Dresden

Dresden! For a long, long time I've wanted to see the capital city of Saxony. The famous city of fine art and splendour. The city that was so devastingly destroyed in World War II, and resurrected.


Located in East Germany's south by the river Elbe, Dresden has a history that should be made into a film.

Barbara, who knows Dresden well from previous visits, showed me around the most important sights. Our time was limited to one and a half days because we had only 5 days for this holiday in total, including the 6-hour travel by train.

Here we are in the famous Zwinger palace. A beautiful courtyard-like enclosure in Rococo style, with fountains, gates, and a balcony.

Inside one of the Zwinger's wings I saw the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister with wonderful paintings, the most famous being Raphael's Sistine Madonna -- you know, with the two cute little angels on the bottom that look a little bored. :) Unfortunately photography was not permitted inside. But well, you all know this picture.


The silhouette of Dresden was greatly enriched by the rebuilt Frauenkirche. I will later post about it separately.

Our hotel was in Neustadt on the other side of the Elbe river. We saw some nice Art Nouveau buildings there and I liked very much the Kunsthof with its creative artistic places, such as the giraffe here that "pulls down the fabric" of this green painted house wall. The balconies are woven baskets.

What impressed me more than I thought it would, was the museum of treasures Grünes Gewölbe, situated in Dresden Castle. I wish photography had been permitted there and my macro mode could have captured these finest sculptural works on drinking vessels, full of imagination and artistry.

Dresden Castle from the other side.







Dresden by night, from the bridge across the Elbe. The building on the left is the Academy of Fine Arts. Its glass dome is known as the "Lemon Squeezer". :)