Half a year ago, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris was burning. Still, reconstruction has not begun. However, the upcoming renovation can be lost relive. From Paris, Lisa Louis.
“Notre Dame is on fire!” As Guillaume Auzeray on 15. April heard the message, he could not believe it. While they burned, he drove to the Paris main Cathedral, to see the disaster with my own eyes. For an hour he stood there silent and watched as the flames were eating up the centuries-old vaults.
“It’s really going to hurt to have to watch this,” recalls Auzeray. “As if one is watching someone Die.” Auzeray had felt the building have always been particularly connected. As a child, he was there every weekend. His favorite book is “The hunchback of Notre-Dame” by Victor Hugo. “To me, the ancient Greek concept of Ananke, a fell at the sight of the fire spontaneous’, which is also the case of Hugo is a great role and ‘fate’ means”, so Auzeray.
A sudden increase in the number of Apprentices
The next day, he took a decision. “Anyway I had played a long time with the thought. Then the fire was the pivotal reason for me to advertise myself as a stonemason,” says the 24-Year-old, who studied to this point in time, actually, even art history. “Notre Dame is part of the great French architectural heritage. And many of our old buildings are in need of urgent renovation. I want to contribute my part.”
Guillaume Auzeray wants to be a stonemason
Auzeray is one of the a total of 100 trainees, which started in September, your course as a stonemason in the case of Les Compagnons du Devoir, the French craft Association. The be ten percent more than last year, says Elsa Fontanille, the spokeswoman for the organization. “The fire in Notre-Dame was for many of the young people, a revival experience,” she adds. The number of apprentices in other crafts, which are for the reconstruction of the Church necessary, be increased to up to one-fifth compared with 2018. To do this roofer, carpenter, and Mason count.
Scarce Schedule
Hundreds of craftsmen are needed to restore Notre-Dame. The President of France, Emmanuel Macron promises that the Work should be completed within five years. “We are a Nation of builders and we will build the Cathedral even more beautiful than she already was,” said Macron, in a televised address shortly after the accident. The fire had destroyed the roof, damaged exterior walls and the roof of riders brought down. Experts doubt, however, in the Five-year objective: in view of the complexity of the task, you should rather beat ten to 15 years.
Trainees at the Compagnons du Devoir near Paris
In any case, the government wants that trainees are in the reconstruction of it. Only a few days after the fire, they started a program to bring young people into the professions concerned. This includes the establishment of training centres around the country. The so-called Chantiers de France (construction, France) will be connected to historical sites are being renovated. The most prominent will be located next to Notre-Dame. The apprentices are there for a short period of time, the opportunity to support a Team of experienced professionals.
Learning in the historic ambience
This possibility has also tempted Joseph Day. The 16-Year-old as one of the 500 budding table this year learning started teaching. For him, the fire in the Cathedral was the trigger. “I was really in grief because of this accident, and I immediately sent an E-Mail to the head of the craftsmen’s organisation, to my Regret,” he says. He would be thrilled if he could help in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame: “That would be a formidable opportunity for me to train.”
The renovation of the Notre-Dame might take longer than planned
Frederic Letoffe hopes that this enthusiasm will infect others – and the long-term, on Notre-Dame and beyond. He is Vice-President of the Groupement des Monuments Historiques. The Association of 200 companies, specializing in the renovation of historical buildings.
“The Problem is not to find in the short term, a few hundred artisans, the Notre-Dame rebuild. The Problem is, rather, a General lack of craftsmen. This jeopardizes the future of the industry,” he complains. The professions would have a bad Image in France. “Vocational training is regarded as something for people who didn’t make it to the University,” explains Letoffe.
Elsa Fontanille of Compagnons finds the contradictory: “on the one Hand, the people buildings, such as Notre’t feel this lady as something noble-but the professions of those who build such buildings or renovate.” Carpenter-apprentice Day can only agree: “It’s great to make something with your own hands. So training is just the thing for people who have no desire to go long in the school. For people who want to directly start into professional life.”