Dresden & Meissen, Germany - August, 2013

DRESDEN,GERMANY

August 3 – 9, 2013

We flew from Paris, France to Dresden, Germany for a six-day excursion. We had visited Dresden in December, 2013 for the “Christmas Markets” when there was a lot of snow on the ground. We wanted to return and visit some of the other sites.

In the airport, we met Dieter who drove us to the hotel. It was unusually hot in Dresden; temperatures in the upper-80s to mid-90s were the norm for our stay.

 Dieter was our guide for a 3 hour driving tour of Dresden. Because there was a bicycle race in Dresden, several major streets were closed. This meant we drove back streets---a treat for us to see something besides "Tour A." Central Dresden was bombed by the Allies in February 1945, so all buildings there are reconstructions of the ones built during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries, primarily by August the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. That being said, we began with Johanneum, the castle stables, located just across the street from the hotel; it was converted into an art gallery, then into an armory and is now a transport museum. 

 

The Furstenzug [Princely Procession] is a mural of 24,000 Meissen tiles showing all the rulers of Saxony; it was created in 1905 to replicate an 1870s painting and is the largest porcelain artwork in the world.

 From there, we drove through the center seeing the Frauenkirche   

and the Albertinum. Nearby were the Academy of Art and the New Synagogue. Atop the New Town Hall is the figure of the Golden Man, said to be August the Strong as Hercules; from the way he holds his right hand extended, locals say he's trying to determine if it's raining. After driving beside the train station, we left the area. We drove through residential areas filled with houses constructed around 1900 in the Beaux Arts/Bauhaus style; there were even areas of Art Deco buildings. Of course, there were some more modern buildings from the years after World War II when Dresden was a part of East Germany and under Soviet control. Dresden is a green city with lots of trees and several large parks. Grosser Garton, the largest park covers 20 hectares and contains the Sommerpalais, the first baroque building built in Saxony, as its centerpiece. At one point we got out and looked across the River Elbe at Dresden's 3 castles:  

Albrechtsberg Palace, 1850-54 

Villa Stockhausen or Lingner Palace, 1850; 

Eckberg Palace, 1859-61. 

From there we could also see the funicular railway and the suspension railway which transport people to the tops of nearby hills. There were vineyards in this area when the "vineyard houses" were originally built and many have been replanted. 

Near the Blaues Wunder bridge, we looked at the river itself and the historic center across it. At Schloss Pillnitz we got out and walked through the gardens. 

We saw a huge camellia over 200 years old and its custom-made glass greenhouse which is placed around it in the winter. 

Near the steps leading from the Elbe to the Water Palace, we saw markings indicating flood levels for over 100 years; 2013 was almost as high as 2002 and the effects still haven't been completely repaired.

 A restored boat used by August the Strong rested under a pavilion.  

 From there we drove to the town of Weisse Hirsch [White Stag] for a spectacular view down over the city. 

Then it was back across the river and return to the hotel. 

Dieter was our driver/guide for our tour to Meissen. As we left Dresden, he pointed out the historic buildings which we didn't see yesterday. 

Palace Tower

Connects Stables and Palace

Saxony's Supreme Court

Schauspielhaus

Schloss Taschenberg

Semper Opera House

After leaving the city itself, we drove through suburbs for a while. We stopped in the town of Radebeul, a quaint place with interesting houses. 

Dieter explained its significance as a retirement village and said that during the East German era there were purported to be more millionaires in Radebeul than anywhere else. We found the drive picturesque as we drove along the Elbe valley. We stopped at Scholss Wackerbarth, a vineyard, which belongs to the state of Saxony. Rows of vines on the steep hillsides reminded us of the Mozelle River Valley around Berne-Kassel. 

Our next stop was the town of Meissen itself where we saw the square with its historic buildings; 

no WWII bombs there. Dieter explained that one of the buildings becomes an Advent Calendar at Christmas. 

We saw the church and the carillon of Meissen porcelain bells which chimed the 11:45 while we were there. 

 

We then went to the Meissen factory and paid 18 euros for the tour. We learned how they make porcelain; while the tour was in German, we had headsets which translated everything into English. The really "new fact" for us was that firing shrinks the object 16%. 

After the tour, we walked through the shop and the museum. Expensive! After leaving the factory we drove up and up to Dom and Borg perched high over the Elbe. 

After a photo stop there, we headed for Mortizburg Palace. We found the palace, located on an artificial island in a lake, impressive. 

We walked near the Little Pheasant Palace which houses an ornithological exhibit. 

Then we drove to the palace itself and walked up to it; it was a hunting lodge. 

One interesting feature was a post outside giving the times to various places in 1730; Dresden was 2 hours. Our return drive to Dresden was about 20 minutes. 

At the former Catholic Court Church, now the Cathedral SS. Trinitatise, we found a grungy and somewhat unattractive 18th century exterior held a white interior radiating light. The elaborate silver candlesticks and cross on the altar reflected sunlight pouring through the high cleastorey windows. The ornate pulpit seems as if it would detract from the sermon. 

 

 

After leaving the church, we walked to the Zwinger erected in the early 1700s; it is often called the most beautiful baroque building in Germany. 

 We entered under the Glokenspiel Tower and heard its 40 Meissen porcelain bells play a tune at 11:15.

 Then we went across the courtyard to the Zwinger Art Gallery; erected in the mid-1800s, it closed off the courtyard from the Elbe by adding a fourth side. We entered the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister [Old Masters Picture Gallery]. The most famous work is Raphael's Sistine Madonna; 

 there are a half dozen or so other really good paintings. 

Maratti's "The Holy Night"

It is essential to be able to climb lots of stairs to view the art, and the heat made that unpleasant; while the galleries were cool, they were not cold and no air was moving. Also, there were crowds of people including many on guided tours. After the art gallery, we walked back across the courtyard to our entrance point and viewed the Porcelain Collection. 

 This is a massive display of oriental porcelain, much of it belonging to August the Strong. The displays and sheer sizes and numbers of the pieces are amazing. A display of old Meissen porcelain fills several galleries and we would have been more impressed with the Meissen had we not visited the factory and museum there yesterday. We joined the crowd entering Frauenkirche for another look at the ornate interior. Then we returned to the coolness of the hotel; 90F degrees feels hot in the sun and with little effective air conditioning. Then around 4:00 we left the hotel. Overcast skies lowered the temperatures and a few sprinkles of rain fell. We climbed steps to the Bruhl Terrace for a great view of the Elbe and the area across it. We sat on a bench for a while before darkening skies and harder sprinkles sent us inside the hotel. Shortly after 6:00, we left the hotel again for another walk; the sun was back out and it had warmed up again. After locating the Residenzschloss [Court Palace] where we plan to go Wednesday, we walked back toward Frauenkirche to make a photo of the statue of Martin Luther. 

Then we wandered through a different area before climbing steps between the Albertinum and the Kunstakademie to the Bruhl Terrace. 

 We enjoyed sitting on a bench and watching a sightseeing boat dock on the river below.

At the Residenzschloss [Court Palace]  

we stood in line for tickets to Neues Grunes Gewolbe---Museum of Treasury Art. This section, "the New Green Vault," contains unique items created by goldsmiths and other artisans. The items are displayed in plexiglass cases and the lighting is excellent. It's possible to see all around most of the items and there are explanations in both German and English. Many of the items were personal possessions of the Electors of Saxony or their families. 

 

Ivory Ship

 Green Diamond

 We also visited the "Turkish Chamber" housing some weapons and horse trappings from August the Strong's war against the Turks while King of Poland. Tickets for the Historisches Grunes Gewolbe---Baroque Treasure Chamber, are timed and ours were for 1:00. It's necessary to go through an airlock when entering and leaving these rooms. Known as "the Historic Green Vault," these are restored rooms which were used by the Electors of Saxony to display their wealth and impress their visitors. Many of the walls are mirrored and show off items of amber, ivory, bronze and vessels made of gemstones. 

 Amber Cabinet

 Mogul's Court in Gold, Silver & Gems

 Detail of Mogul's Court

One room was used to display the coats of arms of all areas over which August the Strong claimed sovereignty. Another room displayed lavish jewels, some of them complete garnitures, in a manner similar to that used in the 1700s. 

The Electors intended to overwhelm their guests with their importance and wealth; we, too, were overwhelmed. So much wealth concentrated in a small corner of Europe during the 17th, 18th & 19th centuries amazed us, as well as the fact that so much of it remained intact.

We visited the Albertinum, the art museum for those painters who came after the "old masters." The art is very modern and very skimpy; there are a couple by Monet, a couple by Degas; a couple by Gauguin. None of them is great---probably early. Most of the art is ultra-modern by artists we'd never heard of---Germans, we think. An audio tour was included with the ticket price [20 Euros] but we had to leave an item of personal identification to get the audio and would not leave a passport or copy with the attendant. There is also a lot of sculpture crammed into spaces like storerooms; some is Classical Greek and Roman; some is modern. We were totally unimpressed.

We left Dresden and flew to Frankfurt. After spending the night in the Sheraton at the airport, we flew to DFW the following day.