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Dresden [ˈdreːsdn̩](Sorbian/Lusatian Drežďany) is the capital city of the German federal state of Saxony, in a valley on the river Elbe. The city’s population reached 478,000 in 2004. (At the same time, the total population in its metropolitan area was about a million). It is known today primarily as a cultural center, and as the home of Germany's "Silicon Valley", but will always be remembered for the Allied strategic bombings in World War II.
Dresden is slightly less than two hours south of Berlin, and about two hours north of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. About an hour northwest of Dresden is Leipzig, a Saxon city of about the same metropolitan size.
Unlike other cities such as Leipzig, whose strength is in their clearly defined inner city, Dresden has a number of centres of activity spread throughout the city.
Often seen as a culture capital, Dresden is a primarily residential city and home to many researchers: one of the oldest technical universities in the world, the Dresden University of Technology, is just south of the city centre.
The city’s climate is much more characteristic of southern Germany, being much warmer than most other places in eastern Germany. In 2002 Dresden was on the list of Europe’s greenest (large) cities: a third of its area is covered by the forested areas called Dresdner Heide. The Großer Garten (“big garden”) is the largest urban park in the city.
From the tourist standpoint, an important destination is the bridge nicknamed Blue Wonder. From this point it is often recommended to walk up to the world´s oldest aerial cableway or also the the world´s oldest cable railway. By the way this area is said to have been Europe´s most expensive living area before World War Two. Other primary attractions include:
Nearby, at a higher elevation, are the villages Bannewitz and Rundteil at the foot of the Bohemian Riesengebirge mountains. In the north is the Bühlau quarter; in the east Kleinzschachwitz, anothr villa quarter. Also nearby is Saxon Switzerland, a large prime climbing destination. To the west of Dresden Meissen is situated, most famous for the invention and production of European porcelain.
An ancient Slavic settlement on the northern bank of the river was joined in 1206 by a German town on the southern bank, the heart of today’s Altstadt (“old town”). It was the seat from 1270 of the Wettin Landgrafs (Counts) of Meißen. From 1485 it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well. Between 1806 and 1918 it was the capital of the kingdom of Saxony (which was from 1871 a part of the German Empire).
The city’s population quadrupled from 95,000 in 1849 to 396,000 in 1900.
The city has suffered repeated destruction: by fire in 1491, from bombardment by the Prussians in 1760, and during the suppression of a constitutionalist uprising (The May Uprising) in 1849. The city was largely destroyed by Allied bombing in February 1945.
August the Strong (1694-1733), who planned to make Dresden the most important royal residence, set out to discover the Chinese secret of porcelain (‘white gold’). Under his rule, European porcelain was invented in Dresden and Meißen. He also gathered many of the best architects and painters from all over Europe to Dresden. His reign was the beginning of Dresden’s emergence as a leading European city for technology and art.
Dresden´s industry was formed for example by car production Auto Union supporting firms, rather famous food production, the branches of hygience and medicine (today there is the German Hygiene museum), nearly all branches of technology, for example the world´s biggest camera production with Zeiss Ikon and a lot of other brands. Also an art industry was developed by public and private plans to a great extent, considering the city's size. The Transport Museum can be recommended to find out about Dresden´s long public transport history.
Dresden was not the only German city devastated by World War II bombing, but the bombing of Dresden in 1945 has become one of the most controversial events of that war. It was bombed in February 1945, even though the end of World War II was foreseeable. The city was not particularly well defended, because the important war material was on the front near Germany’s east and the few military facilities built there. Some optical industry was destroyed, but mainly the goal of the bomb attacks was to hit the civilian population with a fire storm. Civilian deaths are estimated at 30,000-140,000. At that time, Dresden’s population was 600,000; but more than 600,000 eastern refugees were living in Dresden, seeing it as a sanctuary from the war. The whole inner city (15 square kilometres) burnt down, and other quarters were damaged to some degree. While some think that the bombing of Dresden was a tragic occurrence that Nazi Germany brought upon itself, others feel it should be treated as a war crime. Fortunately, much of the city's beauty has been restored, thanks to the zeal of the populace in recreating the architecture of ‘old Dresden. Today Dresden has a strong partnership with the English city Coventry, which was partly destroyed by German attacks. The partnership is deeply supported by the populace in both cities.
After the Second World War, Dresden became a major industrial centre of socialist East Germany with a great deal of research infrastructure. Many historic buildings were rebuilt. Its location in a valley prevented residents from receiving Western TV or FM Radio broadcasts, but practically all of the Dresdeners had relatives in other regions. On 3 October 1989 (the so-called “battle of Dresden”) when trains with East German people from Prague went through Dresden to West Germany, activists staged demonstrations, demanding the removal of the government.
The city still has many of its wounds, and the population is extremely interested in the ongoing reconstruction process. One of the major restorations in progress is that of the Frauenkirche (“Church of Our Lady”), which is being rebuilt from the stones of the original church. Despite the whole inner city’s destruction in World War Two, the inner city has undergone a renaissance, and is again seen as one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe. Dresden is called a spirit of its own. Houses of many architectural styles, built by famous kings and artists from all over the world, never stand alone: they are built to make a whole unique work of art.
In 1990 Dresden--an important industrial centre of East Germany--had to survive the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and the other export markets in eastern Europe. East Germany had been the richest Communist country. With re-integration, a completely new law and currency system was introduced in the wake of Communism’s downfall, and much new infrastructure had to be built with help from western Germany. Once again the city developed faster than other regions, but there are still many problems such as the amount of equity capital in old and new firms. Some industries were already believed to be dead, such as the optical industry, the high quality food industries, and the watch industries (including the Glashuette brand). All these have come back.
Many creations and inventions come from Dresden. In 2004, many prestigious research centers in Dresden still have their primary headquarters in the west. The city has become a world leader in many sections of culture, silicon industry (AMD, Motorola, Dupont, Infineon, Dresden Airbus Industries), electronics, and biotechnical processes. Volkswagen is currently building its Phaeton car in Dresden.
In 2002, torrential rains caused the Elbe to flood 29 feet past its 1845 record height, damaging many landmarks. The destruction from this “millennium flood” is no longer visible, due to the rapidity of reconstruction. Disaster relief for the millennial flood came from Bavaria, Switzerland and the German Staat of Hessen for example.
In 2004 the UNESCO declared the whole Dresden valley along the river, 20 kilometers from west to east, to be a "World Heritage" site.
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