Delightful Dresden

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Lots of photos today so don’t forget to check at the end of the text!



Tuesday 2 June:



We were up at 6 and had croissants on the balcony of our hotel room. It was a bit of a restless night as it was quite warm plus we were sharing a king bed.



We headed into the city and stored our luggage at the Hauptbahnhof before walking to the Deutsche Bahn (DB) museum. This is quite extensive and traces the development of rail in Germany from the early 1800s. There are some old trains and carriages on display although much of it is models. The most ornate carriage we found belonged to Ludwig II which was no surprise to us after what we had previously learned about his spending habits! Bismarck’s coach was on display too which was a cool piece of history. On the second floor was a very impressive model railway which ran for about 15 minutes and this floor also looked at the 20^th century. I thought it was good that they didn’t ignore the role of DB for transportation to the camps in the Nazi period and had footage of Mussolini and Hitler using the trains to meet the people.



The top floor had a special area for children. There were hands-on activities and also a small gauge train for Zachary to ride. We then went outside where there were a few more old trains on display and a playground. All in all a good way to spend the morning. It would have been good if the info in the museum had been in English too – the areas had English translations (eg “The Industrial Revolution) but then none of the accompanying text was translated.



From there we went back to the station and had lunch. This was a waffle with strawberries and cream for Heather while I chose and banana and Nutella crepe. Zachary surprised us by choosing a strawberries and cream crepe and then ate it! He has shown no interest in pancakes or crepes before so that is something else we can add to the list.



Then it was time to head into the old DDR or East Germany. We caught a train to the city of Hof. Quite weird to think that just a quarter of a century ago this was in a different country and huge barbed wire fences ran the length of the border to stop people getting out (not many wanted to get in!) When I was in this area in 1994 I briefly went to the ex-DDR city of Magdeburg. This was just a short time after reunification and the differences between west and east were extraordinary. It was also noticeable when crossing from West to East Berlin and I’m looking forward to see how much that has changed later in the week. Now as we go from one side to the other you wouldn’t really know it. The apartment buildings which we passed on the train do seem a bit older and a bit shabbier than those in the western cities but that’s about it. One of East Germany’s most famous cities was our destination today, that being Dresden. This is a city that causes some difficulty for “Allied” historians. As we all know, history is written by the victors, but in the case of the destruction if Dresden, it is a case of trying to defend the indefensible. By the time Dresden was flattened the war was effectively over and it served no great strategic or military purpose. Now, 70 years on, I think there is a growing acceptance of wrongdoing. However, I am not aware of any formal apology that has ever been made to the people of Dresden and I think this would be an excellent symbolic move (just as I believe Australia and NZ owe the people of Turkey an apology for invading them in 1915. What was our quarrel with Turkey?)



So I was very much looking forward to seeing the “Comeback City” as I missed it in 1994. We only had a 4 minute connection at Hof but this was no problem as the train stopped at the adjoining platform and it was a regular connection so it waited anyway. Approaching Dresden was much greener than I thought it would be and then we started to see the mix of old and new. We got to the Hauptbahnhof on time and decided to take the tram to our hotel which is about 7km south of the city. The hotel is fine – a very big room with 3 beds which is a dramatic improvement on the last one. Went for a short walk and found a supermarket then a Turkish / Italian place over the road for dinner. A nice long shower for Zachary and then we had a litre of wine to get through! (we will save some for tomorrow). Tomorrow we’ll head for the Altsdadt and check out some places. It was quite warm today – certainly our best weather since Zurich, so hopefully it is a nice day for walking.



Wednesday 3 June:



We managed to get a bit of a sleep in until 7:45 and we decided to have breakfast at the hotel restaurant. €10 for a breakfast buffet (no charge for Z) isn’t too bad and certainly the cheapest we’ve seen since leaving Slovenia. A good range on offer too so we’ll do that again tomorrow. Weather outside was sunny and already quite warm.



We headed into the Altstadt, with our first destination being the Zwinger – one of Dresden’s two most famous landmarks. This certainly is a spectacular complex, and I particularly like this Baroque style of building. The best bit was the Nymphs’ Baths, although Zachary got bowled over by some over-vigorous boys. Oh well, another war wound to add to the collection – he burned his finger in the shower last night too.



After some time there we crossed the River Elbe which splits the city. Apparently it is only half its normal width at the moment. We went down to the edge and spent some time throwing and skimming stones. While we were doing this a gentleman approached us from a local TV news station and asked us where we were from and if he could film us as they were doing a piece on the start of the summer tourist season. After he filmed us for a while he wanted to interview us about our impressions of Dresden and Heather was “volunteered” to do this (I may well have ended up causing a diplomatic incident by apologising on behalf of the Allies for the criminal bombing of 1945!) The news item was showing at 2pm so we didn’t get to see it but if we somehow manage to find it online I’ll post a link to it. By now the temperature was in the mid 20s so summer had arrived!



Then we had a walk on that side of the city. Ironically the “New City” as this is known actually has more old buildings as it escaped more of the bombing. Back over to the other side and after ice cream we went to look at the other famous building of Dresden: The Frauenkirche. This is a beautiful Lutheran church that nearly survived the bombing. It was greatly damaged but the dome collapsed 2 days later. Unsurprisingly the Soviets had no inclination to re-build it so it lay in ruins until after re-unification. Excavation and building began soon after and as many of the original stones that could be used as possible were. Zachary and I went inside briefly and then around to a back entrance where you could climb to the top. A lift went a little way up and then it was a steep climb up various types of stairs and a spiral path. Great views from the top.



Next stop was the Bruehl Terrace which has excellent river views. Underneath are various remnants of the city’s original fortifications. We then checked out river cruises and established there was a 90 minute one at 5pm and the boat had a restaurant on board. We bought tickets for that (€16 each for us, free for Z) and then caught the tram to the Dresdner Parkeisenbahn – a miniature railway situated at the edge of the Grosser Garten (Big Garden). We decided to do the ride and it was really good – going for about half an hour. After that we bought Zachary a play-set in the shop. It has a train conductor’s hat, whistle, stop-go sign, tickets, and a ticket-punch. He is very pleased with this! Then we went to one of the playgrounds in the park for a while before heading back to the city for the cruise.



The cruise was good. It was on the Leipzig, a 1929 paddle steamer. They had a good deal for dinner – two adult main courses, one kids meal, and a pitcher of apple spritzer for €19.90. It wasn’t anything flash but it was pretty good! On board the boat you could see the machinery working so we watched this for a while. As we cruised up and down the river we saw some castles, some historic villas, and a large number of people swimming. The water in the Elbe is quite safe to swim in and locals were taking advantage of the first hot day of the year. Lots of families were picnicking and heaps of naked children were having a great time playing on the edge of and in the water.



Then it was time to head back to the hotel. The tram took a different route as the city centre was cordoned off by police. Not sure what for but tomorrow is a public holiday. Also saw a lot of runners / walkers with official numbers at one point so maybe that had something to do with it.



A busy day but very enjoyable. Dresden is a very attractive city and it is remarkable to think that only 70 years ago it was in compete ruins and then spent 45 years under Soviet influence. It’s a shame I didn’t visit here in 1994 as I would have enjoyed the contrasts between then and now. I look forward to that in Berlin where we head to tomorrow afternoon. I’m not sure of our internet access there – if we don’t have any I may post a long blog on Tuesday from the Gebauer’s house, but will try to get online in the city on Saturday.

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