Dresden, Dresden, Dresden. This city has catapulted into my top three cities to visit, right up there with Edinburgh and Prague. It is unbelievably beautiful, yes, but I didn't expect it to have such a cool social scene as well! The "Neustadt", north of the river, is a very new-wave-German neighborhood, with tons of eateries, street art, bier gardens, bars, and more. The closest comparison would be Venice Beach, I suppose, but cleaner. The thing is, with a lot of German neighborhoods, they might look run-down or dangerous, with graffiti all over the walls and over-grown grass spilling onto sidewalks. But really, those might be the coolest neighborhoods for singles and students, totally safe and with a vibrant night life.
But first I'll tell you about the pretty things...
The tragic thing about Dresden (and one of the main reasons I wanted to see it so badly) is that its central Altstadt (old city) was 60% destroyed by fire bombing in World War II. 25,000 people died and the historical, cultural, artistic center of the city was left in ruins. Pretty much everything you see today is a reconstruction. Yes, they've done everything possible to restore the city according to its original construction, and used original materials where possible. But there is a stark contrast between the soot-blackened stone of the original construction and the perfect sandstone that is less than 50 years old. And you can see where something was once elaborate but the new construction has been simplified, whether for cost or take make a point, I'm not sure. I don't know how other tourists feel when visiting the city, but I spent much of the time mourning the fact that, because of a crazy man and a terrible war, hundreds of years of cultural history wer laid to waste.
Semper Oper (Opera House), reconstructed by the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik).
The Frauenkirche. I stared at Mr Underhill's picture of this building for four years, trying to imagine what it must look like in real life, and I'm SO glad I finally got to see it. This was completely demolished during the war as well and wasn't re-built until after the German Reunification. The ruins lay in the pile where they fell for 50 years. During reconstruction they used the original materials as much as possible. As a result, the face of the church is speckled with dark stones that are original and were blackened by the fire bombing.
The Court Cathedral. Dresden was the capital for Saxon kings for hundreds of years.
An art museum right on the river.
The buildings are beautiful lit up at night. But I had to brave considerable cold to get these shots.
I also had the opportunity to see the Dresden Philharmonic play in the Frauenkirche. For 15 Euros, I figured it was worth it. And it WAS. The acoustics were so incredible that I often had a hard time deciding whether they were still playing/singing the note or whether it was just resonating. When the orchestra, band, and choir all came together it gave me chills.
Unfortunately, this was the first time when I was not very impressed with the church itself. It looks like marble at first glance, but closer inspection shows that everything is actually just painted wood. And it's painted in lurid pastels that just don't resonate the sense of grandeur that one comes to expect in these churches. I suppose this is because of cost: the church was re-built during reunification, when half of the country was considerably behind the other economically, and the project was funded almost entirely by donations. This is one of those things that really made me sad, because although the building is beautiful because of its symbolism, I doubt it can hold a candle to what it once was.
Inside the Frauenkirche
A statue dedicated to August the Strong. He was king of Saxony and Poland, and was responsible for building Dresden into a center for the arts and culture.
Residenzschloss, or "residential palace" of the kings of Saxony.
The town hall. I thought this was an interesting capture of three stages in history: the Baroque tower, modern town hall, and Socialism statue, all shadowing each other.
I went to church in the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Cross) in the hopes of hearing its boys choir (Kreuzchor), a 700-year-old choir that currently comprises 150 members, ages 9 to 19. Unfortunately, it was a guest choir today ("unfortunately" is totally facetious. They were still incredible.). The service was Protestant, and I'm assuming Lutheran, because Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door in Saxony, marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation as we know it. Unfortunately, this meant I had a little less of an idea what was going on, and when the minister lectured for over 20 minutes in German, I lost my concentration. However, I'm always glad to hear good music.
The Kreuzkirche is surprisingly resilient, having survived a fire in 1897 and the fire bombing of 1945. It was severely damaged but its structural integrity remained sound. On the inside you can see the stark contrast between old and modern construction. Again, it made me sad to think of how elaborate the building must've once been, and what was lost.
Inside the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Cross). I'm not positive, but I believe the darker stone work is what survived the fire bombing.
You can see the difference between the stone work, both in color and detail.
I climbed the tour of the Kreuzkirche, because it is literally a third of the price of climbing the Frauenkirche, and anyone who has traveled with me knows I insist on getting a bird's eye view of every city I visit.
So 256 stairs later...
Here's the view!
YOU GUYS. I AM SO WHITE. (the compact powder I brought with me is more of a bronzer now...)
Obvious difference between original stones and stones from the restoration.
Aside from East Berlin, Dresden is the first city I've visited that was East Germany. I therefore was very interested when my free map told me that there was a building where you can still see the outline of communist propaganda:
"Der Sozialismus siegt" means "Socialism prevails"
And boy, is that a soviet-looking building.
Made a side trip to the Mosque. Whenever someone ignorant tries to tell me that Germans are still all Anti-Semitic Nazis, I point out things like this: A wreath of flowers from each German political party in honor of the Jewish lives lost during the Holocaust. I'm assuming these particular flowers might be to honor the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which was about a week ago.
Glühwein is my new favorite thing.
The view from Brühlsche Terrasse.
Just so much beautiful architecture crammed into one place.
I can't get enough of this building.
This is the Fürstenzug, the world's largest mosaic. From my free map: "It's painted on 23,000 porcelain tiles and shows the Saxonian kings, lords, and electors between 1127 and 1904." It actually survived the fire bombing. THIS, at least, is not a reconstruction/restoration.
There's only one female on the whole mural, and I looked carefully until I found her! Stay strong, little one!
I also made my way over to the fantastic Dresdner Zwinger, the palace that August the Strong decided he needed after he became king of Poland in addition to Saxony. He had just visited France and King Louis XIV had just moved his court to Versailles. Good ole August was clearly influenced by what he saw.
Bah, too much pretty! I can't even handle it!
My courtyard. I am a benevolent queen and like to allow the commoners to stroll about the grounds. It's important that they, too, maintain their health.
The DETAIL.
One of the places where you can clearly see the difference between original and reconstruction.
I've added this to my collection of homes I've found in Europe. Now I have a castle in Ireland and a palace in Germany. NBD.
THE view of Dresden. They actually have a frame set up on the embankment so you can get this exact shot.
Augustusbrücke. The Elbe River is subject to flooding, like any river, and in 2002 the city suffered its largest flood on record. Those lines under the arches show how high the water reached, and waves actually broke over the top of the river.
I've also included a few pictures of the Neustad (new city) in an attempt to give you an idea of what I mean by "New Wave German". I'm not even sure that's an accurate description. Maybe, if Sarah/Conny/Merle reads this they can help try to explain what I mean. Google "Sternschanze Hamburg" or "Neustadt Dresden" if you want more pictures.
Fun fact: Altstadt was heavily targeted during WWII while Neustadt was not. As a result, their names are now somewhat paradoxical: Neustadt is actually older than Altstadt.
In the U.S. we're often trained to think that graffiti indicates a dangerous neighborhood. In this case, it's actually an anti-gentrification statement.
A biergarten. People were definitely outside enjoying their drinks at about 10 PM in literally freezing temperatures.
And that's it for Dresden! Tomorrow I board a bus for my last city: Munich!
No comments:
Post a Comment