Dresden Rebuilt

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Throughout the last week I have come face to face with the impact of both World War II and the Cold War within Germany. Spending time in a city constantly rebuilding to forget its past, in Dresden, and a city dedicated to reuniting and repairing a split people, in Berlin, has left me reeling. Each city's history seems to have had an everlasting effect on where they are today and creates a certain feeling associated with this. I suppose that it is due to how recently these events occurred, but it is within these two cities that I have felt most directly connected with the history. I will start with a post here on Dresden and the next will be on Berlin.

Dresden was one known as “the Florence on the Elbe” for its incomparable wealth, grandeur, and artistic prominence. This dominance can be tied almost directly to one ruler: Augustus the Strong. Augustus was so in love with art that he worked tirelessly to gather as many pieces that he could, so he could display them in Dresden. I was able to see some very impressive works of art, crafted jewelry, intricate armor, and reconstructed architecture. Sadly, I cannot share much of this in photographs, since you are not allowed to take pictures in many of the museums in Dresden.

The first museum stop on my tour was the “Old Master's Gallery”, which housed a huge selection of oil paintings, with many coming from the renaissance painters in Italy. The most famous piece I was lucky to see was Raphael's Sistine Madonna (the picture you see I did not take). This was the last painting that Raphael ever completed by himself and was truly a masterpiece. What was so astounding to me when seeing this painting, and the others in the gallery, was how you could go so close to them and see such incredible detail. It was also very hard for me, not having a very artistic eye, to even see the brushstrokes on the canvas. What you also cannot get from pictures is the scale of the artwork. Most paintings were massive and must have been about ten feet tall and equally as wide. I could only stand in awe of how much talent and time was necessary for each piece.

Right next door to the art gallery is the Rustkammer, which holds some really incredible armor and weaponry. Once again, I couldn't take pictures, because everyone knows that camera flashes will destroy metalworking... (I guess I was a bit sore over this one). Before going in, I figured it was going to just be simple pieces, but what was there was so intricate and elegant. Almost every piece of armor had detailed artwork molded into it, such as lion heads on the hilts of the swords. What was the coolest section, was the horse armor. The one you see a picture of has detailed battle scenes all over. One section of weapons I didn't even know existed, was one of swords and axes that had built in rifles.

The pinnacle of my museum visits was the "Historisches Grünes Gewölbe" (Historic Green Vault). This section of the castle was the royal families treasure room. Although many pieces, and the rooms themselves, were destroyed during World War II, there was still enough that survived to show the extraordinary wealth of the family. There were nine rooms, divided up by what material was used to create the piece. For example, there was a room with all ivory statues and one which housed all of the precious gems. One of the coolest things was to see the ornamental and ceremonial accessories the royal family would wear. What is crazy, is that this is one set of many and depending on the situation there was a ruby, amethyst, or emerald set that could be worn. I guess it was important that the king match his precious gem buttons with the outfit he was wearing for the day!

The sad thing about Dresden, is that its golden age of wealth and art is so overshadowed by the impact of the allied bombing raids that occurred near the end of World War II. This infamous event resulted in the destruction of the artistic and historic section of the city and 25,000 civilian deaths. Many believe that this bombing had no military benefit (though they claim it was meant to cut off train supply routes), but to simply break the spirit of the Germans. Americans are most aware of this through Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. The city seems to be constantly trying to repair this loss and return to its splendor. There was construction work almost everywhere and the biggest project they are working on now is rebuilding the royal palace. One of the most symbolic re-builds has been the Frauenkirche, which is the city's protestant church. As you can see in the picture below, it was almost completely demolished in the bombings. The reconstructed church, which was only finally completed a few years ago, used both the old stones and new ones to recreate the church.

My most favorite spot in Dresden was the Zwinger. Augustus the Strong had this royal garden area built for his son's wedding and it must have been an awesome present! Right now it houses the “Old Master's Gallery” and the Rustkammer. I took a picnic lunch here the second day and sat amongst the beautiful fountains and architecture. A cool hidden spot in this area is the “Nymph's Fountain”, where there is a fountain surrounded by sculptures.

Catholic Church and Opera House:

Frauenkirche:

Zwinger Garden:

Nymph's Fountain:

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Photos

The Furstenzug
Porcelain wall depicting the royal family over the years

Comments

[anonymous]

I thought there was still some anger in Dresden. The war was essentially over when it was bombed; the feeling is that the destruction was in retaliation for the bombing of Coventry England. J.