We got to know Dresden when passed by a friend’s on the way to Prague. We were promised to like this place because it’s a beautiful historic one and we were not disappointed at all. But due to the time spending there were too short, only 2 days, we couldn’t really explore it. But we did have a general glance of it and for sure we will be back there to discover more in the future.
Dresden is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the border with the Czech Republic. And for your information, it’s only about 2 hours drive from Dresden to Prague.
Dresden was the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor. King Augustus II gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden. During his time, Dresden emerged as a leading European city for technology and art. Dresden was suffered heavily destruction in the Seven Years' War. But it has experienced dramatic changes since the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s. Even it still bears many wounds from the bombing raids of 1945, but it has got significant reconstruction in recent decades.
There is a pity thing for Dresden, that is the United Nations' cultural organization UNESCO declared the Dresden Elbe Valley to be a World Heritage Site in 2004 and placed it on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2006. But the city lost the title in June 2009, due to the construction of the Waldschlöβchenbrücke, because they said that the bridge would destroy the cultural landscape.
The completion of the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005 marked the first step in rebuilding the Neumarkt area. The areas around the square have been divided into 8 "Quarters", with each being rebuilt as a separate project, the majority of buildings to be rebuilt either to the original structure or at least with a façade similar to the original.
Although Dresden is larger than Munich when measured by area, the historic centre is quite compact and walkable. Be sure to check out these places at least while in Dresden if you don’t have time like us:
The Old Town: Frauenkirche, Neumarkt Square, Stallhof and Procession of Princes, Royal Palace, Semper Opera House, Zwinger Palace, Cathedral, Academy of Arts, Altmarkt Square, Albertinum, Kreuzkirche church and Brühls Terrace and Dresden Fortress.
And the night view of the Brühl's Terrace and quay of the Elbe as seen from Innere Neustadt is a must see one.
Saxon Switzerland National Park:
Saxon Switzerland is an intensively rocky canyon and only a short distance from the valley of the Elbe river.
It provides the finest panorama of the deeply cut Elbe valley and the surrounding table mountains is offered by the Bastei Rocks.
The National Park still hosts some forms of forest without human intervention, which is unusual in central Europe.
The special forms of mountain forest and gorge forest are endangered in Europe generally because of the sabulous soil and fissures, many places in this area are drier than normal for the temperate zone.
Today there are some 400 km of hiking paths, 49.9 km of biking paths, and 755 climbing locations with around 12,600 possibilities of climbing routes.
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