Dresden
We checked out of the hotel in Frankfurt early in the morning to begin our drive to Dresden. The drive on the autobahn was uneventful until we arrived in the downtown area, where a festival was ongoing which required us to make a few detours and ask for permission to drive through the festival barricades to get to our hotel at Neumarkt.
We had a nice upgraded suite at the hotel, although it meant Thomas ended up on a pull-out bed again since the main bedroom was upstairs. We dropped off our luggage and headed out to the square to visit the Stiftung Frauenkirche. The church was completed in 1743 but destroyed in 1945. Reconstruction was completed in 2005 using 3,500 preserved stones. The 12,000 ton "Stone Bell" dome soars seemingly weightless over the floor. Thomas and J. R. climbed the 174 steps and then the spiral ramp that circles the outer dome 2-1/2 times and then another pair of staircases to the 67-meter-high viewing platform.
The Procession of Princes
Thomas had visited Dresden twice previously so he helped guide us on our tour. We walked to the Stallhof to see the 101-meter-long Procession of Princes mural that represents the history of the Wettins, Saxony's ruling family, as a larger-than-life procession of riders.
Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis
We stopped in front of the Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, the former Catholic court church and now the bishop's parish church and one of the largest buildings in Saxony.
Market and Festival
The annual Dresden city festival was underway and we stopped in Theaterplatz where Janie had her first Riesling of the trip.
Zwinger
We walked past the Semperoper opera house to the Zwinger complex, which unfortunately was under construction. We walked through the walled complex but were not in the mood to visit any of the galleries.
Kronetor
We passed through The Kronetor, the 18th century Baroque gateway to the Zwinger complex with its ornate crown.
Dinner
It was Thomas' birthday and we owed him a steak dinner. He suggested the Steakhouse Ontario near the Church of Our Lady and our hotel. We had a few drinks and some steak and then headed back to the hotel for the night.
Residenzschloss
Our plan for the next day was to visit the Residenzschloss and The Green Vault. The Residenzschloss was the permanent seat of the Saxon electors and kings dating back to 1485. We walked from our hotel down to the Residence and waited for our tour to begin.
The Green Vault
We had timed tickets for the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) so we visited there first to see the authentically restored rooms of the treasury. The Historic Green Vault consisted of nine rooms. The Vorgewölbe is a collection of artworks using precious materials of the Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The Bernsteinkabinett presented artworks made of amber. The Elfenbeinzimmer has a great variety of carved art pieces and small statues, all made from real ivory. The Weißsilberzimmer displayed silver artworks, including the silver table service of Augustus the Strong. The Silbervergoldete Zimmer showed off gilded silver as well as gold drinking vessels and works of art. The Pretiosensaal was the largest room, completely mirrored with most of the mirrors silvered with mercury. The Wappenzimmer displayed copper and gilded coats of arms of the Saxon provinces, the Polish state coat of arms and the initial plates of the House of Wettin electorates. The Juwelenzimmer features the crown jewels of the Saxon-Polish royalty and rings, chains, medallions and gems and The Bronzezimmer displays numerous Renaissance bronze statues as well as for contemporary bronze figures and figure groups.
The New Green Vault contains works of the royal goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger and other jewelry from the Baroque era. The Saal der Kunststücke features treasures from the second half of the 16th century. The Mikro-Kabinett shows masterpieces of micro-carving, such as the "Cherry Stone With 185 Carved Faces". The Kristall-Kabinett displays pieces made of rock crystal, such as a rock crystal galley with scenes from classical mythology that accompanied Augustus the Strong on the journey to his coronation in Poland. In the Erster Raum des Kurfürsten are treasures from the first half of the 17th century and in the Zweiter Raum des Kurfürsten are items from the second half of the 17th century, such as table clocks and rock crystal pitchers. The Raum der königlichen Pretiosen features ivory and pearl pieces, clocks and watches and Dinglinger-Saal shows off pieces made by court goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger. The Email-Kabinett displays painted enamels and a large enamel painting depicting Cleopatra's Feast. In the Raum der reisenden Pretiosen are historical cases for the transport of masterpieces that are shaped in such a way that the objects they were intended to hold fitted exactly. The Neuber-Raum contains masterpieces of Johann Christian Neuber, such as the fragments of a decorative fireplace and the Watzdorf-Kabinett is the home of the hat clasp decorated with the Dresden Green Diamond, the only large naturally green diamond that has ever been found.
Royal Palace
We spent all of the morning inside the museums and then stepped out into the courtyard to take some exterior photos of the Royal Palace.
Brühlsche Terrasse
We walked past Brühl's Terrace, site of Dresden's only surviving original city gate.
Altstadt
We made our way back to the square near our hotel and settled on some lunch at a restaurant called Ayers Rock, which featured Australian food after we sat down at a sushi place and no one showed up and the Italian place had a sign saying no credit cards. We went back to our hotel and went to the lounge to have some snacks and sodas and take part in their happy hour free drink specials.
Afterwards, we went back out to explore the rest of the city. We wandered through Altstadt again.
Albertstadt
We headed across the Augustus Bridge and walked through the Augustusmarkt, a cute little collection of shops and cafes. The Augustusbrücke is one of the oldest Elbe bridges in Saxony and the longest bridge in Germany in the Middle Ages. First documented in 1070, the first stone arch bridge dates back to 1287. During the wars of liberation, the French army blew up the fourth pillar on the left bank in 1813, causing neighboring arches IV and V to collapse. The bridge was dismantled and rebuilt from 1907-1910. In 1945, the 6th pillar and adjacent arches were blown up by German troops. The reconstruction in an unchanged form from the previous bridge.
We walked by the Goldene Reiter, the statue of Augustus the Strong at New Town market. The monument is covered with gold leaf and shows August the Strong in a Roman armor on his break to the Kingdom of Poland to the east.
