There are cracks in many places in the church building – from fissures in plaster to cracks in the static structure. The most striking crack damage occurs in the outer walls and vaults of nave and transept, in the tower zones and outer perimeters with individual widths of up to 5mm. There are also clear cracks in the foundations and the choir areas.
In the west of the church the crack widths are the largest. The question arises as to why the damage is not evenly distributed. In this context, it is also a mystery to date why the retrofitted reinforced concrete ring beams in the eaves level of the transept were not completed in a force-locking manner: The respective connecting reinforcement is exposed! In some areas it can be assumed that war damage that has not been repaired or only inadequately could still play a role today.
In the course of the investigations new problems kept arising again and again.
In particular, the cracks penetrating through the building components are a cause for concern and will be investigated in more detail in the coming days and weeks in terms of structural analysis – also by means of a lift access to the higher components inside and outside.
In parallel, individual crack zones are constantly monitored by radio-controlled monitors.