July 5, 2023 - Germany
Dresden City

"At the peak of its power in the 18th century, this capital of Saxony, Dresden, ruled most of present-day Poland and eastern Germany from the banks of the Elbe River."  ...   Outside Germany, Dresden is better known for its nearly complete destruction by Allied firebombing in World War II.  In the postwar years under communist rule, Dresden patched up some of its damaged buildings, left many others in ruins, and replaced even more with modern, ugly sprawl.  Later, after Germany was reunified, Dresden undertook a more systematic rebuilding, especially of the city's landmark structures, most notably the Royal Palace and the Frauenkirche.  The transformation over the last generation has been astonishing."  ...  Rick Steves

To us, the Old Town looked like King Augustus the Strong was still living in the Royal Palace (pictured below at right).  That said, all the buildings are reconstructions.  The buildings look very "sooty" but "it's not from pollution or firebombing, but natural oxidation that turns the local sandstone black in about 50 years.  I was stunned by how Dresden has rebuilt what they once had, since only 1990.

Below, Lynnette is standing in Theaterplatz (square) with the Katholische Hofkirche (Grand Catholic church) on the left and the Royal Palace to the right.
   
Lynnette standing in front of the equestrian Statue of King Johann in the middle of Theaterplatz.  King Johann was an intellectual mid-19th century ruler who recognized and preserved Saxon culture -- and paid for the opera house behind the statue.
   
The Saxon State Opera House.  The two greatest figures in German literary culture -- Goethe and Schiller -- flank the entrance, welcoming all who enter to German high culture.
   
Also adjoining Theaterplatz is the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Gallery), an art museum containing Dresden's best collection of paintings, including works by Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Rubens, Correggio & Vermeer.  Regretfully, we didn't have the time to check it out.
   
A stand-alone shot of the Royal Palace, home of the Green Vault, which gets its own web page.  The palace was the residence of the Saxon prince electors and kings, and was one of the finest Renaissance buildings in Germany before its destruction in the Dresden WWII bombing.
   

A good shot of the Catholic Church of the Royal Court.

"Why does Dresden, a stronghold of local boy Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation, boast such a beautiful Catholic church?  When Augustus the Strong died, his son wanted to continue as king of oland, like his father.  The pope would allow it only if Augustus Junior built a Catholic church in Dresden.  Now, thanks to Junior's historical kissing-up, the mere 5 percent of locals who are Catholic get to enjoy this fine church."  ... Rick Steves
   
Standing in Schlossplatz, looking southwest across Theaterplatz.
   
The front of the Catholic Cathedral.  The Georgentor is at left.
   
Dresden was heavily bombed by the joint Royal Air Force (RAF) and the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in four raids between 13 and 15 February 1945.  772 heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF) and 527 of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) dropped more than 3,900 tons of high-explosive bombs and incendiary devices on the city.  The bombing and the resulting firestorm destroyed the city centre and up to 25,000 people were killed.  The high explosive bombs damaged buildings and exposed their wooden structures, while the incendiaries ignited them, denying their use by retreating German troops and refugees.  
 
From 1985 to 1990, the future President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, was stationed in Dresden by the KGB, where he worked for Lazar Matveev, the senior KGB liaison officer there.
 
Below:  the High Court of Saxony building.  The monument in front stands in tribute to Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony during the Napoleonic Wars. He is known for his attempt to pursue a neutral course during the war and attempting to preserve Poland as an independent state. For this he was given the sobriquet "the just". This monument is a bronze sculpture depicting Frederick Augustus seated in a chair, on a pedestal. Around the pedestal on the corners are four allegorical figures of Justice, Prudence, Victory and Faith. The monument stands prominently in Schlossplatz, on the south side of the Augustus Bridge over the Elbe River.
 
   

Georgentor, the historic gate into the old town, on the east side of the Royal Palace.
   
Close up of the Georgentor (Gate).
   
We crossed the River Elbe using the Augustus Bridge.  The bridge was built in the early 20th century and is made primarily of sandstone, like the buildings.   Here, Lynnette is looking northwest.  Old Town sits on the outer bend of the river.
   
Looking south across the river at Dresden.   That dome at right is the Frauenkirche Dresden.   The dome at left is part of the Academy of Fine Arts building.
   
On the northern side was this impressive gold-plated statue of Augustus the Strong and horse, called the Golden Rider.  Dresden's Golden Age in the mid-18th century was under Augustus the Strong.  Constructed in 1736, the statue faces east, toward Augustus' kingdom of Poland and trade routes to Warsaw and Kiev.
   
Across the river is the New Town.  We walked down the "broad, inviting, and tree-lined Hauptstrasse" featauring shops, restaurants and lots of people engaged in all sorts of activities.  Surprisingly, Hauptstrasse was built by the communist German Democratic Republic as a showpiece of DDR urban design.
   

A different look at the Academy of Fine Arts and Frauenkirche from a different perspective.

A beautiful view of Old Town Dresden, known as the "Canaletto view" for the Italian painter Bernardo Bellotto, who spent 12 years here immortalizing city vistas while on the Wettin payroll as a court painter.  His uncle and teacher was Antonio Canal (a.k.a. the more famous Canaletto), who painted similar landscapes of Venice.
   
Crossing back across Augustus Bridge, we get yet another look at the Academy of Fine Arts and Frauenkirche from a different perspective.
   
Now looking northeast up the Elbe River.  Dresden claims to have the world's largest and oldest fleet of historic paddleboat steamers:  nine riverboats from the 19th century.
   
After crossing back over the bridge, we climbed the stairs and headed east along the Bruhl Terrace which was once a defensive rampart as you can see in this picture.
   
The terrace was very nice, with colorful gardens, and a nice view overlooking the river Elbe.
   
Looking back at the Augustus Bridge.  Yes, it looks like it's made of sandstone.  This bridge has connected Dresden's old and new towns since 1319, when it was the first stone bridge over the river.
   

A monument on the Brühl Terrace honors the most important German sculptor of late classicism:  Ernst Friedrich August Rietschel.  The monument was created in 1876 by Johannes Schilling and stands on the spot where Rietschel previously had his studio.  Rietschel was born on December 15, 1804 in Pulsnitz and died on February 21, 1861 in Dresden. Among other things, he was a professor of sculpture at the Dresden Art Academy. His most famous works are: the Luther monument in Worms, Goethe-Schiller monument in Weimar, Lessing monument in Braunschweig, Weber Monument in Dresden and Friedrich August Monument in Dresden The sculptures he created have had a decisive influence on the image of Germany as a country of poets and thinkers.
   
 
   
Walking the Brühl's Terrace,  nicknamed the "balcony of Europe".
   
 
   
Looking north across the river at the Ministry of Education Building on the left and another big government building on the right.
   
Looking at the Academy of Fine Arts building up close.
   
The Academy of Fine Arts building continues.  The dome at right is nicknamed "the lemon juicer".
   
A better shot of the Academy of Fine Arts entrance.  They certainly do have the right building for it.
   
Standing in the big New Market Square, once a central square ringed by the homes of rich merchants.
   
Another side of New Market Square.
   
Facing New Market Square, on the right, is the famous Frauenkirche Lutheran church.  We did not go in though.
   

"This church is the symbol and soul of the city.  When completed in 1743, this was Germany's tallest Protestant church (310 feet high).  Its unique central-stone-cupola design gave it the nickname "the stone bell."  While it's a great church, this building garners the world's attention primarily because of its tragic historyand phoenix-like resurrection:  On the night of February 13, 1945, the firebombs came.  When the smoke cleared the next morning, the Frauenkirche was smoldering, but still standing.  It burned for two days before finally collapsing.  After WWII, the Frauenkirche was left a pile of rubble and turned into a peace monument.  Only after reunification was the decision made to rebuild it completely.  It reopened to the public in 2005." ... Rick Steves
   
A statue of Martin Luther stands outside the Frauenkirche.  "He is holding not just any Bible, but the Word of God in German, which he personally translated from Hebrew and ancient Greek so that regular people could wrestle with it directly (this is, in a sense, what the Protestant Reformation was all about).  When translating, Luther used colloquial, everyday German, forming the basis for what's now considered "High German."  So besides being the Great Reformer, Luther is considered the father of the modern German language."
... Rick Steves
   
Just around the corner from the New Market Square is the Furstenzug (Prarade of Nobles), a long, dramatic mural made of porcelain tiles depicts Saxon rulers throughout the ages.  The porcelain tiles are originals from 1907 -- they survived the Dresden bombing.
   
 
   
The detail is amazing.  The artist, Wilhelm Walther, carefully studies armor and clothing through the ages, accurately tracing the evolution of weaponry and fashions for seven centuries.
   
"Year 1694 and Augustus the Strong (August II), the most important of the Saxon kings.  Legends paint Augustus as a macho, womanizing, powerful, ambitious, properly Baroque man -- a real Saxon superstar.  As prince elector of Saxony, Augustus wheeled and dealed -- and pragmatically converted from his Saxon Protestantism to a more Polish-friendly Catholicism -- to become King Augustus II of Poland.  Like most Wettins, Augustus the Strong was unlucky at war, but a clever diplomat and a lover of the arts.  In this mosaic, his horse stomps on the rose (symbol of Martin Luther, the Protestant movement, and the Lutheran church today) to gain the Polish crown." ... Rick Steves
   
 
   
The very last figure in the procession is the artist Wilhelm Walther himself.  In front of him are commoners (miners, farmers, carpenters, teachers, students, artists), and then the royals with 35 names and dates marking more than 700 years of Wettin rule."  ... Rick Steves
   
 
   
Looking up at our hotel building.  We were on the 6th floor.  I think it was a hotel.  It might have been an apartment.  Hard to tell sometimes when traveling.
   
The hotel had a bar on the roof where Lynnette and I enjoyed a nice lunch and cold beverage overlooking the Zwinger, which we never walked through for some reason.
   
Just behind our hotel was a bustling commercial area with lots of stores and restaurants.  Dresden was a vibrant, safe city with lots to do.  We really liked it.  I wish we had another day here.  There were too many things we did not see:  Old Masters Gallery, Albertinium Art Museum, Frauenkirch church, the Zwinger Museums and more.
   
 
   
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