Dresden the beautiful
Dresden a city rebuilt by its inhabitants offers more than Christmas Stollen.
Dresden is a small city located in the state of Saxony, close to Berlin (~ 180 Kms) and to the Czech Republic border. It offers a great little town vibe with lots of coffee shops, restaurants, great museums, porcelain shops and the Elbe river in front.
A brief history …
The city was heavily bombed in February 1945 by the Allied forces during the World War II. It seems Dresden was a strategic point due to its location, train lines that were used to distribute and connect the south of Germany with Berlin and above. The bombs caused massive damage to the buildings, churches, museums, factories and initiated horrible fires that caused more victims and destruction.
It’s pretty common to search online for “Dresden” and find the above sad and lugubrious scene, it shows the tall building of Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in ruins with the statue of Martin Luther which didn’t suffer major damage.
Royal legacy
The Saxony region had several Kings but it seems one of the most popular ones is August the Strong which is famous by his love to collect clocks, porcelain and fine art. I read somewhere (couldn’t find the link) that August the strong got his nickname because he was able to drink a huge amount of beer. Also I read he exchanged 600 soldiers with weapons and everything to China in order to get a set of fine porcelain :’D
There are a couple of museums that exhibits some of his art and porcelain collection.
The modern Dresden
The city was rebuilt after WWII and they left everything (in terms of Architecture) exactly as it used to look before the war. Visitors can appreciate again the massive and beautiful architecture of the Frauenkirche (It occupies a big portion of the main square) the other churches nearby and the variety of museums that the city has to offer.
Coming from Berlin you are somehow used to its raw, industrial and “artistic” vibe, Dresden in the other hand feels more like a layback little town with great squares (Platz) with a lot of independent shops and restaurants. Somehow it also feels more touristic and a little bit classy at least the historic center.
We took a train from Berlin to Dresden (~ 2 hours) and then a Tram from the Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to the historic center where are the most famous attractions.
Math & Physics museum
We had the chance to visit the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon which contains great mechanical instruments to measure time(clocks), celestial globes and encryption artifacts and telescopes from the different kingdoms in Saxony and nearby areas.
The ticket was 8 EUR per person and it is worth it!
The exhibition preservers in amazing conditions all the scientific measurement artifacts.
Take a look at the picture below, this explains why Northern Europe has the famous of being gray and cold during the harsh winter
My wife and I had relax weekend in Dresden we walked a lot and enjoyed great food at local restaurants. I can’t wait to go back!
Side note
All the above pictures were taken using my old Fuji XT1/23mm
