Evening star., 1938-07-10
War; Torn Cathedral of Reims
Is Restored and Lives Agair
France Is Celebrating the Rebuilding as Fac,
and as Symbol of the Nations
Spiritual Center
THE MAN BEHIND THE
MAN BEHIND THE GUN !

walls Of this subterranean maze echoed to
the news vender cries-"L'Eclaireu de
lest"
But since their exodus from Reims the
citizens had not yet returned. Standing
in this silence, I became aware Of soft but
deep. sonorous organ-like music and
instinctively followed in the direction Of
the subtly increasing sound which led me
toward the cathedral.
As entered the Parvis. trimmed with
ruin, the great flre-blanched facade of the
Cathedral stood out in unexpected and
ghostly whiteness. At its base, beyond the
center Of the Parvis, was a French mill
tary band, about which had clustered some
French military and few civilians. 1t
was the first occasion of its kind since the
bell Of peace had struck.
didn't know the composition they were
playing. 1t seemed to be on the order of
the March Slav'; it might have been the
Priests of Altar" or something akin. But
what did it matter? AS its rich sonorous
beauty swept from harmony to harmony
Then, strangely enough, for the first time
in weeks, the sun swept away the gray
pail and broke through In a magnificent
silvery burst of glory full upon the
blanched. softened face of the Cathedral
which sent back the music's crescendo in
soft, murmuring echoes Of its reawakening
1t seemed impossible that this most
beautiful structure produced by the Middle
Ages could have undergone the ruthless
ness OF war, and stranger still that any Of
it could have survived, not only the shock
OF shell, but two fires. The first, caused
by an enemy bomb had defaced the portal
Of the west facade and its north tower,
and damaged many of the statues. In a
few minutes the interior was a raging
furnace. Priceless glass, stalls, pulpit,
organ. the archbishops throne and innu-
merable other treasures had gone.
Precious jewels Shattered.
know Of no other cathedral with such
rich profusion Of statues and statuettes,
$50 of which glorify the recesses Of the
portals Of its west facade During those
four years OF intermittent blasting the
Renois not only watched their Cathedral
twice burned but saw many Of the precious
sculptures blown to dust and fragments.
They saw those precious 18th century
jewels shattered from their lead work and
watched what was left of the stained glass
and lead castings melt in the fires and dis
appear.
Through the entire siege the archbishop,
the monsigneur and the old sacristan re-
manned, and the last. with faithful helper.
gathered up and saved from each newly
fallen lot of debris the precious fragments
Of glass.
Fortunately the eight small roses, 100
feet above the ground and the upper part
of some of the windows Of the upper nave
just below them. were saved. This was
accomplished under the cover Of fog and
darkness, through the aid Of fremen
brought from Paris, with scaling ladders.
The bases of the portals are framed by
a frieze of glorious figures depicting saints
and important New Testament events and
statuettes in parallel rows. Large figures
flank the great rose window, statuettes
enrich its arch. Over the arch a sculptured
group portrays the baptism, in 1876, of
Clovis the Arayan by Saint Remi Above
this group a magnificent frieze of figures,
each 18 feet high, serves as base for the
graceful towers and forms the Gallery of
the Kings.
This west facade is one Of the most
perfect masterpieces of the Middle Ages
For elegance, beauty and majesty nothing
surpasses it. 1t vast is-so sumptuous,
50 lavish with the symbolic sculpture of the
deep. recessed portals, that no draperies
were hung upon it at the time Of coronation
ceremonies. This west facade is tap
estry in itself, a tapestry in stone.
Today Reims, like phoenix rising from
her ashes, has been reborn. Most Of the
rubble Of war has gone back into the new
walls of attractive. harmonious buildings
which. plastered and painted. give no evil
dence Of the story which lies hidden within
their stones Architects have taken ad-
vantage of Reims' misfortune to build
finer city and after 20 years of laborious
and great work noted sculptors have re-
stored the Cathedral itself to remarkable
extent from the holocaust of war. BY the
aid of former photographs and casts the
damage was repaired by the replacing Of
every available fragment saved in the
restoration of the blanched, edge-blurred
portals and west facade. And the world
again looks out on the reparation Of this
torn frontispiece of the history Of medieval
art.
The magnificent oaken timbers which
supported the Cathedral roof, hevn from
the monarchs of the royal forest, have
gone forever Even their ashes have blown
away. But in their place, on impregnable
curved supports of armed concrete. the new
roof rests. In medieval times the altar
only of cathedral was blessed, but today
the Western World witnesses, for the first
time, the conservation Of the Cathedral
itself. AS time goes on the' color of the
cooler gray of the newer stone will nestle
into the warmer color of the bosom Of
Notre Dame Although the Aeart CT the
material Cathedral was torn out. and its
visible body mutilated, the grace and power
Of its symmetry Is there, and the spiritual
breath of its immortal soul smanates
from 1t.