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Old Posted Jul 17, 2011, 9:29 PM
aspiringArchitect aspiringArchitect is offline
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DRESDEN on the rebound - aspArchi's euroTour'11

Why is Dresden, Germany on the rebound, you may ask? Well, today, some 66 years after it was basically totally leveled in one of, if not the most, controversial bombing raids of World War II, Dresden is hard at work rebuilding much of its historic city center, and it really is impressive.

These are my photos from the city - Dresden was my first stop with my family, after the exchange program was over. We were there for two days:

1 Arriving in Dresden, an old factory disguised as a mosque.

2 The Dresden Hauptbahnhof

3 on the way to our hotel. Much more of this to come...

4 view from our room

5 The Frauenkirche sticking her head out from beyond our hotel's courtyard. More of her later as well...

6 on the streets again. our hotel, the Innside, is the only modern looking building here. it was reaally nice.

7

8 many of you may be familiar with Dresden's Neumarkt. For those who are not, all these buildings (and the ones previous) are NEW! They are part of the city's reconstruction efforts and most have been built within the last 6 years or so. More info here: (It's in German)

9

10 who could that be, casting such a large shadow and such?

11 This guy! (or shall I say gal?) The Frauenkirche, or Church of our Lady.

12 the church was recently reconstructed and re-opened in 2005. The stones on the left are the originals, black from the war, while the other ones are new, quarried from the same quarry as the originals.

Here's an image to show you how the church looked, prior to reconstruction. (found here)

13 inside of the church

14 And to think that, even though it is a reconstruction, THIS was built in the 21st century.

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16

17 back outside...

18 ...

19 ...and around the corner from the Frauenkirche

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22 we will go down that way later.

23 a fairly large door:

24 now up on the riverwalk

25 what's this way?

26 getting closer...

27 oh, this.

28 (and without the red picture frame)

29

30

31 i have no idea

32 The fairly massive Frauenkirche with the New City Hall peeking out on the right

33

34 more of these guys later, when the lighting's better. But for now, the old city hall on the left and a cathedral on the right. (can't remember its name)

35

36 to the riverwalk

37 see that tunnel on the right?

38 view from that tunnel:

39 that's an art museum up there on the left

40 here we are again, the old city hall!

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43 i wish i knew what this is called, but its a really famous thing in Dresden

44 now only if they had stuck with historic reconstructions for that row of buildings...

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46

47 inside the church on the left:

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49

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51 The State Opera House, reconstructed in 1985

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53

54 yeah, I liked this building

55 The Zwinger Palace, still being reconstructed (far right)

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61 statues, statues everywhere

62 I'm pretty sure you can't go inside, and if you can, well then we missed it. It would have been really cool seeing the inside of this place though

63 it has a moat! (well, kinda. it only goes around one side of the complex)

64

65 back inside the Neumarkt area. Lots of construction going on! It will be really interesting to see how this area looks 10 years from now...

66

67 walking from the New Market to the Old Market (Altmarkt)

68 The Altmarkt.

69

70 inside the Altmarkt Galerie, a, quite huge actually, mall in the middle of the city. Perhaps the largest foosball table in the world?

71 back at the Neumarkt. The setting sun made for some nice picture taking

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76 Now for something entirely different: The Transparent Factory! Just about a 15 minute walk from the Neumarkt is the factory in which Volkswagen makes its most luxurious (and priciest) car: The Phaeton. It was really neat.

77 They don't let you take pictures of inside the manufacturing area, but this is the lobby, with the tower that holds most of the completed cars, awaiting their owners to come pick them up.

78 Really doesn't look like a $150,000 car on the outside, I don't think

79 now into the park, which is right next door to the factory

80 another palace!

81

82 about the only flowers you're gonna see in Dresden:

83 They are still restoring it

84

85 There was one of those little trains you'd see running through disneyworld or something running through the park because its so big.

85 Dresden was hosting the Women's World Cup while we were there. It was America vs, of all countries, North Korea. Guess who won? WEEE DIID!

86 we went on a boat ride up and down the River Elbe. This is what we saw:

87

88 another palace

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91 After the boat, we walk back to our hotel.

92 Dresden Skyline

93 across the bridge...

94 They have streetcars! (or strassenbahn, as they're called in German)

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96 Can't say i'm very fond of the new building going up

97 Back at the Neumarkt - this was a palace at one point

98 The sun is setting again...

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100 That was our hotel in the middle. They are going to build something here, but not for a little while. I'd be interested to know what it'll be, if anyone happened to know?

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104 We have reached the end of the Neumarkt. This is what most of the city looks like.

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106 I said we'd get here eventually! I don't know what it is, but its a nice building.

107 still some work to be done...

108


And that's Dresden! To me, what was most impressive about Dresden was all the rebuilding going on in the Neumarkt area. It just goes to show how passionate the citizens of Dresden are about their city. Unlike any other city in Germany right now, Dresden is really hard at work returning its inner city to the former glory it once was. And I find that really cool! And so next time you are standing in front of a beautiful historic building and find yourself thinking, "They just don't build them like this anymore" just remember, they do! In Dresden, at least.

And now with my little spiel over, I will leave you with one last picture:


Up next, Prague!

Hamburg, Part 1
Hamburg, Part 2
Lübeck
Berlin
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Old Posted Jul 17, 2011, 10:16 PM
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Very cool Tour! its amazing to me how clean all the German cities are. Im also trying to figure out how all these European cities have the money to have such great streets, sidewalks and landscaping throughout!
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 2:31 AM
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Robert Pence Robert Pence is offline
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Wonderful photo tour! It's a beautiful, welcoming space.
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 4:39 AM
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I loved Dresden, but was it was a little funny that the German pavilion at Epcot is older than most of the "old" buildings in downtown Dresden.
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 10:50 AM
sterlippo1 sterlippo1 is offline
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simply fantastic, what a beautiful place. I do know about what happened during the war as i am a WWII history buff. Is there any plan to clean any of the charred masonry work on some of these buildings or is it like that rebuilt church where they used some of the stones or brick from the original and use them in reconstruction and they want to preserve the history by leaving the mason work blackened?
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 2:16 PM
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Did you go inside the Grünes Gewölbe or explore the Neustadt district across the river?
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 5:19 PM
aspiringArchitect aspiringArchitect is offline
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Thanks, guys!

sterlippo, I'm not aware of any plans. That doesn't mean they're not out there, I'm just personally not aware of them. It would be nice, though if they could clean up some of the buildings.

hackunion, No, unfortunately we didn't do either of those! I heard the Gruenes Gewoelbe was cool, but we just didn't have the time to do that or see the Neustadt.
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 5:26 PM
sterlippo1 sterlippo1 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aspiringArchitect View Post
Thanks, guys!

sterlippo, I'm not aware of any plans. That doesn't mean they're not out there, I'm just personally not aware of them. It would be nice, though if they could clean up some of the buildings.

hackunion, No, unfortunately we didn't do either of those! I heard the Gruenes Gewoelbe was cool, but we just didn't have the time to do that or see the Neustadt.
thanks for answering and i neglected to say what an outstanding job you did with this set of pics!
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Old Posted Jul 18, 2011, 7:27 PM
Serenade Serenade is offline
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I was in Dresden this January as a side trip from Berlin. Definitely a worthwhile visit for anyone. The charred buildings give an eerie feel to the rebuilding city - grandeur yey with a dark history. Your photos put mine to shame although I noticed you left out the more "socialist" areas of town.

Quote:
43 i wish i knew what this is called, but its a really famous thing in Dresden
Fürstenzug (Procession of Princes) - depicts nearly 800 years of Saxon rulers - notice the gradual modernization in clothing and weapons as you walk along the mural. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCrstenzug"]
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Old Posted Jul 19, 2011, 1:24 AM
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The reconstructions of the nuemarkt is absolutely incredible. I am so fascinated by it and they have a wonderful thread about it over on SSC. Thanks for the tour. Its so great to see Europe rebuilding so many of their destroyed cities.
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