Dresden is the second largest city on theRiver Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in theElbe Valley, but a large, albeit very sparsely populated, area of the city east of the Elbe lies in theWest Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of theSudetes) and thus inLusatia. Many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in theOre Mountain Foreland, as well as in the valleys of the rivers rising there and flowing through Dresden, the longest of which are theWeißeritz and theLockwitzbach. The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are ofSorbian origin.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for theElectors andKings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, and was once bypersonal union the family seat ofPolish monarchs. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of itsBaroque andRococo city centre. The controversial American and Britishbombing of Dresden towards the end ofWorld War II killed approximately 25,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war, restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the historic inner city.
Dresden is one of the most visited cities in Germany with 4.7 million overnight stays per year.[7][8] Its most prominent building is theFrauenkirche located at theNeumarkt. Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, before being rebuilt between 1994 and 2005. Other famous landmarks include theZwinger, theSemperoper andDresden Castle. Furthermore, the city is home to theDresden State Art Collections, originating from the collections of the Saxon electors in the 16th century. Dresden'sStriezelmarkt is one of the largestChristmas markets in Germany and is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world.[9] Nearby sights include the National Park ofSaxon Switzerland, theOre Mountains and the countryside aroundElbe Valley,Moritzburg Castle andMeissen, home ofMeissen porcelain.
Around the late 12th century, aSorbian settlement calledDrežďany[13] (meaning either "woods" or "lowland forest-dweller"[14]) had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known asAntiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden,[13][15] both literally "old Dresden".Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene".
In 1806, Dresden became the capital of theKingdom of Saxony established byNapoleon. During theNapoleonic Wars the French Emperor made it abase of operations, winning there theBattle of Dresden on 27 August 1813. As a result of theCongress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Saxony became part of theGerman Confederation in 1815. Following the Polish uprisings of1831,1848 and1863 many Poles fled to Dresden, including the artistic and political elite, such as composerFrédéric Chopin, war heroJózef Bem and writerAdam Mickiewicz.[22] Mickiewicz wrote one of his greatest works,Dziady, Part III, there.[22] Dresden itself was a centre of theGerman Revolutions in 1848–1849 with theMay Uprising, which cost human lives and damaged the historic town of Dresden.[23] The uprising forcedFrederick Augustus II of Saxony to flee from Dresden, but he soon after regained control over the city with the help of Prussia. In 1852, the population of Dresden grew to 100,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities within the German Confederation.
As the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony, Dresden became part of the newly foundedGerman Empire in 1871. In the following years, the city became a major centre of economy, including motor car production, food processing, banking and the manufacture ofmedical equipment. In the early 20th century, Dresden was particularly well known for its camera works and its cigarette factories. DuringWorld War I, the city did not suffer any war damage, but lost many of its inhabitants. Between 1918 and 1934, Dresden was the capital of the first Free State of Saxony as well as a cultural and economic centre of theWeimar Republic. The city was also a centre of Europeanmodern art until 1933.
During the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, a large military facility calledAlbertstadt was built.[24] It had a capacity of up to 20,000military personnel at the beginning of theFirst World War. The garrison saw only limited use between 1918 and 1934, but was then reactivated in preparation for theSecond World War.
Its usefulness was limited by attacks on13–15 February and 17 April 1945, the former of which destroyed large areas of the city. However, the garrison itself was not specifically targeted.[25][26] Soldiers had been deployed as late as March 1945 in the Albertstadt garrison.
The Albertstadt garrison became the headquarters of theSoviet 1st Guards Tank Army in theGroup of Soviet Forces in Germany after the war. Apart from theGerman army officers' school (Offizierschule des Heeres), there have been no moremilitary units in Dresden since the army merger during German reunification, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1992. Nowadays, the Bundeswehr operates theMilitary History Museum of the Federal Republic of Germany in the former Albertstadt garrison.
The ruins of Dresden in 1945. Facing south from the town hall (Rathaus) tower. StatueGüte (Good orKindness) by August Schreitmüller, 1908–1910.
Two book burnings were organised in the city in 1933, one by theSA on Wettiner Platz, the second one byGerman Student Union at theBismarck Column on Räcknitzhöhe.[27]
During the Nazi era from 1933 to 1945, the Jewish community of Dresden was reduced from over 6,000 (7,100 people were persecuted as Jews) to 41, mostly as a result of emigration, but later also deportation and murder.[28][29] One of the survivors wasVictor Klemperer with his non-Jewish wife, who believed that the bombing saved their lives.
During theGerman invasion of Poland at the start ofWorld War II, in September 1939, theGestapo carried out mass arrests of localPolish activists.[31] Other non-Jews were also targeted, and over 1,300 people were executed by the Nazis at the Münchner Platz, a courthouse in Dresden, including labour leaders, undesirables, resistance fighters and anyone caught listening to foreign radio broadcasts.[32] The bombing stopped prisoners who were busy digging a large hole into which an additional 4,000 prisoners were to be disposed of.[33]
Dresden in the 20th century was a major communications hub and manufacturing centre with 127 factories and major workshops and was designated by the German military as a defensive strongpoint, with which to hinder the Soviet advance.[36] Being the capital of the German state ofSaxony, Dresden not only had garrisons but a wholemilitary borough, theAlbertstadt.[37] This military complex, named afterSaxon King Albert, was not specifically targeted in thebombing of Dresden.
During the final months of the Second World War, Dresden harboured some 600,000 refugees, with a total population of1.2 million. Dresden was attacked seven times between 1944 and 1945, and wasoccupied by the Red Army after the German capitulation.
Thebombing of Dresden by theRoyal Air Force (RAF) and theUnited States Army Air Forces (USAAF) between 13 and 15 February 1945 was controversial. On the night of 13–14 February 1945, 773 RAF Lancaster bombers dropped 1,181.6 tons of incendiary bombs and 1,477.7 tons of high explosive bombs, targeting the rail yards at the centre of the city. The inner city of Dresden was largely destroyed.[38][39] Widely quoted Nazi propaganda reports claimed 200,000 deaths, but the German Dresden Historians' Commission, made up of 13 prominent German historians, in an official 2010 report published after five years of research concluded that casualties numbered between 22,500 and 25,000.[40]
The destruction of Dresden allowedHildebrand Gurlitt, a major Nazi museum director and art dealer, to hidea large collection of artwork worth tens of millions of dollars that had been stolen during the Nazi era, as he claimed it had been destroyed along with his house which was located in Dresden.[41]
The Allies described the operation as the legitimate bombing of a military and industrial target.[25] Several researchers have argued that the February attacks weredisproportionate. As a result of inadequate Nazi air raid measures for refugees, mostly women and children died.[42]
Statue of Protestant reformerMartin Luther in the ruins after World War II
Following his military service the German press photographer and photojournalistRichard Peter returned to Dresden and began to document the ruined city. Among his best known worksBlick auf Dresden vom Rathausturm (View of Dresden from the Rathaus Tower). It has become one of the best known photographs of a ruined post-war Germany following its appearance in 1949 in his bookDresden, eine Kamera klagt an ("Dresden, a photographic accusation",ISBN3-930195-03-8).[46]
When a skeleton previously used as a model for drawing art classes was found in the ruins of the Dresden Art Academy, the photographerEdmund Kesting with the assistance of Peter posed it in a number of different locations to produce a series of haunting photographic images to give the impression that Death was wandering through the city in search of the dead.[46] Kesting subsequently published them in the bookDresdner Totentanz (Dresden's Death Dance).
The damage from the Allied air raids was so extensive that following the end of the Second World War, a narrow gauge light railway system was constructed to remove the debris, though being makeshift there were frequent derailments. This railway system, which had seven lines, employed 5,000 staff and 40 locomotives, all of which bore women's names. The last train remained in service until 1958, though the last official debris clearance team was only disbanded in 1977.[46]
Rather than repair them,German Democratic Republic (East Germany) authorities razed the ruins of many churches, royal buildings and palaces in the 1950s and 1960s, such as the GothicSophienkirche, the Alberttheater and theWackerbarth-Palais as well as many historic residential buildings. The surroundings of the once lively Prager Straße resembled a wasteland before it was rebuilt in the socialist style at the beginning of the 1960s.
However, the majority of historic buildings were saved or reconstructed. Among them were the Ständehaus (1946), the Augustusbrücke (1949), the Kreuzkirche (completed 1955), the Zwinger (completed 1963), the Catholic Court Church (completed 1965), the Semperoper (completed 1985), the Japanese Palace (completed 1987) and the two largest train stations. Some of this work dragged on for decades, often interrupted by the overall economic situation in the GDR. The ruins of the Frauenkirche were allowed to remain on Neumarkt as a memorial to the war.
While the Theater and Schloßplatz were rebuilt in accordance with the historical model in 1990, the Neumarkt remained completely undeveloped. On the other hand buildings of socialist classicism and spatial design and orientation according to socialist ideals (e.g. Kulturpalast) were built at the Altmarkt.
From 1955 to 1958, a large part of the art treasures looted by the Soviet Union was returned, which meant that from 1960 onwards many state art collections could be opened in reconstructed facilities or interim exhibitions. Important orchestras such as the Staatskapelle performed in alternative venues (for example in the Kulturpalast from 1969). Some cultural institutions were moved out of the city center (for example the state library in Albertstadt). The Outer Neustadt, which was almost undamaged during the war was threatened with demolition in the 1980s following years of neglect, but was preserved following public protests.
To house the homeless large prefabricated housing estates were built on previously undeveloped land In Prohlis and Gorbitz. Damaged housing in the Johannstadt and other areas in the city center were demolished and replaced with large apartment blocks. The villa districts in Blasewitz, Striesen, Kleinzschachwitz, Loschwitz and on the Weißen Hirsch were largely preserved.
Dresden became a major industrial centre of East Germany, with a great deal of research infrastructure. It was the centre ofBezirk Dresden (Dresden District) between 1952 and 1990. Many of the city's important historic buildings were reconstructed, including theSemper Opera House and theZwinger Palace, although the city leaders chose to rebuild large areas of the city in a "socialist modern" style, partly for economic reasons, but also to break away from the city's past as the royal capital of Saxony and a stronghold of the German bourgeoisie.
Until the end of the Cold War, the1st Guards Tank Army of the Soviet Army and the 7th Panzer Division of the National People's Army were stationed in and around Dresden. Following reunification in 1989, the Soviet / Russian troops were withdrawn from Germany in the early 1990s and the NVA dissolved in accordance with the provisions of theTwo-Plus-Four Treaty of 1990.
From 1985 to 1990, the future President of Russia,Vladimir Putin, was stationed in Dresden by theKGB, where he worked forLazar Matveev, the seniorKGB liaison officer there. On 3 October 1989 (the so-called "battle of Dresden"), a convoy of trains carrying East German refugees fromPrague passed through Dresden on its way to theFederal Republic of Germany. Local activists and residents joined in the growingcivil disobedience movement spreading across the German Democratic Republic, by staging demonstrations and demanding the removal of the communist government.
Dresden has experienced dramatic changes since the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s. The city still bears many wounds from thebombing raids of 1945, but it has undergone significant reconstruction. Restoration of theDresden Frauenkirche, a Lutheran church, began in 1994 and was completed in 2005, a year before Dresden's 800th anniversary; this was done with the help of privately raised funds. The gold cross on the top of the church was funded officially by "the British people and the House of Windsor". Theurban renewal process, which includes the reconstruction of the area around theNeumarkt square on which the Frauenkirche is situated, was expected to take decades, but numerous large projects were under way in the first part of the 21st century.
Dresden remains a major cultural centre of historical memory, owing to the city's destruction in World War II. Each year on 13 February, the anniversary of theBritish and American fire-bombing raid that destroyed most of the city, tens of thousands of demonstrators gather to commemorate the event. Since reunification, the ceremony has taken on a more neutral and pacifist tone (after being used more politically during theCold War). Beginning in 1999, right-wingNeo-Naziwhite nationalist groups have organised demonstrations in Dresden that have been among the largest of their type in the post-warhistory of Germany. Each year around the anniversary of the city's destruction, people convene in the memory of those who died in the fire-bombing.
The completion of the reconstructed Dresden Frauenkirche in 2005 marked the first step in rebuilding theNeumarkt area. The areas around the square were divided into eight "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 facade similar to the original. The quarters I, II, IV, V, VI and VIII have since been completed; quarters III and quarter VII were still partly under construction in 2020.
In 2002, torrential rains caused theElbe to flood 9 metres (30 ft) above its normal height, i.e., even higher than the old record height from 1845, damaging many landmarks (see2002 European floods). The destruction from this "millennium flood" is no longer visible, due to the speed of reconstruction.
The United Nations' cultural organizationUNESCO declared theDresden Elbe Valley to be a World Heritage Site in 2004.[47] After being placed on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2006, the city lost the title in June 2009,[48][49] due to the construction of theWaldschlößchenbrücke, making it only the second ever World Heritage Site to be removed from the register.[48][49] UNESCO stated in 2006 that the bridge would destroy the cultural landscape. The city council's legal moves, meant to prevent the bridge from being built, failed.[50][51]
Dresden lies on both banks of theElbe, mostly in theDresden Basin, with the further reaches of the easternOre Mountains to the south, the steep slope of theLusatian granitic crust to the north, and theElbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an altitude of about 113 metres (371 feet). Triebenberg is the highest point in Dresden at 384 metres (1,260 feet).[52]
With a pleasant location and a mild climate on the Elbe, as well as Baroque-style architecture and numerous museums and art collections, Dresden has been called "Elbflorenz" (Florence on the Elbe). The incorporation of neighbouringrural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largesturban district by area in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg andCologne.[53]
The nearest German cities areChemnitz 62 kilometres (39 miles)[54] to the southwest,Leipzig 100 kilometres (62 miles)[55] to the northwest and Berlin 165 kilometres (103 miles)[56] to the north.Prague (Czech Republic) is about 150 kilometres (93 miles) to the south andWrocław (Poland) 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the east.
Dresden is one of the greenest cities in all of Europe, with 62% of the city being green areas and forests.[57] TheDresden Heath (Dresdner Heide) to the north is a forest 50 km2 (19 sq mi) in size. There are fournature reserves. The additional Special Conservation Areas cover 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). The protected gardens, parkways, parks and old graveyards host 110 natural monuments in the city.[58] TheDresden Elbe Valley is a former world heritage site which is focused on the conservation of thecultural landscape in Dresden. One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows, which cross the city in a 20 kilometre swath.Saxon Switzerland is located south-east of the city.
Like most of eastern Germany, Dresden has anoceanic climate (Köppen climate classificationCfb), with significant continental influences due to its inland location. The summers are warm, averaging 19.0 °C (66.2 °F) in July. The winters are slightly colder than the German average, with a January average temperature of 0.1 °C (32.18 °F). The driest months are February, March and April, with precipitation of around 40 mm (1.6 in). The wettest months are July and August, with more than 80 mm (3.1 in) per month.
The microclimate in theElbe valley differs from that on the slopes and in the higher areas, where the Dresden districtKlotzsche, at 227 metresabove sea level, hosts the Dresdenweather station. The weather in Klotzsche is 1 to 3 °C (1.8 to 5.4 °F) colder than in theinner city at 112 metresabove sea level.
Because of its location on the banks of the Elbe, into which some water sources from the Ore Mountains flow, flood protection is important. Large areas are kept free of buildings to provide a flood plain. Two additional trenches, about 50 metres wide, have been built to keep the inner city free of water from the Elbe, by dissipating the water downstream through the inner city's gorge portion. Flood regulation systems likedetention basins andwater reservoirs are almost all outside thecity area.
TheWeißeritz, normally a rather small river, suddenly ran directly into the main station of Dresden during the2002 European floods. This was largely because the river returned to its former route; it had been diverted so that a railway could run along the river bed.
Many locations and areas need to be protected by walls and sheet pilings during floods. A number of districts become waterlogged if the Elbe overflows across some of its former floodplains.[64]
Dresden is a spacious city. Its boroughs differ in their structure and appearance. Many parts still contain an old village core, while some quarters are almost completely preserved as rural settings. Other characteristic kinds of urban areas are the historic outskirts of the city, and the former suburbs with scattered housing. During the German Democratic Republic, many apartment blocks were built. The original parts of the city are almost all in the boroughs of Altstadt (Old town) and Neustadt (New town). Growing outside thecity walls, the historic outskirts were built in the 18th and 19th century. They were planned and constructed on the orders of the Saxon monarchs and many of them are named after Saxon sovereigns (e.g.Friedrichstadt andAlbertstadt). Dresden has been divided into ten boroughs called "Stadtbezirk" and nine former municipalities ("Ortschaften") which have been incorporated since 1990.[65]
The population of Dresden grew to 100,000 inhabitants in 1852, making it one of the first German cities afterHamburg, Berlin andBreslau (Wrocław) to reach that number. The population peaked at 649,252 in 1933, and dropped to 368,519 in 1945 because of World War II, during which large residential areas of the city were destroyed. After large incorporations and city restoration, the population grew to 522,532 again between 1946 and 1983.[68]
SinceGerman reunification, demographic development has been very unsteady. The city has struggled with migration and suburbanisation. During the 1990s the population increased to 480,000 because of several incorporations, and decreased to 452,827 in 1998. Between 2000 and 2010, the population grew quickly by more than 45,000 inhabitants (about 9.5%) due to a stabilised economy and re-urbanisation. Along withMunich andPotsdam, Dresden is one of the ten fastest-growing cities in Germany.[53]
As of 2019[update] the population of the city of Dresden was 557,075,[69] the population of the Dresden agglomeration was 790,400 as of 2018[update],[3] and as of 2019[update] the population of the Dresden metropolitan area, which includes the neighbouring districts ofMeißen,Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge,Bautzen andGörlitz, was 1,343,305.[2]
As of 2018 about 50.0% of the population was female.[70] As of 2007[update] the mean age of the population was 43 years, which is the lowest among the urban districts in Saxony.[71] As of 31 December 2018[update] there were 67,841 people with amigration background (12.1% of the population, increased from 7.2% in 2010), and about two-thirds of these, 44,665 or about 8.0% of all Dresden citizens were foreigners.[70] This percentage increased from 4.1% in 2010.[citation needed]
Dresden is one of Germany's 16 political centres[clarification needed] and the capital of Saxony. It has institutions of democratic local self-administration that are independent from the capital functions.[72]
Dresden hosted some international summits in recent years, such as the Petersburg Dialogue between Russia and Germany,[73] the European Union'sMinister of the Interior conference[74] and theG8 labour ministers conference.[75]
Thecity council is the legislative branch of the city government. The council gives orders to the mayor (German:Bürgermeister) via resolutions and decrees, and thus also has some degree of executive power.[76][77]
Results of the second round of the 2022 mayoral election
The first freely elected mayor after German reunification wasHerbert Wagner of theChristian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1990 to 2001. The mayor was originally chosen by the city council, but since 1994 has been directly elected. Ingolf Roßberg of theFree Democratic Party (FDP) served from 2001 until 2008. He was succeeded byHelma Orosz (CDU).Dirk Hilbert was elected mayor in 2015 under the banner "Independent Citizens for Dresden". He was nominated by the FDP andFree Voters, and was endorsed by the CDU andAfD in the runoff. The most recent mayoral election was held on 12 June 2022, with a runoff held on 10 July, and the results were as follows:
Most of the Saxon state authorities are located in Dresden. Dresden is home to the Regional Commission of theDresden Regierungsbezirk, which is a controlling authority for the Saxon Government.
Like many cities in Germany, Dresden is also home to a local court, has a trade corporation and a Chamber of Industry and Trade and many subsidiaries of federal agencies (such as the Federal Labour Office or theFederal Agency for Technical Relief). It hosts some divisions of the German Customs andWaterways and Shipping Office.[83]
Dresden is home to a military subdistrict command, but no longer has large military units as it did in the past. Dresden is the traditional location forarmy officer schooling in Germany, today carried out in theOffizierschule des Heeres [de].[84]
TheWaldschlösschen Bridge is a subject of controversy in Dresden and other parts of Germany.
Local affairs in Dresden often centre around theurban development of the city and its spaces. Architecture and the design ofpublic places is a controversial subject. Discussions about theWaldschlößchenbrücke, a bridge under construction across the Elbe, received international attention because of its position across theDresden Elbe ValleyWorld Heritage Site. The city held a public referendum in 2005 on whether to build the bridge, prior to UNESCO expressing doubts about the compatibility between bridge and heritage. Its construction caused loss of World Heritage site status in 2009.[85]
In 2006, the city of Dresden sold its publiclysubsidized housing organization, WOBA Dresden GmbH, to the US-based privateinvestment companyFortress Investment Group. The city received987.1 million euro and paid off its remaining loans, making it the first large city in Germany to become debt-free. Opponents of the sale were concerned about Dresden's loss of control over thesubsidized housing market.[86]
Dresden has been the center of groups and activities of far-right movements. Politicians and politics ofAlternative for Germany (AfD) have a strong backing.[87] Starting in October 2014,PEGIDA, anationalistic political movement based in Dresden has been organizing weekly demonstrations against what it perceives as theIslamization of Europe at the height of theEuropean migrant crisis. As the number of demonstrators increased to 15,000 in December 2014, so has the international media coverage of it.[88] However, since 2015, the number of demonstrators has decreased significantly.[89]
In 2019, the Dresden City Council passed a policy statement against "anti-democratic, anti-pluralist, misanthropic and right-wing-extremist developments".[90] The motion was originally put forward by the satirical political partyDie Partei.[91]Bündnis 90/Die Grünen,Die Linke,SPD and Die Partei voted in favour of the statement. TheCDU andAfD voted against it. Among other things, the statement calls on strengthening democracy, protecting human rights and raising spending on (political) education.[92]
Although Dresden is often said to be aBaroque city, its architecture is influenced by more than one style. Other eras of importance are theRenaissance andHistoricism, as well as the contemporary styles ofModernism andPostmodernism.[97]
Dresden has some 13,000 listed cultural monuments and eight districts under general preservation orders.[98]
TheDresden Castle was the seat of theroyal household from 1485. The wings of the building have been renewed, built upon and restored many times. Due to this integration of styles, the castle is made up of elements of theRenaissance,Baroque andClassicist styles.[99]
TheZwinger Palace is across the road from the castle. It was built on the old stronghold of the city and was converted to a centre for the royal art collections and a place to hold festivals. Its gate by the moat is surmounted by a golden crown.[100]
TheHofkirche was the church of the royal household.Augustus the Strong, who desired to beKing of Poland, converted to Catholicism, as Polish kings had to be Catholic. At that time Dresden was strictly Protestant. Augustus the Strong ordered the building of the Hofkirche, the Roman Catholic Cathedral, to establish a sign of Roman Catholic religious importance in Dresden. The church is the cathedral "Sanctissimae Trinitatis" since 1980. The crypt of theWettin Dynasty is located within the church.[101] King Augustus III of Poland is buried in the cathedral, as one of the very few Polish kings to be buried outside theWawel Cathedral inKraków.
In contrast to the Hofkirche, the LutheranFrauenkirche located at theNeumarkt was built almost contemporaneously by the citizens of Dresden. The city's historic Kreuzkirche was reconsecrated in 1388.[102]
Historicist buildings made their presence felt on the cityscape until the 1920s.
Notable examples ofRenaissance Revival architecture in Dresden include theAlbertinum located at Brühl's Terrace as well as theSaxon State Chancellery and the Saxon State Ministry of Finance located on the northern Elbe river banks. TheEhrlichsche Gestiftskirche, constructed in 1907, was a historicist church building that was demolished in August 1951.[103]
TheGarden City ofHellerau, at that time a suburb of Dresden, was founded in 1909. It was Germany's firstgarden city.[106] In 1911,Heinrich Tessenow built theHellerau Festspielhaus (festival theatre). Until the outbreak of World War I, Hellerau was a centre for Europeanmodernism with international standing.[107][108] In 1950, Hellerau was incorporated into the city of Dresden. Today, the Hellerau reform architecture is recognized as exemplary. In the 1990s, the garden city of Hellerau became aconservation area.[109]
TheGerman Hygiene Museum (built 1928–1930) is a signal example ofmodern architecture in Dresden in the interwar period. The building is designed in an impressively monumental style, but employs plain façades and simple structures.
Important modernist buildings erected between 1945 and 1990 are the Centrum-Warenhaus (a largedepartment store), representing theinternational Style, and the multi-purpose hallKulturpalast.
Daniel Libeskind andNorman Foster both modified existing buildings. Foster roofed the main railway station with translucent Teflon-coated synthetics. Libeskind changed the whole structure of theBundeswehr Military History Museum by placing a wedge through the historical arsenal building. According to Libeskind's studio, "[t]he façade's openness and transparency is intended to contrast with the opacity and rigidity of the existing building."[110]
Jean-Joseph Vinache's goldenequestrian statue of August the Strong, theGoldener Reiter (Golden Cavalier), is on the Neustädter Markt square. It shows August at the beginning of the Hauptstraße (Main street) on his way to Warsaw, where he was King of Poland in personal union. Another statue is the memorial ofMartin Luther in front of the Frauenkirche.[111]
TheDresden Heath is a large forest located in the northeast of Dresden and one of the city's most important recreation areas.
The park ofPillnitz Palace is famous for its botanical treasures, including a more than 230-year-oldJapanese camellia and about 400 potted plants.[112]
The Saxon State Opera descends from the opera company of the former electors and Kings of Saxony. Their first opera house was theOpernhaus am Taschenberg, opened in 1667. TheOpernhaus am Zwinger presented opera from 1719 to 1756, when theSeven Years' War began. The laterSemperoper was completely destroyed during the bombing of Dresden during the second world war. The opera's reconstruction was completed exactly 40 years later, on 13 February 1985. Its musical ensemble is theSächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, founded in 1548.[114] TheDresden State Theatre runs a number of smaller theatres. The Dresden State Operetta is the only independentoperetta in Germany.[115] TheHerkuleskeule (Herculesclub) is an important site inGerman-speaking political cabaret.
There are several choirs in Dresden, the best-known of which is theDresdner Kreuzchor (Choir ofThe Holy Cross). It is a boys' choir drawn from pupils of theKreuzschule, and was founded in the 13th century.[116] TheDresdner Kapellknaben are not related to theStaatskapelle, but to the formerHofkapelle, the Catholic cathedral, since 1980. TheDresden Philharmonic Orchestra is the orchestra of the city of Dresden.
Throughout the summer, the outdoor concert series "Zwingerkonzerte und Mehr" is held in theZwingerhof. Performances include dance and music.[117]
There are several small cinemas presentingcult films and low-budget or low-profile films chosen for their cultural value. Dresden also has a few multiplex cinemas, of which the Rundkino is one the known.
Dresden'sStriezelmarkt is one of the largestChristmas markets in Germany. Founded as a one-day market in 1434, it is considered the first genuine Christmas market in the world.[9]
A big event each year in June is theBunte Republik Neustadt,[118] a culture festival lasting three days in the city district ofDresden-Neustadt. Bands play live concerts for free in the streets and there are refreshments and food.
DVB is the municipal company in charge oftransport in the city of Dresden.[130] DVB provides anight service namedGuteNachtLinie ('goodnight lines'), which operates Monday-Sunday, although the frequency of the buses is greater on Friday, Saturday and before holidays when the routes run every 30 minutes between 22:45 and 04:45.[131]Postplatz is the most important hub for night-time travel in Dresden. Most GuteNachtLinie routes meet here at the same time to allow people to switch routes.[131][132]
TheBundesautobahn 4 (European route E40) crosses Dresden in the northwest from west to east. TheBundesautobahn 17 leaves the A4 in a south-eastern direction. In Dresden it begins to cross the Ore Mountains towards Prague. TheBundesautobahn 13 leaves from the three-point interchange "Dresden-Nord" and goes to Berlin. The A13 and the A17 are on theEuropean route E55. In addition, severalBundesstraßen (federal highways) run through Dresden.
Dresden Airport is the city'sinternational airport, located at the north-western outskirts of the city. After German reunification the airport's infrastructure has been considerably improved. In 1998, a motorway access route was opened.[133] In March 2001, a new terminal building was opened along with the undergroundS-Bahn stationDresden Flughafen, a multi-storey car park and a new aircraft handling ramp.[134]
Dresden has alarge tramway network operated byDresdner Verkehrsbetriebe, the municipal transport company. The Transport Authority operates twelve lines on a 200 km (124 mi) network.[135] Many of the newlow-floor vehicles are up to 45 metres long and produced byBombardier Transportation inBautzen. While about 30% of the system's lines are onreserved track (often sown with grass to avoid noise), many tracks still run on the streets, especially in the inner city.[136]
TheCarGoTram was a tram that supplied Volkswagen'sTransparent Factory, crossing the city. The transparent factory is located not far from the city centre next to the city's largest park.[137]
The districts of Loschwitz and Weisser Hirsch are connected by theDresden Funicular Railway, which has been carrying passengers back and forth since 1895.[138]
Until enterprises likeDresdner Bank left Dresden in the communist era to avoidnationalisation, Dresden was one of the most important German cities, an important industrial centre of the German Democratic Republic.[citation needed] The period of theGDR until 1990 was characterized by low economic growth in comparison to western German cities.[139] In 1990 Dresden had to struggle with theeconomic collapse ofthe Soviet Union and the other export markets in Eastern Europe. After reunification enterprises and production sites broke down almost completely as they entered thesocial market economy, facing competition from the Federal Republic of Germany. After 1990 a completely newlegal system and currency system was introduced and infrastructure was largely rebuilt with funds from the Federal Republic of Germany. Dresden as a major urban centre has developed much faster and more consistently than most other regions in the former German Democratic Republic.
Between 1990 and 2010 theunemployment rate fluctuated between 13% and 15%, but has decreased significantly ever since. In December 2019 the unemployment rate was 5.3%, the fourth lowest among the 15 largest cities of Germany (afterMunich,Stuttgart andNuremberg).[140] In 2017, theGDP per capita of Dresden was 39,134 euros, the highest in Saxony.[141]
Thanks to the presence of public administration centres, a high density of semi-public research institutes and an extension of publicly funded high technology sectors, the proportion of highly qualified workers Dresden is again among the highest in Germany and by European criteria.[142]
In 2019, Dresden had the seventh-best future prospects of all cities in Germany, after being ranked fourth in 2017.[6] According to the 2019 study by Forschungsinstitut Prognos, Dresden is one of the most dynamic regions in Germany. It ranks at number 41 of all 401 German regions and second of all regions in former East Germany (only surpassed byJena).[143][144][145]
Silicon Saxony Saxony's semiconductor industry was built up in 1969. Major enterprises today includeAMD's semiconductor fabrication spin-offGlobalFoundries,Infineon Technologies,ZMDI and Toppan Photomasks. Their factories attract many suppliers of material and cleanroom technology enterprises to Dresden.
The pharmaceutical sector developed at the end of the 19th century. The 'Sächsisches Serumwerk Dresden' (Saxon Serum Plant, Dresden), owned byGlaxoSmithKline, is a global leader invaccine production.[146] Another traditional pharmaceuticals producer is Arzneimittelwerke Dresden (Pharmaceutical Works, Dresden).[147]
The media in Dresden include two major newspapers of regional record: theSächsische Zeitung (Saxon Newspaper, circulation around 228,000) and theDresdner Neueste Nachrichten (Dresden's Latest News, circulation around 50,000). Dresden has a broadcasting centre belonging to theMitteldeutscher Rundfunk. TheDresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus (Dresden printing plant and publishing house) produces part ofSpiegel'sprint run, amongst other newspapers and magazines.[citation needed]
Other universities include theHochschule für Kirchenmusik, a school specialising inchurch music, and theEvangelische Hochschule für Sozialarbeit, an education institution for social work.[citation needed] TheDresden International University is a private postgraduate university, founded in 2003 in cooperation with the Dresden University of Technology.[151]
Dresden hosts manyresearch institutes, some of which have gained an international standing. The domains of most importance are micro- and nanoelectronics, transport and infrastructure systems, material and photonic technology, and bio-engineering. The institutes are well connected among one other as well as with the academic education institutions.[152]
TheFraunhofer Society hosts institutes of applied research that also offer mission-oriented research to enterprises. With eleven institutions or parts of institutes, Dresden is the largest location of the Fraunhofer Society worldwide.[154] The Fraunhofer Society has become an important factor in location decisions and is seen as a useful part of the "knowledge infrastructure".[155]
Dresden has more than 20gymnasia which prepare for a tertiary education, five of which are private.[160] TheSächsisches Landesgymnasium für Musik with a focus on music is supported, as its name implies by the State of Saxony, rather than by the city.[161] There are someBerufliche Gymnasien which combinevocational education and secondary education and anAbendgymnasium which prepares higher education of adults avocational.[162]
In the early 20th century, the city was represented byDresdner SC, who were one of Germany's most successful clubs in football. Their best performances came during World War II, when they were twice Germanchampions, and twiceCup winners. Dresdner SC is a multisport club. While itsfootball team plays in the sixth-tierLandesliga Sachsen, its volleyball section has a team in the women'sBundesliga. Dresden has a thirdfootball teamSC Borea Dresden.
TheDresden Titans are the city's top basketball team. Due to good performances, they have moved up several divisions and currently play in Germany's second divisionProA. The Titans' home arena is the Margon Arena.
Since 1890,horse races have taken place and the Dresdener Rennverein 1890 e.V. are active and one of the big sporting events in Dresden.[164]
According to the 2017 Global Least & Most Stressful Cities Ranking, Dresden was one of the least stressful cities in the world. It was ranked 15th out of 150 cities worldwide and above Düsseldorf, Leipzig, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Berlin.[165]
^abSadowski, Aleksander Marek (2022). "Sachsen und Polen – Tausend Jahre Nachbarschaft / Polska i Saksonia – tysiąc lat sąsiedztwa".Polonus (in German and Polish). No. 5. Ostritz. p. 39.ISSN2701-6285.
^"Dresdner Maiaufstand".AG Orte der Demokratiegeschichte (in German).Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. Retrieved22 January 2024.
^Rüdiger Nern, Erich Sachße, Bert Wawrzinek.Die Dresdner Albertstadt. Dresden, 1994;Albertstadt – sämtliche Militärbauten in Dresden. Dresden, 1880
^Cygański, Mirosław (1984). "Hitlerowskie prześladowania przywódców i aktywu Związków Polaków w Niemczech w latach 1939–1945".Przegląd Zachodni (in Polish) (4): 54.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 413.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
^ab"Subcamps".KZ-Gedenkstätte Flossenbürg. Retrieved22 November 2023.
^abcJähner, Harald (2019).Aftermath: Life in the Fallout of the Third Reich 1945–1955 (Paperback). London: W H Allen. pp. 23, 28, 29.ISBN9780753557877.
^Maier, Charles S. (September 2005). "Targeting the city: Debates and silences about the aerial bombing of World War II".International Review of the Red Cross.87 (859):429–444.doi:10.1017/S1816383100184322.S2CID145528839.
^Entwurf zur Moderne : Hellerau: Stand Ort Bestimmung ; [Dokumentation der Fachtagung in Hellerau 1995]. Durth, Werner., Bracher, Erich., Wüstenrot-Stiftung. Stuttgart: Dt. Verl.-Anst. 1996.ISBN3-421-03217-3.OCLC312519193.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
Disguised Visibilities: Dresden byMark Jarzombek inMemory and Architecture, Ed. By Eleni Bastea, (University of Mexico Press, 2004).
Miller, Michael (2017).Gauleiter. Vol. 2. California: R James Bender Publishing.ISBN978-1-932970-32-6.
Preserve and Rebuild: Dresden during the Transformations of 1989–1990. Architecture, Citizens Initiatives and Local Identities by Victoria Knebel, 2007;ISBN978-3-631-55954-3
La tutela del patrimonio culturale in caso di conflitto by Fabio Maniscalco (editor), 2002;ISBN88-87835-18-7
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