2012 March Girls Trip–Freiberg, Germany

On our way from Dresden back to Seiffen we stopped to take a look at the Freiberg, Germany temple.

Temple facts (from ldschurchtemples.com): 

• The Freiberg Germany Temple was the first temple built in a communist nation and the first built on  German soil.
• The Freiberg Germany Temple was originally named the Freiberg DDR Temple.
• At 7,840 square feet, the Freiberg Germany Temple was the smallest temple the Church had ever constructed.
• Following diligent efforts by the Church to obtain permission for its faithful couples to attend the Bern Switzerland Temple, the government asked if it might consider building a temple in East Germany. The Church gratefully accepted the invitation and built the Freiberg Germany Temple.
• Though just 40,000 Germans called the city of Freiberg home, crowds of 89,871 attended the two-week open house of the Freiberg Germany Temple—some waiting up to three hours in the rain for a chance to get inside.
• In 1990, five years after the dedication of the Freiberg Germany Temple, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was reunited with the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).
• An angel Moroni statue was added to the Freiberg Germany Temple 16½ years after its dedication on December 20, 2001, as part a major renovation and expansion project.