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DresdenTravel and Tourist Information From: Dresden, Germany
Dresden
is one of Germany's most attractive cities, and it's a popular stop on the rail
and Autobahn routes between Western Europe and Prague. The city is
located just west of the border between Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic,
about 205 km or 128 miles south of Berlin.
The name "Dresden" tends to evoke three images in people who are
new to the city: Baroque architecture, thanks to the Wettin dynasty's taste
for culture and unrestrained spending, especially during the 17th and 18th
Centuries; Porcelain, which was an obsession of Augustus the Strong,
Elector of Saxony, who founded Europe's first white-porcelain factory in Dresden
in 1710; The
fire bombing of Dresden in World War II, which killed an estimated 25,000 to
50,000 people and left much of the city in ruins. Today, the porcelain factory is no longer in the city center
(Augustus moved it to a castle in nearby Meissen), and few citizens of Dresden
are old enough to remember the 1945 bombing raids. Most of the city's great
Baroque architecture remains, however, thanks to reconstruction efforts during
the Soviet occupation, the GDR era, and especially since German Reunification in
1990.
Dresden
is again one of the loveliest cities in Germany. As a bonus, Dresden is a
convenient gateway to the "Saxon Switzerland," the porcelain town of Meissen,
the Erzegebirge or "Ore Mountains," the Saxon Wine Road, a large number of
Saxon steam railways and railroad
museums, and nearby cities such as Chemnitz and
Leipzig. It's a great place to visit, and I'd recommend spending several
days in Dresden--or even longer, if you have time. Next page: Sightseeing, tours
About the author: Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation. After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (now including Germany for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post. For more information, see About Europe for Visitors, press clippings, and reader testimonials.
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