The History of the Genbaku-Dome

DATE	EVENTS
April 5, 1915	The building opened as the Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall (See the above picture. "World Heritage Hiroshima peace Memorial, Genbaku-Dome" published by Hiroshima Heiwa-Bunka Center). Designed by the Czech architect Jan Letzel, the building soon became famous as an example of modern, western architecture in Japan.
November 1, 1933	The name of the building was changed to "Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall".
August 6, 1945	The atomic bomb exploded approximately 580m above the Genbaku-Dome. All the people in the building were killed by the blast and the heat rays, and the building's dome was distorted.
December 22, 1966	Many peace groups demanded that the City of Hiroshima preserve the Genbaku-Dome to remind us of the tragedy and of the importance of keeping peace.
July 11, 1966	Hiroshima's City Council decided to partially restore the Genbaku-Dome. They organized a donation campaign to repair and maintain the Genbaku-Dome.
April 10, 1967	The restoration of the Genbaku-Dome began. It was completed on August 5th, 1967.
May 1, 1989	The Hiroshima City government began another campaign for the second phase of re-construction. Citizens donated four hundred million yen(3.3 millions US$) in a very short period of time. This testified to the community's desire to preserve the Dome as a reminder of the importance of peace and the peril of war.
October 31, 1989	The second phase of restoring the Genbaku-Dome began. It was completed on 31 October, 1989.
December 5, 1996	The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decided to designate the Genbaku-Dome as a World Heritage Site. It is registered as the second War Heritage Site, after Auschwitz in Poland.

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