An Illuminated Placement

An illuminated Placement

The Freiberg Germany temple had originally been dedicated 29–30 June 1985. The fact that the Church had been allowed to build it in what was then the Communist country of East Germany, was a surprise. The Country had tightly controlled its border access for 36 years at the time of dedication. Many times during those years, members of the Church had requested permission to leave the country to attend the closest temple, in Bern Switzerland. All requests had been denied.^[1] Kuehne, Raymond M. “The Freiberg Temple: An Unexpected Legay of a Communist State and a Faithful People.” The Dialogue Journal , The Dialogue Journal, 27 Aug. 2018.

The real shock, was that it was the East German Government who asked the Church to build the temple. The Church jumped on the Chance. Wary of the government, despite promises to leave the temple alone, the Church opted not to use the finest available materials, and instead went for good. Additionally, they opted to not include the Angel Statue. The only temple between 1982 and 2010 to not receive one.^[2]Kuehne, Raymond M. “The Freiberg Temple: An Unexpected Legay of a Communist State and a Faithful People.” The Dialogue Journal , The Dialogue Journal, 27 Aug. 2018.

As a result, In the Early 2000’s, long after the fall of the Communist government, The Church opted to renovate, upgrade, and expand the small temple in the equally small community of Freiberg.

Some panic was stirred amongst locals when, as part of this renovation, the spire on the front of the temple was removed. The Temple had become a beloved and recognizable landmark. In fact, the temple was expanded out the front, and the spire was rebuilt farther forward, at the front of the new, nearly double size floor plan.^[3]Freedman, Claire, and Eugene Freedman. “Angel Statue Added to Freiberg Temple.” Church News, 12 Jan. 2002.

As part of this expansion, on 20 December 2001, a small crowd gathered under gloomy skies to witness the addition of the then ubiquitous statue to the new spire. The day before, former temple President Magnus R. Meiser predicted that the sun would shine on the event. ^[4]Freedman, Claire, and Eugene Freedman. “Angel Statue Added to Freiberg Temple.” Church News, 12 Jan. 2002. As the statue was placed on the point of the spire, the sun did indeed break through. There is a magnificent photo, by Eugene and Claire Freedmen in an article they wrote for the Church News of the event, showing the temple and grounds all around in shadow, with a bright ray of light from the rising sun illuminating the top of the spire, and the glistening angel.^[5]]Freedman, Claire, and Eugene Freedman. “Angel Statue Added to Freiberg Temple.” Church News, 12 Jan. 2002.

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