Germany: Explore Dresden

I wonder for what Dresden is better known for - what was built or for what was destroyed?

Make no mistake over the centuries wondrous things were created in the capital of the Saxon kingdom. The surrounding territory was rich in gems and mineral deposits and this wealth became the foundation for a very prosperous city where sculpture and porcelain arts flourished. It also made the Kings very wealthy and as wealthy kings often do, they built palaces and cathedrals. Dresden was a wonderful place.

Until that night in February 1945 when, for whatever reason, bombs rained down on the city.  The bombing has long been controversial.  Was it revenge or a legitimate military target? To Dresdeners it did not really matter. The allies sent their bombers and nearly erased the city from this earth. Dresden, of course, was not unique in that respect. The pictures of Coventry or Cologne after the war show a scene not all that different to what you would have seen in Dresden. The war over, in Cologne they began the building.

What makes Dresden interesting is that after the war, that same rebuilding was not undertaken.  In part, it was a simple lack of resources. East Germany did not get Marshall Plan aid. Part of it was ideological, "should a Workers State rebuild palaces and churches?" The answer was no. I always thought that perspective was short sighted. There's money in tourism - but then tourism is a pretty bourgeois activity.

Nonetheless, as of 1979 when I first visited Dresden, little of the prewar grandeur had been restored. Some of the ruins, in particular the Frauenkirche (see next post) had been intentionally preserved as a ruined pile of rubble - the fruits of fascism. They had just begun to work on the Zwinger Palace, though this was already 35 years after the end of the war.

Now 20 years later and with a change in the political regime, what would Dresden be like?

Well as you can see from the pictures, Dresden's architectural treasures have been reclaimed. Today the city is an interesting blend of three eras; the Royal; the communist; and the capitalist. The city bears all the marks of its somewhat rocky road to the present.