Dresden

We have completed all our musical ventures and have now succumbed to pure tourism! So prepare yourself for a flood of pictures from Dresden, a city that is really too beautiful for pictures, but I tried anyway.

Dresden was settled by Germanic people migrating east around 7500 BC, but its real beginning as a city was around 1200. Its name is Sorbic for "people of the forest". It sits along the mighty River Elbe.

In the late 1700s, Augustus I of Saxony (aka Augustus II the Strong of Poland) decided to make Dresden his home and attract the arts and culture. During his reign and his son's, Dresden became home to stunning architecture and art collections unlike anywhere else.

The Royal Palace, or Residenzschloss Dresden, was expanded during this time and showcases many different architectural styles. It was gutted during the bombing and associated fire in WW2 (13-15 February 1945), and until 1992 stood dilapidated. It is still being restored and now houses 6 museums containing a fabulous wealth of precious artefacts.

A 24k porcelain tile mosaic depicting all the kings of the ruling family of this area, which miraculously survived the bombing. 

The palace's stable yard. They held mock jousts here for fun, and every year a Christmas market springs up. 

Exterior of the residence, restored starting in the 1990s. Look to the image below to see what it looked like through time. 

An inner courtyard of the restored palace. There will be three covered yards when they're done. 

Two churches were built or rebuilt during this time: the Protestant Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, and the Catholic Hofkirche, or Holy Trinity Church. Augustus the Strong had to be Catholic to rule Poland.

The Frauenkirche, featuring one of the largest domes in Europe (12k tons of sandstone). The church was destroyed in the War but pieced back together like a puzzle with all the original pieces that could be found. The old pieces are dark from the iron patina, and new pieces are light:

And the Hofkirche, which is connected by a bridge to the palace and has a special dedication to local priests who were interred and died in concentration camps:

The Zwinger was also constructed during the reign of Augustus the Strong. He wanted something as lavish as Versailles, and had a three-sided structure built. It was eventually closed off into a square, and now features exhibits of art, porcelain, and science/technology. We went to the science/technology museum and it was awesome! There are exhibits on the evolution of clocks, globes and navigation, burning mirrors and telescopes, and meteorological instruments. They've been taking meteorological measurements here since the 1820s!

Finally, the Semper Opera House. It was restored before the reunification to boost morale and inspire the arts. The stage is bigger than the Frauenkirche floor plan, and the stage and orchestra pit are both made of tiles that can move up and down depending on the show. Semper wanted even the opera house to act, so the "marble" and "wood" in the building is actually gypsum! No pics inside, though.

Central Dresden was annihilated because the Allied forces wanted to kill morale. The city has done a wonderful job restoring itself since reunification, but it stands as a reminder of the horrors of war. Today the city is a paragon of openness and welcome to immigrants the world over, because they understand that you can't judge an entire culture based on the sins of a few.