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After the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was destroyed by a British bombing raid in World War II all that remained was its ruined tower.
自從在第二次世界大戰中遭到英國的突襲轟炸之后，威廉皇帝紀念教堂所剩就只有一個被毀壞的鐘塔了。
Built in 1895, the tower has remained a poignant reminder of the horrors of war, as well as being a symbol of West Berlin's determination and extraordinary post-war recovery. But now the gaunt and jagged tower is making news of another kind: Traffic vibration has caused its walls to crumble, with chunks threatening to fall off onto pedestrians below.
威廉皇帝紀念教堂的鐘塔始建于1895年，如今提醒著人們莫要忘了戰爭的殘酷和恐怖。同時，它也象征著西柏林的決心和德意志民族偉大的戰后復興。但如今，這座破舊不堪的鐘塔還傳達了異樣的信息：往來車輛引起的震動使它的墻壁搖搖欲墜，墻壁的大塊剝落甚至還危及到了下面行人的安全。
Earlier the church authorities put the cost of repairing its neo-Gothic facade at 3.5 million euros (US$5.1 million), but now due to continuing disintegration the cost has soared to 4.1 million euros.
早些時候，教會權力機關把這座鐘塔的新哥特式的正面的修復成本定在350萬歐元（510萬美元）。但現在，鑒于這座鐘塔的持續解體，修復成本已飆升至410萬歐元。
Charles Jeffrey Gray, 85, a former British pilot who carried out bombing raids over Germany, was one of the first to call for the rescue of Berlin's most famous wartime ruin, contributing US$930 to help spur the campaign. Since then donations have flooded in, with the Berlin city government pledging 1.5 million euros to the repair fund.
85歲的查爾斯•杰弗里•格雷是當初轟炸德國的英國前飛行員之一。他是最早號召人們修復柏林這個最有名的戰爭廢墟的人中的一員。為了推動這項修復運動的開展，他捐獻了930美元。隨著捐款越來越多，柏林市政府投入了150萬歐元的修繕資金。
Gray's last bombing raid over Berlin was in February 1944. Around that time 500 to 700 planes were involved in raids over Germany, a reprisal for earlier nightly operations over London by German bombers.
格雷對柏林的最后一次轟炸是在1944年的2月。當時大約有500至700架飛機參與了對德國的襲擊，以報復之前德國轟炸機對倫敦的夜間轟炸。
"The tower must remain as a reminder for future generations of the horror of war," Gray said.
“這座鐘塔必須保存下來，警示后人不要忘了戰爭的恐怖。”格雷這樣說。
