Onna (L'Aquila)
Onna is a district of the Italian city of L' Aquila, capital of the Abruzzo region and of the Province of L' Aquila.
Location and description
Onna is located in central Italy, in the Abruzzo region on small river Aterno. The village is located about seven kilometers east of the center of L' Aquila and some 90 km north-east of Rome. Motorway exits are located on the Italian motorway A24 (Rome- Adriatic coast), train stations, there is a about two kilometers away from the village and in L' Aquila on the railway line Terni - Sulmona.
History
During the Second World War, 17 civilians were killed arbitrarily by the German Wehrmacht as " retaliation" for an alleged partisan attack on June 11, 1944 in Onna. Before the German Wehrmacht left the small village, the soldiers blew up a dozen buildings.
In the earthquake of L' Aquila in 2009 42 of the originally about 280 inhabitants and about 90 % of homes have been destroyed or have since died uninhabitable. Most of the survivors currently reside (as of August 2011) in makeshift wooden houses near the destroyed village. On 28 April 2009 Pope Benedict XVI visited. the earthquake region and the town of Onna.
The German Embassy Rome taught after the earthquake a donations account and has since supported with the funds to rebuild Onnas. Also, the twin city of Rottweil has extensive donations. Under the coordination of the message a unit of the Technical Relief, a community center for several months has been sent, built and started a reconstruction plan for the village. The then German Foreign Minister Frank -Walter Steinmeier has his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini also promised help in the reconstruction of the village church from the 18th century. But from Germany about 3.5 million euros were donated. Nevertheless, has not yet started to rebuild even four years after the earthquake. When the earthquake occurred in the church, however, frescoes from the 15th century under fallen plaster layers to light.
On April 4, 2011, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic Michael Gerdts, the City of L' Aquila a master plan for the reconstruction of the district, which was commissioned by an embassy from Cologne architects Schaller / Theodor. The local council of L' Aquila decided this plan on November 15, 2012. Upon implementation may begin in 2013. Thus, the reconstruction in Onna compared with the other towns affected by the earthquake in 2009 is the most advanced.
In advance of the G8 Summit in L' Aquila in 2009 visited on 8 July 2009, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi the village.