The old Saxon residence and today's state capital Dresden is an art and cultural Centre of European rank. It offers baroque magnificent buildings, top-class art treasures combined with a beautiful location on both sides of the Elbe. Johann Gottfried Herder created the nickname "Elbflorence" when he wrote of "German Florence" and the famous poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe expressed himself deeply impressed: "Dresden is a place that is glorious".
The extensive collection exhibits on 3000 m² in Dresden-Striesen more than 30,000 valuable objects of Saxon, German and international industry and technology history. The main focus is on entertainment technology and computer technology, camera and cinema projector technology (ZEISS, Pentacon), photo-historical topics, contemporary photography, scientific phenomena, as well as a Science Center on the subject of lasers and a large special exhibition on Emanuel Goldberg. A further highlight is the adventure land of mathematics, which invites visitors to puzzle for themselves with mathematical puzzles and tasks. Mr. Holger Seifert, Head of Science Communication at the Technical Collections, is available for discussions.
Picture: by Wuselig [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
For more than 100 years, the permanent exhibition on human beings has been held in the "German Hygiene Museum", founded on the initiative of August Lingner, a pharmacist and industrial magnate. In seven exhibition areas, the current state of scientific and sociological research on Homo Sapiens is presented in a very stimulating way. In 1892, German Richard Seifert invented mouthwash product Odol, which was produced by company founder Karl August Lingner (1861–1916) in Dresden.
Picture: by © Raimond Spekking, via Wikimedia Commons
Since its foundation in 1728, the Mathematical-Physical Salon is located in the Dresden Zwinger and is a special museum for clocks and scientific instruments from the 16th to 19th century. The origin of the collection goes back to the Dresden Art Chamber, founded in 1560, which included around 9,000 other objects and almost 1,000 mathematical and technical instruments as early as 1587. You can see and experience highly polished burning mirrors, experienced historical clocks and automata, telescopes, astronomical models as well as terrestrial and celestial globes, including one of the moon and one of Mars, which impress not only by their function but also by their beauty.
Picture: By SchiDD - , CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
The Zwinger is a masterpiece of German baroque architecture and provided the setting for extensive celebrations of August the Strong. In 1709 he commissioned the master builder Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann with the construction of the "Roman show castle" to celebrate his rushing celebrations there. The Zwingeryard offers the visitor a view of impressive unity. The picture gallery "Alte Meister" in the "Sempergalery" of the Zwinger is one of the most famous collections of paintings in the world, with about 750 masterpieces from the 15th - 18th centuries on display. It exhibits the "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael, one of the most famous paintings of the Renaissance.
The Protestant sacred building with the elegant dome is the trademark of Dresden's old town. No other building in Dresden is as popular as this one. The most important Protestant church in Saxony collapsed on 15 February 1945 after the bombing hail. Reconstruction began in 1994 and since 30 October 2005 the 91-metre-high masterpiece by the architect George Baehr, who comes from the Erzgebirge, has been towering up into the sky again.
In the Saxon State Opera, concerts of exquisite quality are performed. The circular building in the forms of the Italian Renaissance receives its name from its master builder Gottfried Semper and was rebuilt 3 times according to his plans. On 12 April 1841 the Court Theatre opened its curtain for the first time and was one of the most beautiful theatres in Europe. Those who are not lucky enough to attend a performance have the opportunity to take part in a sightseeing tour.
From the 12th to the end of the 19th century, renowned master builders built the magnificent residence castle from a castle. It is the historically most diverse and richest architectural monument in Saxony and consists of three courtyards. The Residenzschloss is one of Dresden's most important attractions, especially due to the Wettin princes' unique treasure trove, the "Green Vault". The collection of Saxon electors and kings in the "Green Vault" comprises over 4000 works of jewellery and goldsmith's art.
In the "Fortress of the Sea" and the "Love Castle" August the strong hunted deer and beautiful Saxon women. It is a beautiful baroque castle situated in a magical landscape, the cultural landscape of Moritzburg. Originally built in 1542 by Duke Moritz of Saxony, the castle was given its present appearance in the 18th century under August the Strong. The 4 grand rooms and more than 200 rooms have remained unchanged until today and were inhabited by the Wettins until the end of the Second World War.
"As beautiful as Switzerland, just a little smaller" say the Saxons about their Elbe sandstone mountains. The Swiss painters Adrian Zingg and Anton Graff are said to have created the name "Saxon Switzerland" while hiking through the 360 km² mountain world. The tourist highlight is the view from the Bastei (305 m) to the 190 m lower Elbe and the health resort Rathen as well as to the Table Mountain Lilienstein (415 m).
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