World Trade Center & 9/11 Memorial

The original World Trade Center was a large complex of seven buildings in Lower Manhattan. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the 9/11 attacks. Today the World Trade Center is a mostly completed complex, replacing the original seven buildings on the same site that were destroyed. The site is being rebuilt with up to six new skyscrapers, four of which have been completed yet, a memorial and museum, an elevated park called Liberty Park and a transportation hub. One World Trade Center with a hight of 541.30 meters (1,776 feet) is currently the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

I’m standing on Ground Zero, where the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum is located now, I’m listening to the low sound of the waterfalls and I’m reading the names of 2,977 people, killed in September 2001 and the six, killed by a previous bombing attack in 1993. When I remember the day in 2001 I sat shocked in front of TV, the pictures are so present again. I can feel the pain, the sorrow and the mourning of those who lost their husbands or wifes, children, parents, collegs or friends just as well as the power of the heroes, the men and women of FDNY, NYPD and many other common people who risked their life in order to rescue others. In contrast to the huge violence and damage in the past the same place is quite and peaceful today. I preserve it all deep in my mind as long as I live.