The Saxon German city of Dresden sits astride the Elbe River as it flows north from the Czech Republic. Saxony was one of the largest German kingdoms pre-unification and its capital Dresden was developed substantially in the 17th and 18th centuries. The city center was destroyed by Allied bombing towards the end of WW2, but was restored to something close to its baroque glory postwar. Dresden is a very liveable city, located just downriver from the Saxon Switzerland National Park and conveniently a 2-hour train ride from either Berlin or Prague.

Much of your time can be spent visiting the restored relics of the Saxon past in the Altstadt (Old Town), located on the south bank of the Elbe. A raised promenade, the Brülsche Terrace, originally built in the 1730s, lines the central south bank. To the north, the Neustadt (New Town), so called because it was a newly developed suburb in the 18th century, is a more compact urban area for general wandering around. Less damaged after 1945, it also has a high proportion of baroque style buildings. The north bank of the Elbe is a popular place to find a spot on the grassy riverside park or a seat in the beer gardens, and enjoy the Altstadt view.

Much of the restoration has left these buildings somewhat adrift in a more modern setting. If you wish to visit the palace complex, you can start with the pavilioned gardens of the Zwinger Palace, built in the early 18th century during the reign of Augustus the Strong, contains the Old Masters Picture Gallery and other museums. Just east is the Royal Palace (Residenzschloss), which contains Augustus’ restored palace, built around 1719.

The Frauenkirche is perhaps Dresden’s most symbolic building, compact and with an unusually high dome that dominates the skyline. Built in the early 18th century, it was an expression of baroque religious design until it’s destruction by incendiary bombs in 1945. Left as a pile of burnt rubble throughout the time of the German Democratic Republic as a symbol of Dresden’s destruction, after reunification it was gradually rebuilt (1994-2006), using the original plans from the 1720s.

For another perspective on Germany’s past, take the tram out to the Military History Museum, Olbrichtpl. 2. https://www.mhmbw.de

The Albertinum on Tzschirnerpl. 2 is well worth a visit for its striking collection of modern German art held in the New Masters’ Gallery, with a comprehensive 20th century collection. Otto Dix’ War Triptych is notably grim. Dix, a WW1 veteran and later a professor at the Dresden Fine Arts Academy, until he was sacked as a “degenerate artist” by the Nazi regime in 1933, hid the painting after its Berlin exhibition in 1932.

There are plenty of remnants of German Democratic Republic (GDR) architecture and public art, particularly in the more modern section south of the river and towards the main railway station. The Kulturpalast, opened in 1969, is an example of a GDR public and cultural space.

Dresden was the home to Victor Klemperer (1881-1960), a professor of Romance languages at the Dresden Technical Institute, who is best know for his diaries (“I Will Bear Witness” is the first volume) documenting Nazi oppression between 1933 and 1945. A Jewish convert to Protestantism, he survived extermination in part because of his WW1 combat veteran’s status and marriage, and also because he was able to flee his deportation order with the onset of the allied bombing of the city in 1945. His diaries are a worthwhile read. You can visit the Haus Klemperer, Am Kirschberg 19, the house that he built, was evicted from, and finally returned to in 1945.

One can’t visit Dresden without a small tip of the hat to Vladimir Putin and the Soviet Union with a visit to the former KGB local office at Angelikastrasse 4, where in December 1989 he and his associates burnt their files surrounded by demonstrations against the collapsing GDR. You can’t enter that building, but you can visit the Bautzner Street Memorial, the former GDR security police (Stasi) prison located around the corner at Bautzner Strasse 112a and now a museum (http://www.bautzner-strasse-dresden.de/).

Side Trips

Dresden is a great base to visit other parts of Saxony, a less visited part of Europe. The Saxon Switzerland National Park (https://www.nationalpark-saechsische-schweiz.de/?lang=en) is excellent for hiking, and can be reached in under an hour by train to Bad Schandau. To save the round trip cutting into a hiking day, you are best off overnighting at Bad Schandau, and can access the trailheads on foot from there. Leipzig is about an hour away by train and again would be full day trip unless you add it to an intercity itinerary.

Logistics

Dresden is easy to get around, with a concentrated central area and a useful tram service to get you out of the center. I stayed just east of the Altstadt at the Hofgartnerhaus at Brühlscher Garten 4. You may want to consider the Neustadt as a place to stay, with its better concentration of restaurants and nightlife, particularly on the blocks north of Bautzner Strasse. Dresden has become a popular city to live in as Berlin’s living costs have increased and the ability to work remotely is better accepted.

The Neustadt has a fine selection of beer and wine bars, some in places that haven’t changed much since the GDR, including some use of repurposed empty plots.

A few decent places include:

Bautzner Tor, Hoyerswerdaer Strasse 37, is a comfortable local gastropub with an extensive local menu and a good beer selection.

Ocakbasi, Eschenstraße 1, is a good Turkish standby.

Raskolnikoff, Böhmische Str. 34, a Russian restaurant, offers an alternative to German standards.

Zapfanstat, Sebnitzer Strasse 15, craft beer bar with their own offerings and a wide range of visiting beers.

Dresden’s main railway station is an almost 30-minute walk to the Altstadt, and there are regular trams that run there and into the Neustadt. To get set up with local transit tickets (not available on the tram, unfortunately), look for the DVB logo, or check out their website https://www.dvb.de/en-gb/tickets-en/tourists-en