Dresden Highlights

May 13th, 2006, 8.15a.m. I have arrived in Dresden Germany. I will be working here for 3 months, that is from May 13 till Aug 05. Dresden is a town Southeast of Berlin almost at the border of Czech Republic. My colleague, Jan Templin came to pick me up from airport. He told me a bunch of things about Dresden.The city of Dreden is divided into Altstadt (South) and Neustadt (North) by the river Elbe. The Altstadt is where all the historical buildings are located. Wow, it is a very impressive city, despite the war, the reconstruction has done well in the city...

Some history background sourced fr. Internet: -

The founding of Dresden

In the 12th century Dresden was founded as a slavic fishing village on the river "Elbe" called "Drezdany ". The first documented mention of the settlement dates from 1206.

The 15th century

Dresden was culturally influenced by the Reformation because the "Albertine Line", a duke line, chose Dresden as its residence. At the end of the century about 600 people were living in the town, its suburbs and the little town "Altendresden" on the opposite bank of the Elbe. But a devastating fire destroyed the town in 1491.

The 16th century

Dresden recovered soon and 1500-1600 people were now living there. During the 16th century Dresden became the capital of the most important Protestant land in Germany, and centre of the second most powerful German state, the "Wettin state" from the "Albertine line".

The 17th century

The first factories were set up and the first Baroque architecture sprang up. The musical life of the city reached a first zenith with the work of Heinrich Schuetz. He was a famous musician in Dresden at that time.

Dresden's Augustan Age

When elector Friedrich August 1 (August the Strong) acquired the polish crown in 1697, Dresden advanced further to become a capital of the European rank.DRESDEN BECAME A CITY OF THE BAROQUE! There was a rapid economic development and Dresden was now a centre of architecture, craft-arts, music, festivals and splendour. Its population was about 63,000 people.

Dresden suffering by wars

***The 7 year war (1756-1763)***
After this war, extensive areas of the city centre were destroyed and whole suburbs were burned down. It took a long time to recover, only 60 later Dresden had regained the size of the population from before the war.

***Napoleon conquered Dresden***
In 1815 Napoleon marched into Dresden after a bloody battle with the Dresden people. But Dresden recovered again and grew more and more. Bridges were built over the "Elbe", new railway lines and stations were constructed and a new opera house and a new port on the "Elbe" were part of the city now, too. A the turn of the century, from the 19th to the 20th century, Dresden was the fourth largest city of the German Empire with half of a million population. Dresden attracted lots of tourists. And again a war destroyed the blossom of the city.

***Dresden and the Second World War***
Dresden was exhausted from destructions but after the Second World War Dresden was sunk. Three month before the end of the Second World War a series of five air raids between the 13th and the 15th february 1945 practically erased the center of Dresden and extensive areas of the suburbs. 35,000 people died. The culturally and historically so valued city was buried under 18 million cubic meters of rubble.

Since then, lots of work has been done to rebuild Dresden again, ... and my exploration begins...