Dresden, the flat city. (Dresden)

Member Name: Bilbo Baggins

Product:	Dresden
Date:	27/04/01 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely areas by the Elbe river.

Disadvantages: Much of the city is drab.

Lovely city in parts... Dog rough in others....

I lived in Dresden for 6 months as part of a university course. I chose it as a destination because I wanted to see whether the East of Germany was still backward and communist. Not so I was happy to find. Ok the people look a little strange but then again so do many of the people round here in Glossop. Sorry Glossopians. Back to Dresden.

The first thing to note about Dresden is that a combination of 529 American and British bombers obliterated the city during the final throes of the Second World War causing around 35,000 casualties. An area of 15 square kilometres of the city was set ablaze. This destroyed nearly all of the major landmark buildings in Dresden and cleared huge expanses of land. A very tragic moment in history for the city.

Nowadays much of the city has been rebuilt but in a much changed fashion. Replacing the narrow streets lined with looming buildings stand tall housing blocks separated by wide roads, tram lines and ample grass verges. A very flat place you’ll find. This is especially true of the area between the main station at the end of Prage Strasse and the Altstadt where older surviving buildings still stand.

Aside from the ghastly 60s style high rise buildings that have sprung up all over Dresden, other forms of modern architecture have becoming more prominent. One such building that catches the eye is the cinema just off Prage Strasse which is made of huge steel girders separated by glass panels. It actually looks as though it is falling over. Personally I think it’s ugly but I didn’t complain when it screened the entire World Cup 98 for free. Great stuff.

In the old part of town there is a good variety of different bars. The only criticism I’ve got with them is that many are sparsely decorated and cold. Three that I would particularly recommend would be the Baerenzwinger, the Tir Na Nog Irish bar and the Sc
heune Cafe all of which have good atmospheres. At the Baerenzwinger live music and cultural nights are often hosted. It has a very medieval, studenty feel to it and probably a building that survived the bombing.

For people interested in culture there is yet another facet to the city and that is right beside the river Elbe. Here you will find many of the very old buildings such as the Semper Opera, Christuskirche and the Zwinger have been magnificently rebuilt. Also as a testimonial to the bombing campaign you can visit the Frauenkirche which even to this day is still being rebuilt piece by piece. It is inspiring to see how the builders of Dresden have carefully labelled thousands of carved stones and bricks that were the remains of the original building and placed them in racks ready to be replaced from where they once fell. Funding for this particular project comes from donations as I recently found out. At present the building is rising from it’s grave extremely slowly although is on target for completion in 2006. As you walk round this area of Dresden you sometimes feel you are in a romantic corner of Rome. That can’t be bad.

Visit Dresden.

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