Re: Re: reorganisation and destruction of irish catholic churches

Gunter!

“In the past, the repair and conservation of buildings of the scale of Cobh Cathedral was entrusted to the hands of a dedicated workshop, a small band of craftsmen with masonry, carpentry and roofing skills, who were based on-site and who were permanently employed on a building that they each knew intimately”.

This is exactly the approach used for the conservation of Cologne Cathedral. Effectively, the Dombauverein is the modern successor of the the Dombauhutte that built the Cathedral 800 years ago. This organisation employs (in the usual OTT German manner) 5 architects to maintain the fabric, and a small army of masons, carpenters and other craftsmen – many of them succeeding their forefathers in these tasks. And, it has to be said, the system works.

It is becoming more and more obvious that the 1990s “restoration” of Cobh Cathedral was an unmitigated disastre.