Press comments on the fire in Notre

France

The conservative daily Paris " Le Figaro " states that the cathedral is inseparable from the history of France. "In the collective memory are buried the great hours of the nation: royal weddings, speeches, the coronation of Napoleon and the Te Deum of the Victory of 1945". The masterpiece has experienced wars and looting. "But never has the Cathedral suffered such adversity, never has it been destroyed by such a spectacular fire, the emotion is tremendous."

Virginie Malingre writes in " Le Monde " that French President Emmanuel Macron once said he had a "sense of tragedy" in him. "I am not meant to govern in quiet times, (...) I am made for the stormy times". On Monday evening, tragedy crossed its path again, in the form of the flames that devastated Notre-Dame. It was an unforeseen event that turned one of the most important weeks of his reign on its head.

Metaphorically: Yes, says the publisher of the left-leaning daily Libération , Laurent Joffrin. It is about "terrible hours" for anyone who loves the history of France even a bit. "The heart of a country is burning under the eyes of millions upon millions of people who have ever strolled through the nave," says Joffrin.

In the public service broadcaster France 2 , the journalist Stéphane Bern said that the cathedral was a monument, the image of France. "Paris is injured today, badly wounded, it's a national drama."

#NotreDame "Paris est aujourd'hui blessée, meurtrie, C'est un drame national", confie ému Stéphane Bern pic.twitter.com/uYSDeEKDSY

English-language media

The Guardian newspaper editorial says the fire feels "as if the heart of France and the soul of Europe were suddenly and brutally torn out." But there is also hope: "The cathedral will rise over time, this terrible fire is not an event that should be downplayed or trivialized, but how foolish it seems in a moment like this to act as if we were not all Europeans, we are in France in its painful hour, we will never turn away. "

Pamela Druckererman of the New York Times sees the fire in a larger context: "The fire is not coming very soon after other big shocks for Paris, including the Seine flood last year and the 2015 terrorist attacks." In his speech to the nation, President Macron called what the Parisians now perceive as "tremblement intérieur", an "inner quake". This is an accurate description of the feeling of emptiness and loss. There was disappointment that civilization had failed to take care of something priceless. "In one hundred years people will still speak of the fire of the year 2019"

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In the Washington Post, Stephen Stromberg uses the fire as an opportunity to reflect on the beauty of things: "Old things can be beautiful, they are often unique, Notre Dame is both, the time it took to build them, the skills of the craftsmen who created them, the fact that nobody builds gothic anymore - all these things give her value. " Old buildings symbolized the idea that not everything had to end. "This is the promise of many religions, a hope that the faithful gathered in Notre Dame shared over the centuries," writes Stromberg. "Notre Dame is not dead. The cathedral will rise again."

Germany

"It is undeniable," writes Markus Decker of the " Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung ", "that the fire hits a French nation that has been shaken anyway: economically, politically, socially and intellectually shaken, which is another reason why the neighbors are so involved." But he also sees comfort: "As horrible as the flames are in the heart of Paris, so reassuring are the reactions to it." In fact, they are a sign of hope. "

Christian Rein describes the situation in the " Aachen news " a bit darker: "It is stunned that in such a time, in which there is a technical solution to almost any challenge, something as banal as a fire in such a short time can cause devastating destruction. " This is no different than in Roman times or in the Middle Ages.

Rüdiger Schaper goes into the " Tagesspiegel " on how intertwined the cathedral is with cultural history: "Many cities have landmarks, and the French capital is rich in famous architectural works, but the significance of Notre-Dame de Paris goes beyond," he writes , Thanks to the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo and Hollywood, the church and its inhabitant Quasimodo had entered the pop culture.