Phoenix, Germany
We waved good-bye to Prague and said Guten Tag to Dresden. Two hours and a language separate these cities.
The Dresden Block House in bloom. A block house housed the munitions to protect the city.
The old united with the new, our hotel on the Elbe.
Dresden and Meissen (a city just a few miles away) have for centuries been celebrated for their royal porcelain works. These factories produced exquisite pieces that rivaled the Chinese and Japanese imports that indiscriminately were referred to as “Indian”.
These fragile, semi-transparent and finely-painted ceramics had become so fashionable among the aristocracy that Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong decided to found a porcelain manufactory in Dresden. Between 1708-1710 the first European porcelain was developed.
Porcelain under glass.
It was a tragic, ironic twist of history that befell this city. Dresden, also known as Florence on the Elbe was the Baroque capital of Saxony. It was renown for creating beauty from fire. You see, porcelain manufacture requires intense heat, between 1200-1400 degrees. In the final days of World War II, 13 square miles of Dresden were destroyed by fire-bombing. That was February 13-15, 1945.
From the ashes of 60 years ago, this city has risen like a phoenix. Its barqoue, soot-covered buildings are now restored and crowned in new gold. The dramatic contrast is stunning as the newly restored ornament glitters beneath the pristine blue skies.
All that glitters is gold!
Black and gold and blue skies over Dresden.
The buildings of Innere Altstadt (the inner old city) are strung like the jewels of a magnificent architectural necklace along the south back of the Elbe. Their reflections shimmer in the river, earning the name Caneletto’s View in honor of the great Italian artist.
The famous Caneletto’s View
With only a single day in Dresden, our tour of the city was a whirlwind: a trek to the Pfund dairy, a must see for tile afficiados.
Pfund’s Dairy’s famous porcelain panels.
We swung around Zwinger Palace to see the stunning porcelain museum.
Zwinger Palace’s Baroque gardens laid out like giant damask patterns
The promenade of porcelain at Zwinger Palace.
Then we boarded our train to Weimar, seat of the 19th century literari, later the namesake for the short lived inter-war republic and the first home to Bauhaus School of Design.
ICE, ice baby… our InterCityExpress train to Weimar
Dining a’ la board
Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 1:52 pmand is filed under travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 21st, 2009 at 7:10 am
Thank you for the architectural photos. Dresden is wonderful
Hels
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