Dresden

We had to see Dresden, called "the Florence of the North" in the 18th Century, nearly totally destroyed by the WWII fire-bombing, and rebuilt to be named a Unesco World Heritage site.  Unprepared with maps or guidebook, we signed up for a walking tour of Dresden which included the bus ride of about 200 km from Berlin. The English and Hebrew guides were very good; but if we had do-overs, we would buy a guidebook and drive there ourselves so there'd be more time to wander around town.  

The classic photos of the palaces, churches, etc can be found on the  internet; so these are just some of the views that interested us:

This is Frauenkirchen the major church of the  city. Restored since the Allied bombing, it just reopened in 2005.  The dark stones are the original stones recovered from the church rubble.   Apparently when the bombing was over only the dome was destroyed and the towns' people were joyous. Unfortunately with the dome open to the sky in winter the temperature of the inside fell causing the stones to contract, losing the structural integrity; and down came the whole church.

View from the square with the fewest possible  folks  in the way.

The dome interior.   The best I could do with the jostling crowds.

This is the Palace of Augustus the Strong, who was the force behind making  Dresden "The Florence of  the North."

A view of the Palace to engender awe at its magnificence.

View of the renovated interior. My geometric self likes lines and angles

According to our guide this was the palace of Augustus's many mistresses/harem. The story is he built a bridge  between this palace and his own, so that in the cold weather he didn't have to get dressed to visit his mistresses. The official count is 19, but in those days they only counted those of  noble birth. It is rumored he had hundreds. 

Some views around Augustus the Strong's palace

Well my camera's panoramic function isn't handled too well by Blogger. It look pretty good on  a bigger screen.

Totally rebuilt buildings on the main square.

Some views walking around the town center.

Tired of the crowds and thinking we had seen enough of the town. We headed for the modern museum and saw some very nice art. We got a better appreciation of the Romantics, and loved the stuff of the Brucke school, and, of course the German Expressionists. No pictures allowed in the gallery. Here is a shot of the lobby.

One of the classic shots of Dresden is from across the river. We will end this with a shot across the river looking away from Dresden, from both sides of the bridge..

Unlike Augustus the Strong, the bridge is very modest.