.  It was nearly doubled to 15,000 square feet and rededicated.  And in 2015 the temple was closed once again to enlarge the sealing rooms.  The second rededication was then scheduled for September 4 of this year.

Although our work began over six months ago, the time finally arrived for Public Affairs to participate in the Open House.  Actually, our Europe Area Public Affairs Office was only involved with the three-day Media/VIP Open House.  The local temple committee would handle
the two-week-long Public Open House.

Elder G and I, along with our director, Gabriele Sirtl, and Kim Farah from Salt Lake, arrived early to provide host training.  Some members of the Church would host VIPs, others would host and be interviewed by the media, and yet others would be trained to host the general public.

Brother Blake Rosenvall represented the Temple Department, 

and Brother Manfred Schütze was the Committee Chair.

 

After attending the Dresden ward on Sunday, Luka Ortlieb and the Bartsches treated us all to a tour of Church historic sites near the temple.  Of course, the Karl G. Mäser statue

at the Dresden chapel was our first stop.

From there we went to the famed Frauenkirche, the Dresden cathedral rebuilt from ruins mentioned in President Uchtdorf's October 2016 conference talk.  This has to be 

one of our favorite buildings in Europe--both inside and out!

Next, we visited the grave site of Joseph Ott, a Mormon missionary who died in Dresden in 1896 just days after his arrival in Germany, thus not being able to proselyte.  However, as the story is told, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1995/08/brief-mission-constant-harvest?lang=eng,

from his grave site have come numerous converts.  In 1905 a woman noted a strange light over the grave stone, read that the deceased was a missionary from our Church, contacted the Church, and long story short, she and most of her 10 children joined!  His grave site is still maintained to this day by the Dresden ward.

Next we drove to the site overlooking Dresden and Meissen where then-Apostle Thomas S. Monson in 1975 dedicated the land of East Germany for the preaching of the gospel.

We all gathered around while Sister Sirtl read the dedicatory prayer.  

It was very tender and emotional to be in that very spot, knowing that we were now there

to celebrate the rededication of a temple built nearby.

Our last stop was the home of Karl G. Mäser.  Although no family members reside there now, the current  owner welcomes visitors.  We even found the signature of Dallin Oaks in the guest book! The plaque on the home has been there over 100 years, and the home has been protected through two world wars and other forms of destruction.

 These are posters inside the Freiberg Chapel describing the history of the temple next door.

 

Monday was a second day of training; Tuesday welcomed first the media and then the VIPs. 

 That night we had a dinner for our expanded PA team, which included three out-of-country PA members--Dominique (and Françoise) Calmels from France, Christian Bruno from Italy, and Paulo Adriano from Portugal.  They were there to prepare for their own countries' 

temple open houses to occur in the next year or two.

Tuesday's VIP Open House was presided over by Elders Johnson and Sabin of the Area Presidency, accompanied by their wives. 

 Temple President, Günther Erlacher, and his two counselors.

Sister Sirtl and others on a rainy opening day!

Ralf and Beate Bartsch were amazingly wonderful guides who hosted the media, VIPs, and the public.  They were there for three weeks.  In late September they fly to Salt Lake City for four weeks' training to become Church History missionaries.  They are from Berlin and were present in 1975 when then-Apostle Thomas S. Monson promised the Saints behind the Iron Curtain that they would yet be able to have all the blessings members of the Church enjoy elsewhere.

Sister Eva-Maria Bartsch manned the welcome desk every day, 

providing a warm greeting and name tag for each VIP.

Finger foods and visiting were provided to our guests upon completion of the tour.

Many of the Open House Committee Members

Elder and Sister Hubrich were Church History missionaries called specifically to document the remodeling, open house, and rededication of the temple.

One group of VIPs was Sheikh Esref Efendi, head of the Muslim Sufis in Germany, and his entourage.  He was surprisingly friendly and visited longer than expected.

He was even friendlier than we had expected, too!  ha!

The Sheikh presented Sister Sirtl with this prayer rug, which we will frame for her office.

Another high-level VIP group was the US Delegation from the Embassy in Berlin.
They, too, seemed very willing to extend their visit after the tour of the temple.

Another important visitor was 86-year-old Günther Bendte, 

former head of the Ministry of Cults for the GDR.

One afternoon we joined Sister Sirtl and Kim Farah to have lunch in downtown Freiberg, 

We were thrilled to enjoy the local Thüringer Brat, noted to be the best brat in Germany!

And, of course, one must have "eis" (ice cream) at one the many local shops.

Thursday was the last day of the VIP Open House.  We celebrated that night by taking the local VIP Open House team to dinner at a restaurant named Himmel und Hölle (Heaven and Hell).

The painting may have been all about Hell,

but the dinner and friendships were heavenly!

We left Friday morning to drive back to Frankfurt as the crowds for the Public Open House started filing in.  Both the VIP and Public Open Houses totaled over 21,650 guests, and the media response was amazingly very favorable!  We were very, very pleased with everything!

It couldn't have been any better!

 One highlight for me was in meeting a certain young Sister Missionary.  The Sisters were there to visit guests after the tour and answer questions.  When this young Sister told me she had grandparents in St. George--and she looked somewhat familiar--I questioned her and learned she was the niece of our friends Dan & Connie Finck, formerly from Virginia and now from Arizona!   Elder G also met a man who had served with him in the West German Mission over 50 years ago.
I just love Mormon Small Worlds! 

 Yes, working on and participating in the Freiberg Temple Rededication of 2016 was truly a wonderful experience for all of us in Public Affairs.