Dresden, Germany

Monday we continued our attempt to fully exhaust Carissa's parents by getting up early and driving 3 hours to Dresden.  Since it's now May we are realizing our time here is short and there is so much left to see.  For the most part we lucked out with the weather and the morning was clear. 

We parked near the train station per Rick Steve's advice and then took the tram into the center of town.  Dresden has a long history as the captial of Saxony and in the 1700s it became known as a leading European city for art and technology.  In the late 1800s a large military facility was built there and thus in WWII it became an important target.  On Feb 13, 1945 it was completely flattened.  In reading about it apparently Kurt Vonnegut witnessed the bombing as a POW and his book Slaughterhouse Five is based on that experience.  It was a highly controvesial bombing because many civilians (mostly women and children) died.

In the city center, most of the historical buildings have been rebuilt, but there are also buildings built in the 'socialist modern' style mixed in as a result of Dresden being located in East Germany after the war.  We exited the tram at the Theaterplatz.  We admired the Opera house, snapped some pictures and then walked over to the Zwinger Palace, Dresden's most famous landmark.  It was built by Augustus the Strong and back in the day was used as a royal residence and for entertaining their guests in the large courtyard.  Today it houses a couple museums. 

Opera House

Zwinger Palace Grounds

After walking around the courtyard we left the palace grounds and went across the street to the Residenzschloss.  This building was the seat of the Saxon government and now also houses museums.  We went to see if there were any tickets available to enter the treasure room there but there weren't any available until later in the afternoon so we moved on with our tour.

We decided to head over to the nearby Altmarkt to browse the outdoor market and find something to eat.  On the way we passed the Palace of Culture, a concert hall built during the communist rule.  The exterior has a really cool mural depicting communist themes - workers, strong women, students and teachers and the red star and seal of East Germany.  As we walked through the market the weather turned and started to get cold, but we managed to get some food and coffee before it started to rain.

Palace of Culture Commie Mural

Altmarkt

Afterward we went back to the Residenzschloss for our chance to tour the Green Vault and the largest collection of treasures in Europe. The Green Vault is a series of 9 rooms, each with it's own theme, containing the personal collection of August the Strong who was the King of Poland back in the 1700s. Designed in order to show off his power and wealth, it contains over 4000 pieces including jewelry, objects made from amber and ivory, bronze statues, and gemstone vessels. We'd seen the Crown Jewels in England, and this collection was far more impressive and interesting.

After the vault we walked over to the Hofkirche, which is the catholic cathedral in Dresden. This building was also commissioned by August the Strong and like everything else was badly damaged in WWII. What I find interesting is that the communist government (who I thought was anti-religion) paid to have it restored.

Hofkirche

Once we finished with the Hofkirche our walk took us past another cool mural, the Fuerstenzurg (Parade of Princes). It's made out of 25,000 porcelain tiles and depicts the timeline of Saxon Princes from the 1100s to 1904. Surprisingly it wasn't damaged during the bombing.

Fuerstenzurg

Augustus the Strong

Around the corner from the Fuerstenzurg is the Neumarkt and the Frauenkirche. The Frauenkirche is a Lutheran church and there is a large bronze statue of Luther himself in the middle of the square. The church didn't survive the bombing and wasn't rebuilt until recently (2005). We toured the interior and then climbed to the top of the dome for a great view of the city.

Frauenkirche and statue of Luther

Old City Center and the Elbe River

The blackened wall is from the original Frauenkirche

From the Frauenkirche we headed toward the river Elbe, where we strolled along a boardwalk. Since lunch it had been raining on and off, so after taking in the river view for a little bit we decided we'd had enough and headed home.