What to See in Dresden - Top Sights and Attractions

Restored renaissance palace with gardens. Pillnitz Palace is a restored Baroque schloss at the eastern end of the city of Dresden in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the bank of the River Elbe in the former village of Pillnitz. It was the summer residence of many electors and kings of Saxony; it is also known for the Declaration of Pillnitz in 1791.

The complex consists of three main buildings, the Riverside Palace (Wasserpalais) on the riverfront; the Upper Palace (Bergpalais) on the hillside, both Baroque with Chinoiserie elements; and the later Neoclassical New Palace (Neues Palais), which links them together on the east side. The buildings enclose a Baroque garden and are surrounded by a large public park.

Today, the buildings house the arts and crafts museum (Kunstgewerbemuseum) of the Dresden State Art Collections and a Schlossmuseum.^[2]

Reconstructed Protestant church. The Dresden Frauenkirche is a Lutheran church in Dresden, the capital of the German state of Saxony. An earlier church building was Catholic until it became Protestant during the Reformation.

The old church was replaced in the 18th century by a larger Baroque Lutheran building. It is considered an outstanding example of Protestant sacred architecture, featuring one of the largest domes in Europe. It was originally built as a sign of the will of the citizens of Dresden to remain Protestant after their ruler had converted to Catholicism. It now also serves as a symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies.

Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the bombing of Dresden during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, following decisions of local East German leaders. The church was rebuilt after the reunification of Germany, starting in 1994. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, and the interior in 2005. The church was reconsecrated on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October. The surrounding Neumarkt square with its many valuable baroque buildings was also reconstructed in 2004.

The Frauenkirche is often called a cathedral, but it is not the seat of a bishop; the church of the Landesbischof of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony is the Church of the Cross. Once a month, an Anglican Evensong is held in English, by clergy from St. George's Anglican Church, Berlin.^[5]

Grand building with gardens and galleries. The Zwinger is a palatial complex with gardens in Dresden, Germany. Designed by architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, it is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period in Germany. Along with the Frauenkirche, the Zwinger is the most famous architectural monument of Dresden.

The name "Zwinger" goes back to the name used in the Middle Ages for a fortress part between the outer and inner fortress walls, even though the Zwinger no longer had a function corresponding to the name at the start of construction.

The Zwinger was built in 1709 as an orangery and garden as well as a representative festival area. Its richly decorated pavilions and the galleries lined with balustrades, figures and vases testify to the splendor during the reign of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and elected King of Poland. In the original conception of the elector, the Zwinger was the forecourt of a new castle that would take up the area between it and the Elbe; therefore, the Zwinger remained undeveloped on the Elbe side (provisionally closed with a wall). The plans for a new castle were abandoned after the death of Augustus the Strong, and with the departure from the Baroque period, the Zwinger initially lost importance. It was only over a century later that the architect Gottfried Semper completed it with the Semper Gallery towards the Elbe.

The Sempergalerie, opened in 1855, was one of the most important German museum projects of the 19th century and made it possible to expand the use of the Zwinger as a museum complex, which had grown under the influence of time since the 18th century. The Bombing of Dresden on February 13 and 14, 1945 hit the Zwinger extensively and led to extensive destruction. Since the reconstruction in the 1950s and 1960s, the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), the Dresden Porcelain Collection (Dresdener Porzellansammlung) and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments). The original intended use as an orangery, garden and as a representative festival area has taken a back seat; the latter continues to be cultivated with the performance of music and theater events.^[6]

Museum with baroque jewelry and artworks. The Green Vault is a museum located in Dresden, Germany, which contains the largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and it features a variety of exhibits in styles from Baroque to Classicism. The Green Vault is named after the formerly malachite green painted column bases and capitals of the initial rooms. It has some claim to be the oldest museum in the world; it is older than the British Museum, opened in 1759, but the Vatican Museums date their foundation to the public display of the newly excavated Laocoön group in 1506.

After the bombing of Dresden during World War II, the Green Vault was completely restored. Today, its treasures are shown in two exhibitions: The Historic Green Vault (Historisches Grünes Gewölbe) is famous for its splendors of the historic treasure chamber as it existed in 1733, while the New Green Vault (Neues Grünes Gewölbe) focuses the attention on each individual object in neutral rooms.

The Green Vault is located on the first and second floors of the western section of Dresden Castle. It is now part of the Dresden State Art Collections.^[13]

The Kulturpalast Dresden is a modernist building built by Wolfgang Hänsch during the era of the German Democratic Republic. It was the largest multi-purpose hall in Dresden when it opened in 1969, and was used for concerts, dances, conferences and other events. The building underwent several years of reconstruction beginning in 2012 and opened with a new concert hall in April 2017.

Unlike the other buildings in the Altmarkt square, the Kulturpalast is not designed in the unadorned International Style. It is a stand-alone building with a floorspace of around 600 square metres (6,500 sq ft). It faces Wilsdruffer Straße and forms the second part of the Altmarkt square. Located east of Schloßstraße and southwest of nearby Neumarkt, which has been undergoing a reconstruction project since 2005, it lies in the center of the historic old town, which was largely destroyed during the firebombing of Dresden on 13 February 1945.^[14]

Wildlife park with 2000 animals. Dresden Zoo or Zoo Dresden, is a zoo situated in the city of Dresden, Germany. It was opened in 1861, making it Germany's fourth oldest zoo. It was originally designed by Peter Joseph Lenné.

The zoo is located on the southern edge of the Großer Garten (Great Garden), a large city centre park. The zoo houses about 3000 animals of almost 400 species, especially Asian animals. It is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

The zoo is served on its southern side by tram lines 9 and 13 of the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe, the local municipal transport company. On its northern side is the Zoo station of the Dresdner Parkeisenbahn, a minimum gauge railway through the Großer Garten that is largely operated by children.^[15]

Early-1900s bridge over the Elbe. The Augustus Bridge is a bridge in the city of Dresden, in the state Saxony in Germany.

Crossing the river Elbe, the road bridge connects the Innere Neustadt in the north (right bank) with the historic city centre to the south (left bank).

There has been a bridge at the same location since at least the 12th century. Under king Augustus II the Strong of Poland and Saxony, a new sandstone bridge was built with 12 arches between 1727 and 1731. This bridge was replaced by the present, also sandstone, bridge with 9 arches in order to provide a wider opening for river traffic. It was designed by Wilhelm Kreis and Theodor Klette.

Three tram lines of the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe pass over the Augustus Bridge. All are currently (2019) diverted due to reconstruction works.

The current bridge was built between 1907 and 1910.^[17]

Vast garden with sculptures and a palace. The Großer Garten is a Baroque style park in central Dresden. It is rectangular in shape and covers about 1.8 km². Originally established in 1676 on the orders of John George III, Elector of Saxony, it has been a public garden since 1814. Pathways and avenues are arranged symmetrically throughout the park. The Sommerpalais, a small Lustschloss is at the center of the park.

Originally established outside the old walls of the city, the park was surrounded by urban areas by the second half of the 19th century. Dresden Zoo and Dresden Botanical Garden were added late in the 19th century. A miniature railway, known as the Parkeisenbahn, operates in the park from April to October.

Volkswagen's Transparent Factory is the newest building in the park, completed in 2002. It is on Straßburger Platz, in the northwest corner of the park.^[24]

Museum in Dresden, Germany. The Münzkabinett is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. Founded around 1530, it is one of the oldest museums in Dresden. It is located in Dresden Castle.

The Münzkabinett is one of the three largest numismatic collections in Germany. Its nearly 300,000 objects include coins from most countries of the world from antiquity to present day, historic and modern medallions, medals and insignia, historic bank notes and bonds, minting dies for coins and medals, seals, models, early forms of money, and minting machines and equipment. The Münzkabinett is a Landesmünzkabinett or official state collection, and has claim to any hoards of coins found on Saxon territory.

The Münzkabinett is also a center of scholarly research and has a public library of some 30,000 volumes.^[26]

Office space rental agency in Dresden, Germany. Yenidze is a former cigarette factory building in Dresden, Saxony, Germany built between 1907 and 1909. Today it is used as an office building. It is notable for its Orientalizing exterior design which borrows design elements from mosques.

The Yenidze Tobacco and Cigarette Factory (German: Orientalische Tabak- und Zigarettenfabrik Yenidze) was a tobacco company started by the Jewish entrepreneur Hugo Zietz, which imported tobacco from Ottoman Yenidze, Thrace (modern Genisea, Greece). The "Oriental" style of architecture recalled the exotic origins of the Oriental tobaccos it processed and functioned as advertising for the firm. It has 600 windows of various styles; the dome is 20 metres (65') high.

The architect Martin Hammitzsch (the second husband of Angela Hitler) designed the building in 1907. It has large, colored dome chimneys which resemble minarets. It was sometimes referred to as the "tobacco mosque" (German: Tabakmoschee), a term which is no longer officially used as the building is not a mosque. It is a unique historical feature of the city of Dresden.

The building was restored in 1996 and is now an office building.^[32]

Synagogue. The New Synagogue is a synagogue in the old town of Dresden, Germany. The edifice was completed in 2001 and designed by architects Rena Wandel-Hoefer and Wolfgang Lorch. It was built on the same location as the Semper Synagogue designed by Gottfried Semper, which was destroyed in 1938, during the Kristallnacht.

The boundary wall of the New Synagogue incorporates the last remaining fragments of Semper's original building. The outer walls of the synagogue are built slightly off plumb, intended by the architect to convey the feeling that the Jewish community has always been slightly set off from the German city. The synagogue is also a contrast to the city center with which it is juxtaposed. It is set on a slight rise just at the edge of Dresden's baroque center, which was completely flattened by allied bombing during the war. The center is being rebuilt with buildings whose exteriors are precise replicas of the baroque royal city that long made Dresden famous. The synagogue stands beside this careful reproduction of the past, but it is not a replica of the historic Semper Synagogue. It is a modernist statement that contrasts with its neighbors.

Inside, the sanctuary building is a cube Within this cube is set a square worship space, curtained off on all four sides by an enormous draping of curtains made of chain-mesh in a golden metal, evoking an echo of the scale of the Temple at Jerusalem.

The building was shortlisted by the jury for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 2003.

On New Year's Eve in 2012, the mail box was broken at the entrance to the synagogue in Dresden and a blasphemous inscription was spray-painted on the external wall, which was interpreted as an anti-Semitic act.^[35]