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Notre-Dame three months after the fire
For Paris visitors, Notre-Dame is at the top of the list. That has hardly changed even after the fire. Everyone wants to see: what does the world-famous landmark look like now? But a lot has changed for the district around the cathedral.
Paris (AP) - It's not like there's nothing going on. But on the contrary. Just before the barrier, one photo still - but then continue, make room for the next. Three months have passed since a devastating fire severely damaged Notre-Dame.
The cathedral spire fell victim to the flames on the evening of April 15, and the roof collapsed. Now, on the Île de la Cité, on which the mighty structure in Paris sits enthroned, everything is as always. And somehow not at all.
The large forecourt in front of Notre-Dame is still closed. Hundreds of tourists cavorted in front of the fire, waiting in line to see the world-famous attraction from the inside. Now there is a beige barrier with barbed wire in the middle of the square - it blocks the view of the entrance to the cathedral. Behind her, the construction works go their way. The actual fence that holds visitors stands a few dozen yards ahead. Tourists stare at fences, so to speak.
"I think it's a pity that you can not go in," says Ina Eiberger from Speyer (Rhineland-Palatinate). She is visiting Paris with her family and knows the church from earlier days. She would have liked to show Notre-Dame to the children from the inside as well. "Of course we were curious - what does the cathedral look like from the outside and can you see something?" She says. The many fences and scaffolding showed at least that Notre-Dame will be rebuilt - and that's good.
Lukas Engelberger from Basel, Switzerland, has also been here five or six times - even if it has been many years. "That's sad," says the family man about the destruction. And he says something that maybe many visitors think when they stand in front of the mighty structure. "It's difficult, you do not see the damage so well, the structure of the church is still there, so it's not so easy to predict how bad the damage is."
And indeed - who wants to see what the fire has done, can see this better on the banks of the Seine than on the city island. Because who looks from the side of the nave, sees how the fire has eaten through the roof. There are cranes, nets were stretched and wooden supports attached. Before the fire, construction work was taking place on the mighty cathedral - the huge scaffolding on the roof is still standing - it has melted down strangely. The roof itself - it lacks.
The cause of the fire, the investigators still have not come much closer. So much is certain: A criminal background is probably excluded. The fire was triggered either by a fault in the electrical system or a cigarette that was not properly expressed. And another thing is going on: the lead pollution. Therefore, the forecourt remains closed for the time being - further cleaning work is necessary. Especially in the roof construction and the tower cover of the cathedral a lot of lead had been processed. It had melted by the fire.
For the many traders and restaurants on the famous Île de la Cité, the ongoing state of emergency in the district is a drama. The fire disaster is also a disaster for the area, complains Patrice LeJeune, president of the Dealers Association of Notre-Dame. After the fire, many stores had been closed for almost five to six weeks.
Because of the barriers, many tourists would only come for one photo, but they would not stay longer in the neighborhood. And that was bad for business. Traders' turnover is currently only between 40 and 70 percent of the usual, LeJeune estimates. It was particularly bad for the restaurants and shops in the small streets next to the cathedral. There are now dark passages between houses and partitions - not very inviting.
France's Finance Minister, Bruno LeMaire, pledged € 350,000 in aid to businessmen in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral in June. This is not enough in the long run, criticizes LeJeune. "They listen to us, but they do not act," he says. What's going to happen in the fall, what's going to happen in winter, what's going to happen next year, we do not know. "
Five years - that's President Emmanuel Macron's ambitious reconstruction plan. And in the meantime? On the forecourt of the cathedral a prayer room is to be built - as soon as the safety conditions permit. Believers should also be able to confess there, according to the archdiocese. Until then, there will probably continue to be snapshots in front of fences.
https://www.fnp.de/kultur/notre-dame-drei-monate-nach-brand-zr-12812939.html
(german)
