November is the month of remembrance, of poppies being gratefully worn over our hearts. During this time, it is our duty as dwellers of the now to think and act regardfully towards the history behind those bright paper pins. One does not need to travel too far back in time or space to do so: our beloved Norwich, too, has a substantial history of suffering and loss that was imposed upon her during the Second World War.  

Indeed, together with other English cities such as Exeter, Bath, Canterbury, and York, Norwich had been selected as a main target in the “Baedeker Blitz”, a bombing offensive by the German Luftwaffe that took place during the Spring of 1942. Many believe these planned raids to have been retaliatory attacks following the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) earlier incendiary bombing of the city of Lübeck on the 28th of March 1942.  

What correlated the two bombings together was the cultural and artistic importance of their targets, an aspect which was highly intentional in either case. Both Lübeck and Norwich were and still are cities famous for their art and beauty. To understand the extent of their importance, it might be helpful to note that both cities now boast the international accreditation of UNESCO. Intentionally adding the destruction of art to the already devastating consequences of bombings – casualties, homelessness, environmental damage, to name a few – was one of the most effective ways to weigh down civilian morale. Art had been totally and declaredly weaponised to hurt each other in one of our most human, most soft spots: our identification with and desire for aesthetic expression. The valuing and safeguarding of art as a cultural and aesthetic asset was something that Western populations had been improving on since the early Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures, who saw art as mainly functional and as something that could be dismissed once that function was no longer being fulfilled. It can therefore be said that by the 1940s both the English and the Germans were extremely aware of the emotional relationship between nations and their artistic productions, whether those be decorated infrastructures, literary collections, paintings or sculptures. The damage suffered by Lübeck and Norwich was mainly of the infrastructure kind, however it inevitably extended to the ancient paintings and sculptures that decorated the interiors of the involved buildings. The buildings in Lübeck that suffered the most included St. Mary’s Church (Marienkirche), the Lübeck Cathedral (Dom zu Lübeck), the Lübeck Rathaus (City Hall), the Holy Spirit Hospital (Heiligen-Geist-Hospital), St. Aegidien Church (St. Aegidien Kirche), as well as many historical Merchant Houses. Similarly, the buildings in Norwich that most suffered included the Cathedral, the Castle, the Medieval and Georgian buildings in Elm Hill, Guildhall, the Assembly House, and the City Library. In a 1997 interview by Conrad Wood for the Imperial War Museums (IWM), civilian John Benjamin Fuller narrates his experience during the Norwich Blitz. He vividly recalls: “When we had the Blitz in 1942 that was terrible because next door where we lived and all-round, the area was just completely one mass of flames. […] I remember my sister when she was rushing down to the shelter, her coat had caught on fire.” This precious recording allows us just a small insight into those nightmarish days of destruction: the scorching flames, the loss of loved ones, the fear, the sense of perdition. The works of repair and restoration started around the 1950s for both cities and took many years to complete. It is thanks to these great efforts that we can still enjoy and appreciate their cultural and artistic qualities. Qualities which now shine even more enriched by the light of peace and respect. During this month, let us use the art of our shared city of Norwich – as well as art in general – as a means of memorial so that we may always illuminate ourselves and the world with gratitude and consciousness.