Eastern Germany

Dresden, Saxony

I had visited Dresden and a handful of other cities in the former East Germany about a year after the wall came down and the East was reunited with the rest of the Federal Republic of Germany. In May 2025 we visited again for 3 days. Dresden is the capital of the region of Saxony, or Sachsen in German, although Leipzig is its largest city. It is now a very lively city with a lot of culture and many of the iconic historical buildings in the historical center along the Elbe River define its character. That anything survived WWII is astounding since it was very heavily bombed. Historians talk about the fire-bombing of Dresden as one of the most horrific ever, short of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. The fire-storm caused by thousands of tons of incendiary high explosives is said to have sucked the air out of the cellars, suffocating people who managed to shelter and survive the actual explosions.

We started off by arriving at the Pragerstrasse, a main shopping area just south of the Atlmarktplatz or old market place. There had just been a “spring market” held on the square , wchihc is falnked by a shopping center on one side and the Kreuzkirche or Cross Church on the other. Just north of the old market place is the Schlosstrasse or castle street and the first glimps of the Residenzschloss (residential castle) and the Taschenbergpalais, which is now a luxury hotel.

Dresden Residenzschloss

The Dresden Residenzschloss is a sprawling castle complex of majestic buildings now containing multiple museums. It was formerly the main residency of the electoral prince and later king of Saxony. Mostly built in the 15 hundreds on the site of a former palace it was left in ruins during WWII and only gradually rebuilt.

Dresden Zwinger

Across the Theaterplatz from the Residenzschloss and next to the Opera House is the “Zwinger”; another royal complex containing museums and halls for festivities rather than living quarters or offices like in the castle – all surrounding extensive gardens in the courtyard.

Dresden Semperoper or Opera House

The Semperoper, next to the Zwinger is a State opera house designed by the architect Gottfried Semper built in the late 1800’s under order of King Johann. It replaced an earlier Royal theater house built some decades earlier by Semper that was destroyed by fire.

Dresden Brühlische Terrase

The south bank of the Elbe River between the Augustusbrücke or Augustus  Bridge and the Carolabrücke or Carola Bridge has a row of buildings known as the Brühlische Terrase. One gets a good view from the Augustus Bridge at sunset of the Ständehaus housing the Oberlandesgericht or regional upper court. North of this building is a small garden, statues and fountains reached by a set of stairs from the Schlossplatz. Next to it is the copper roofed  Sekundogenitur translated from Latin as “second birth” it was built as a royal library and now owned by the Hilton Hotel chain. Farther east is the extensive Kunstakadamie or art academy and Albertinum Museum angled off around the corner.

Dresden Neustadt or new city

North of the Elbe River is known as Neustadt or new city although much of it is as old as much of what remains to the south. Just across the Augustus River from the Augustus Bridge one sees the Narrenhaus-Biergarten or Jester-House beer-garden on the banks and above is the Neustädter Markt or new city market place with its golden statue of Friedrich Augustus. East of the Augustus Bridge along the river banks are 2 prominent buildings; the Finanzministerium or city financial office seen from the south bank with a stand for sightseeing boat tours in the foreground and the Staatskanzlei or regional judicial office It is seen with construction on the Carola Bridge which suddenly collapsed on September 11, 2024. A major transportation artery it is out of commission until 2027.

Farther north in the Neustadt is a historical district characterized by lots of graffiti and wall murals which are intended to preempt the graffiti artists. It is basically residential rather than having large museums or ministry buildings. There are lots of interesting small shops – rather than the large often chain stores found in the center, cafes, restaurants and artist studios giving it a big city flair only surpassed by Berlin.

Dresden, Germany Neustadt sites

There were a number of oddities in Neustadt like the Pfunds Molkerei restaurant and shop. It was  the shop for a local dairy with tiled walls and ceilings with mosiacs. They still sell dairy products and have a cafe/restarunt on the upper floor but apprently outsource the product production. Right next door is an interesting shop selling all kinds of handmade brushes. Near the Neustadt train station is the Yenidze Theater. It is built in the Islamic style of a mosque and should present fairy tale related shows. It definitely makes one think of 1001 nights and Ali Baba but not sure what the history is. In most German cities there are many more Turks than Arabs but it seems to be the opposite in Dresden, at least in the number of restaurants. And they seem to keep a low profile, maybe since there is less political acceptance of foreigners. Just across of this theater is a large parking garage with a stone relief from of the DDR times alluding to communism.