Dresden

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

A few weeks ago, me and my wife took a trip to Dresden to visit the historical city. It was a pretty interesting trip and very enlightening in some areas. Here are some pics and history.

Please do not use this thread as a place to discuss whether the bombing was right or wrong. This thread is just a place to show pictures and a bit of history from the city.

It is not a place for flame wars and bullshit. Please respect that.

First some history of the city:

Dresden is the capital of the German state of Saxony and iis situated in a valley on the River Elbe. Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour.

The city was destroyed by the fire bombings of Feb. 13/14th 1945. The city was soon captured by the Soviet Army and the city remained under control of the Soviet Puppet State of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) better known as East Germany.

Between 1945 and 1990 very little was done to rebuild the city. Since the reunification of Germany the historical parts of the city have mostly been rebuilt. The city has re-emerged as a cultural center for the eastern part of Germany.

Area 328.8 km² (127 sq mi)
Elevation 113 m (371 ft)
Population 508,351 (31 December 2007)
- Density 1,546 /km² (4,004 /sq mi)
- Urban 695,680
- Metro 1,322,090

Timeline

12th Century - Settled for the first time and known as Drežďany by Slavic Settlers.

1206 - City chosen by Dietrich I Margrave of Meissen as his residence. City officially recorded by the name of Dresden.

1270 - Dresden became the official capital of Meissen.

1485 - Became the official seat of Saxony.

1670-1733 - King Frederick Augustus I ruled from Saxony. Under his leadership, Dresden became a cultural, economical and technological center of Europe.

1756-1763 - Dresden destroyed in the 7 years War.

August 26-27, 1813 - Napoleon defeats the the Prussian, Russian and Austrian forces at the Battle of Dresden.

May 3-9 1849 - Dresden is the center of the German Revolution which became known as the May Uprising. Much of the historical city was damaged.

1918 - Became the capital of the Free State of Saxony.

Feb 13-14, 1945 - Dresden destroyed by fire bombing.

May 1945 - Dresden captured by Soviet Army.

1949-1990 - Dresden was a city in the Country known as East Germany.

I am going to post about 80 pictures from the trip. I will have to break them down into segments so bare with me.

 

[Airframes]

Sounds good Chris. Looking forward to your pictures.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

First up we have the Zwinger Palace.

The Palace was built on the site of the original Dresden Fortress. The original outer wall can still be seen as part of the palace. The Palace was built between 1710 and 1728 for King Augustus II.

The Palace now holds an art museum that contains paintings by Rubens, Canaletto, Raphael among others.

The Palace also is the site of the Royal Armor Collection (pictures to be posted later below) that contains the Armor of the Royal Family of Saxony.

The Palace also contains the famous Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault), which contains contains the largest collection of treasure in Europe. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the Grünes Gewölbe. You are not allowed to take pictures inside. Here you can find pictures of the treasure inside:

Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden - Historisches Grünes Gewölbe

Here is some history of Green Vault:

The Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) in Dresden, Germany is a museum that contains the largest collection of treasures in Europe. It is a part of the Dresden castle. It was founded by August dem Starken (Augustus II the Strong) in 1723. It features a unique and rich variety of exhibits from the period of baroque to classicism. The name comes from the first green-painted room. It has been completely reconstructed and was reopened on 1 September 2006. It is often referred to as a walk-in treasure chest. It contains nine rooms, each with its own exhibition theme.

During World War II three of the nine rooms were damaged by bombs, but the treasure itself was kept safely elsewhere. The Soviet army seized the treasures in 1945, but gave them back in 1958 to the German Democratic Republic.

The Grünes Gewölbe is a famous part of the Dresden State Art Collections.

Exhibits
Moor with Emeraldplate

The whole collection consists of more than 4000 pieces, about 1000 are in the Neues Grünes Gewölbe, 3000 are in the original, historical Grünes Gewölbe. Due to the limited space only the most important and famous pieces are presented. Many of the works were made by the goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger.

* One of the most important statue is the Mohr mit Smaragdstufe (Moor with Emeraldplate). It was created by Balthasar Permoser in 1724. The Statue is richly decorated with jewels and is about 64 cm high.
* Der Hofstaat zu Delhi am Geburtstag des Großmoguls Aurangzeb (Palace at Delhi of the Mogul Aurangzeb at his birthday) represents the imagination of European monarchs about Arabic Palaces in India. It is a miniature with about 150 persons and animals. It was created from 1701-1708. It costs as much as one palace.
* The Dresden Green Diamond is a Green brilliant with 41 carat, the green colour is unique because of its natural radiation. Another diamond is the Sächsische Weiße (Saxon White), it has 48 carat. Unique is a Sapphire of 648 carat, a present of czar Peter I of Russia.
* The Golden Coffee Service, which presents the cups and saucers and sugar bowls on an elaborate pyramidal etagère surmounted by the coffeepot, all in enamelled gold, a cabinetpiece unique in Europe. Augustus took the recently-completed ensemble with him to Warsaw at Christmas 1701, to dazzle the nobles of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of which he was the nominal ruler.
* The Dianabad (The "Bath of Diana"), in which a chalcedony bowl in a filigree is supported between the horns of a stag's head.
* The Obeliscus Augustalis, made in 1722, worth as much as one palace.
* The Juwelen-Garnituren (Jewel garniture) is the largest collection of jewels in Europe. They represented the claim of absolute power of the monarchs.

Grünes Gewölbe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And now for pictures of the Zwinger Palace:

Here is how it looks from above and without all the snow. I obviously did not take this picture.

And now for the pictures that I took on that gloomy snowy day:

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next up we have the pictures from the Royal Armor Collection. These are pictures of the Armor and Weapons of the Royal Family to include the Kings of Saxony.

There are only a few pics, because the pictures did not come out very well (overall I took about 50 pictures here alone, and these are the only ones that came out decent). due to the glare on the glass protecting the armor and weapons.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next we have the famous Semperoper. The Semperoper is the Saxon State Opera and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.

It was built in 1841 by by architect Gottfried Semper.

The building style itself is debated among many, as it has features that appear in the Early Renaissance style, Baroque and even features Corinthian style pillars typical of classical Greece (classical revival). Perhaps the most suitable label for this style would be Eclecticism; where influences from many styles are used- a practice most common during this period.

The Opera was destroyed in 1869 by a fire and was rebuilt.

The building is considered to be a prime example of "Dresden-Baroque" architecture. It is situated on the Theater Square in central Dresden on the bank of the Elbe River. On top of the portal there is a Panther quadriga with a statue of Dionysos. The interior was created by such famous architects of the time as Johannes Schilling. Monuments on the portal depict famous artists such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, William Shakespeare, Sophocles, Molière and Euripides. The building also features work by Ernst Rietschel and Ernst Julius Hähnel.

The building was destroyed by the fire bombings of 1945 and was not rebuilt until 40 years later in 1985.

When we are the location, there was the famous Semperoper Ball. It is an anuall event where the rich and famous come and do whatever the hell it is that they do. They make a big hoopla about it with red carpet and everything.

This year Putin was a guest at the Semperoper Ball. I took a picture of him, but unfortunatly it did not come out.

Also do to this stupid Ball ****, it was very hard to get decent pics of the Opera.

So first here are some pics that I did not take, but show what the opera looks like:

And the interior:

Now for actual pictures that I did take (sorry about the poor quality. It was pretty hard to get good pics with all the hoopla going on):

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next up we have the Dresden Frauenkirche, and was built 1726 to 1743. This church has become a symbol of peace and friendship with the British city of Coventry.

Dresden is actually a partner city of Coventry now, and both hold remembrances for the destruction of each others city during WW2.

The church is a Lutheran Church and translates to Church of Our Lady.

The Dresden Frauenkirche survived the firebombing of Dresden during World War II but was totally burned out and collapsed the next day. It has been reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies. The reconstruction of its exterior was completed in 2004, its interior in 2005 and after 13 years of rebuilding, the church was reconsecrated on 30 October 2005 with festive services lasting through the Protestant observance of Reformation Day on 31 October.

Once a month, an Anglican Eucharist in English is held in the Frauenkirche, with clergy sent from St. George's Anglican Chaplaincy in Berlin.

On 13 February 1945, Anglo-American allied forces began the bombing of Dresden. The church impressively survived two days and nights of the attacks and the eight interior sandstone pillars supporting the colossal dome held up long enough for the evacuation of 300 people who had sought shelter in the church crypt, before succumbing to the heat generated by some 650,000 incendiary bombs that were dropped on the city. The temperature surrounding and inside the church eventually reached 1,000 degrees Celsius.[1] The dome finally collapsed at 10 a.m. on 15 February. The pillars glowed bright red and exploded; the outer walls shattered and nearly 6,000 tons of stone plunged to earth, penetrating the massive floor as it fell.

The altar, a relief depiction of Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives by Johann Christian Feige, was only partially damaged during the bombing raid and fire that destroyed the church. The altar and the structure behind it, the chancel, were among the remnants left standing. Features of most of the figures were lopped off by falling debris and the fragments lay under the rubble.

The building vanished from Dresden's skyline, and the blackened stones would lie in wait in a pile in the center of the city for the next 45 years as Communist rule enveloped what was now East Germany. Shortly after the end of World War II, residents of Dresden had already begun salvaging unique stone fragments from the Frauenkirche and numbering them for future use in reconstruction. Popular sentiment discouraged the authorities from clearing the ruins away to make a car park.

In 1982, the ruins began to be the site of a peace movement combined with popular peaceful protests against the East German regime. On the anniversary of the bombing, 400 Dresdeners came to the ruins in silence with flowers and candles, part of a growing East German civil rights movement. By 1989, the number of protesters in Dresden, Leipzig and other parts of East Germany had increased to tens of thousands, and the wall dividing East and West Germany toppled. This opened the way to the reunification of Germany.

Using original plans used by builder Georg Bähr in the 1720s, reconstruction finally began in January 1993 under the direction of church architect and engineer Eberhard Burger. The foundation stone was laid in 1994, the crypt was completed in 1996 and the inner cupola in 2000.

As far as possible, the church – except for its dome – was rebuilt using original material and plans, with the help of modern technology. The heap of rubble was documented and carried off stone by stone. The approximate original position of each stone could be determined from its position in the heap. Every usable piece was measured and catalogued. A computer imaging program that could move the stones three-dimensionally around the screen in various configurations was used to help architects find where the original stones sat and how they fit together.

Of the millions of stones used in the rebuilding, more than 8,500 original stones were salvaged from the original church and approximately 3,800 reused in the reconstruction. As the older stones are covered with a darker patina, due to fire damage and weathering, the difference between old and new stones will be clearly visible for a number of years after reconstruction.

Two thousand pieces of the original altar were cleaned and incorporated into the new structure.

The builders relied on thousands of old photographs, memories of worshippers and church officials and crumbling old purchase orders detailing the quality of the mortar or pigments of the paint (as in the 18th century, copious quantities of eggs were used to make the color that provides the interior its almost luminescent glow).

When it came time to duplicate the oak doors of the entrance, the builders had only vague descriptions of the detailed carving. Because people (especially wedding parties) often posed for photos outside the church doors, they issued an appeal for old photographs and the response--which included entire wedding albums--allowed artisans to recreate the original doors.

The new gilded orb and cross on top of the dome was forged by Grant Macdonald Silversmiths in London using the original 18th-century techniques as much as possible. It was constructed by Alan Smith, a British goldsmith from London whose father, Frank, was a member of one of the aircrews who took part in the bombing of Dresden.[2] Before travelling to Dresden, the cross was exhibited for five years in churches across the United Kingdom including Coventry Cathedral, Liverpool Cathedral, St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh and St Paul's Cathedral in London. In February 2000, the cross was ceremonially handed over by The Duke of Kent,[1] to be placed on the top of the dome a few days after the 60th commemoration of D-Day on 22 June 2004.[3] The external structure of the Frauenkirche was completed. For the first time since the last war, the completed dome and its gilded cross grace Dresden's skyline as in centuries prior. The cross that once topped the dome, now twisted and charred, stands to the right of the new altar.

Seven new bells were cast for the church. They rang for the first time for the Pentecost celebration in 2003.

Here are some pictures that I did not take to show certain aspects of the church.

First we have the rubble of the church circa 1991:

The inside of the rebuilt church (I was not allowed to take pictures inside the church.).

And now the pictures that I took:

A picture that I did sneak of the inside (bad angel though because it was taken while hiding the camera and without flash):

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next we have the Katholische Hofkirche (Catholic Court Church). It was built from 1738 to 1751 by architect Gaetano Chiaveri. The church was commissioned by King Frederick Augustus II.

The Church was badly damaged by the fire bombings in 1945 and was rebuilt in the 1980s.

 

[Amsel]

Very beautiful architecture. The winter shots give the building another perspective.

Those arms and armor are quite interesting.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next we have the Fürstenzug. It is a mural on the wall of a building that depicts the Royal Family of Saxon.

It is 101 meters long and is the largest porcelain painting in the world.It is made out of 25000 porcelain tiles. It was started in 1872 and actually survived the bombings of 1945 almost undamaged.

Here are a few pics that I took:

 

[parsifal]

Fantastic shots adler, I never knew the city was so beautiful

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Next we have the Kreuzkirche (Church of the Cross). Known since the early 12th century, it was officially dedicated on 10 June 1388 to the Holy Cross. Since 1491, it has burned down five times. In its current form, it was re-opened in 1955.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Great photos Adler. Not ever having been out of the United States I really enjoy seeing the rest of the world. Now I can see what I've been reading about all these years. Thank you.

 

[The Basket]

That is something I would like to know. How DDR is Eastern Germany today? Does it look like a modern western state or is it obvious that it was a former Soviet vassal?

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Other pictures of architecture in the historical old part of the city with some history about some of the pics:

A statue of King August I:

A statue of King August II:

Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden and was built in 1784.

The Augustbrueke which is 344m long and built in 1727. It is one of the oldest still standing bridges in the world.

Several government buildings (Dresden is the state capital):

Example of typical statues that are placed all over Dresden:

The Stahlhoff and Langergang. It is the oldest still original jousting tournament grounds still left standing (including the two obelisk shaped things that divided the lanes). It is 100m long and was built in 1568. The area was under renovation so it does not look that spectacular or anything. The wall were mostly covered.

Ruins of several basements of buildings destroyed during the bombings of 1945. The Soviets and then the East German government left these as they were. The German government today has classified them as a historical excavation site today, due to the fact that these basements were originally built and dated back to midieval times.

Another statue of King August II:

This placard on a museum wall is interesting. It states that the museum grounds and building have been search for bombs and mines and is safe and clear.

A Soviet monument to its fallen soldiers from WW2. This was obviously built during Soviet Puppet State of East Germany's rule. Rightfully so, the German government today will not remove it though, due to the fact that it is a war monument. That is the correct thing to do in my opinion as well.

The Garnisonskirche (Garrison Church) was built in 1873 as the church for a military barracks in the city.

A view of the old part of the city from across the Elbe River.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Shortly before we left, we visited the Historical Military Museum in Dresden. Unfortunately most of the Museum is being renovated and we were only able to see a small portion of selected exhibits that were moved into a small hall.

Here are some pics that I took at the museum:

Here is a pic of a Pour le Mérite. It is a very famous German award (on par with the Knights Cross) from WWI. It was also known as the Blue Max. The medal was original founded in 1740 and was given out as the highest Prussian award until 1918. Unfortunately the pic is not that great due to glare and lighting.

Here is a photo of the Brandtaucher. The Brandtaucher was the first German submarine and was built in Kiel in 1850.

It was used in combat against the Danish fleet. Upon seeing the submarine the Danish Fleet decided to retreat, resulting in the first naval victory achieved by a submarine.

On 1 February 1851 Brandtaucher sank after a diving accident during acceptance trials in Kiel Harbour. The submarine experienced equipment failure, and sank to the bottom of a 60-foot hole at the bottom of Kiel Harbour. Bauer escaped by letting in water, thus increasing the air pressure, which allowed Bauer and his two companions to open the hatch. They floated to the surface in large bubbles of air escaping the submarine. In 1887, the wreck was discovered and was raised on 5 July 1887. Brandtaucher was first placed on display at the Naval Academy in Kiel and then in 1906 it was moved to Museum für Meereskunde in Berlin. From 1963 to 1965 it was restored at Rostock.

Here are pictures of Max Immelmann's uniforms and awards including his Pour le Mérite. For those that are not aware of who he is, here is some history.

Max Immelmann (September 21, 1890 – June 18, 1916) was a German World War I flying ace. When World War I started, Immelmann was recalled to active service, transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte and was sent for pilot training in November 1914. He was initially stationed in northern France as a reconnaissance aviator. On June 3, 1915 he was shot down by a French pilot but managed to land safely behind German lines. He was decorated with the Iron Cross, Second Class for preserving his aircraft. Later in 1915, he became one of the first German fighter pilots, quickly building an impressive score of air victories. He became known as The Eagle of Lille (Der Adler von Lille).

Immelmann was the first pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest military honour. The medal became colloquially known as the "Blue Max" in the German Air Service in honor of Immelmann. His medal was presented by Kaiser Wilhelm II in January 1916. Oswald Boelcke received his medal at the same ceremony.

Immelmann was credited with 15 victories. His final victory was on 30 March 1916.

Immelmann will forever be associated with the Fokker Eindecker, Germany's first fighter aircraft, and the first to be armed with a machine gun synchronised to fire forward, through the propeller arc. Along with Oswald Boelcke and other pilots, Immelmann was one of the main instigators of the Fokker Scourge which inflicted heavy loses upon British and French aircrews during 1915.

During the First World War an "Immelmann turn" was actually a sharp rudder turn off a vertical zoom climb (almost to a full stall) or modified chandelle followed by a steep dive. Immelmann may very well have originated this maneuver, or at least used it in combat, although this cannot be authenticated.

Immelmann was killed in combat with F.E.2b aircraft of 25 Squadron Royal Flying Corps over Sallaumines in northern France on June 18, 1916. According to the official British account he was shot down by Second Lieutenant G.R. McCubbin with Corporal J. H. Waller as gunner/observer, and they were credited with the victory.

On the other hand, some sources, including the German Air Service at the time, claimed the loss was due to (friendly) anti-aircraft artillery. Others, including his brother, believed his aircraft's gun synchronisation (designed to enable his machine gun to fire between the whirling propeller blades without damaging them) had catastrophically malfunctioned. This is a not in itself unreasonable, as early versions of such gears frequently malfunctioned in this way. In fact it had already happened to Immelman twice (while testing two and three machine gun installations), although on each occasion he had been able to land successfully[1]. On the other hand, damage to the propeller seems unlikely to have caused the structural failure evident in accounts of the crash of his aircraft.

At 2000 meters the tail was seen to break away from the rest of Immelmann's Fokker E.III (serial 246/16), the wings detached or folded and what remained of the fuselage fell like a stone, carrying the 25 year old Oberleutnant to his death. His body was recovered by German infantry from the twisted wreckage but was only identified because he had his initials "MI" embroidered on his handkerchief.

Max Immelmann has a squadron named after him in the present day Luftwaffe, the German Air Force.

And here is a photo of what he looked like:

A V-1 Flying Bomb as well as a wing from a shot down P-51.

An Enigma machine:

Here is part of an 800mm projectile that was to be fired from the Schwerer Gustav railway gun cannon. I am standing next to it to show the size of the projectile. Also it is not complete as the tip of the round is missing.

A very large and beautiful model of the Bismarck:

Shells that were to be used by the Bismarck or Tirpitz:

A wing from a P-51D that was shot down in 1944. I took a picture of the plate that said when and where it was shot down, but unfortunately due to poor lighting the picture did not come out.

One of the famous posters from the Nurnberg Trials.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

That is something I would like to know. How DDR is Eastern Germany today? Does it look like a modern western state or is it obvious that it was a former Soviet vassal?

Parts of it still do look like that. After WW2 the city of Dresden was partially left in ruins by the Soviets and DDR rulers. It was left this way partially as a reminder of the war and partially because they just did not want to spend the money to rebuild the city.

On the other side of the Elbe river, the "new" part city looks very much like an old Communist quarter. The buildings look typical of Soviet and East Block design.

Back on the other side the river the "new new" part of the city looks like a typical Western European city.

After more than 40 years of communist rule the city is going to take time to completely modernize and get up to Western standards.

You also have to remember that the reconstruction of Dresden did not completely start until the mid 1980s and in some cases not until after the reunification of Germany.

Even in the areas that have been "Re-Westernized" there are still reminders of the old Soviet and DDR era. Here is a pic that I took that shows a typical DDR mural on the outside wall of a building. The surrounding buildings were all modern and just one block away was a newly built large shopping Mall very similar to the kinds you will find in the United States.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Great stuff Adler. Thank you.

 

[Vassili Zaitzev]

Cool photos Adler, thanks for sharing!

 

[Erich]

Chris

Super pics thanks for sharing with all of us.

in regards to the Frauenkirche aren't the dark stone bricks the originals ? this royal city was plastered real good it is almost a wonder anything was left of the origins to work with.

taking inside pics through glass is a pain in the arse is it not ? This is one city I would like to visit, the surrounding vineyards and the city of Meißen as well

Erich ~

 

[109ROAMING]

Awesome shots mate!