Elegant Elbe: Dresden a (5/27/2018)

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Fishing as seen from the Viking Astrild

This morning at 9:00 we disembarked for the included Panoramic Dresden shore excursion. We did not need motor coaches today! Except that we were rained upon! It was unfortunate that it was so dreary on the day we toured a jewel of a city!
What we have to remember about Dresden is that the Americans and British bombed the heck out of it on February 13, 1945, leaving 75% of the inner city in ruins. Clearing the rubble took years. A few historic buildings were rebuilt and a few new buildings in "Soviet-style" were constructed. After decades of stagnation under communist rule, the city has now "risen like a phoenix out of the ashes." Since German unification, companies and investors have brought money to the city to carefully restore the historic center, maintaining the exterior Baroque look of the original buildings, but modernizing the interiors. (In the post, the construction dates and names of architects will be of the original buildings.)

Approaching the Albertinum (1884-1887, by Carl Adolf Canzler
in Renaissance Revival style, restored 1953), which was built to house
the royal collection of antique and modern sculpture, it now holds
the New Masters Gallery as well as the Sculpture Collection

Passing the Albertinum on Brühl's Terrace/Brühlsche Terrasse (1783)
that was laid out as a garden on the city ramparts along the river (KSS)

Statue (1898, by Eugen Victor Kircheisen;
original melted for the war effort, 2011) of
Ludwig Richter, a painter and illustrator,
as well as a professor of the academy of Fine Arts

Academy of Fine Arts (1887-1894, by Constantin Lipsius, rebuilt 1965)

Statue (1892, by Johannes Schilling) of
Gottfried Semper, architect and professor at the
Academy of Fine Arts, survived World War II

Dolphin Fountain/Delphinbrunnen (1745, repaired 1952-1954)
 on Brühl's Terrace (KSS)

Continuing on Brühl's Terrace, nicknamed the "Balcony of Europe" (KSS)

Monument to the Bastions of the Seven Planets/Monument Bastyenah
(1990, by Vincent Vanitchka) remembers that each bastion of the
city fortification was named for a planet, which
at the time included the sun and the moon

The inner ball seems to represent the rebirth of Dresden

The sun: I act without talking

The moon: Who cares, when dogs bark at me

Mercury: A bad deal, where no one wins

Ernst Rietschel Monument/Denkmal (1875,
by Johannes Schilling) for the sculptor and
professor at the Academy of Fine Arts

View across the Elbe with the Augustus Bridge/Brücke (1907-1910,
by Wilhelm Kreis and Theodor Klette, in 1945 one pillar and two arches
were destroyed by the Germans and were repaired by 1949) (KSS)

Way over on the other side of the bridge is the Golden Rider/
Goldene Reiter, an equestrian statue (1734,
by Jean Joseph Vinanche) of Augustus the Strong

Former Parliament/Ständehaus on Brühl's Terrace

Monument (1828-1835, by Ernst Rietschel and
pedestal by Gottfried Semper) of
Friedrich August I der Gerechte (the just)

George Building/Georgenbau, the original city
gateway to the Elbe River

Royal Palace with the Hausmannn Tower and
the passage to the Royal Court Church (KSS)

Royal Court Church/Hofkirche or Dresden Cathedral (1738-1751, by
Gaetano Chiaveri) was commissioned by the son of Augustus the Strong 

Augustus II wanted to be King of Poland, so like his father, he converted to Catholicism and had the Royal Court Church built for his own use. It is the burial place of the Wettin dynasty of prince-electors and kings.

Semper Opera/Semperoper (1869-1878, by Gottfried Semper,
replacing his 1841 opera house that burned in 1868, rebuilt 1985)

In front of the city's opera house is the equestrian statue (1882, by Johannes Schilling, survived World War II) of King John of Saxony/König Johann von Sachsen.

The portal of Semperoper topped by a Quadriga (by
Johann Schilling) and with the entrance flanked by
statues (1841, by Ernst Rietschel & Ernst Hähnel) of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller

Statue (1855-1860, by Ernst Rietschel) of
Carl Maria von Weber, composer whose operas
opened the first and third iterations of Semperoper 

Old Town Guard House/Altstädter Wache (1831, by Friedrich Schinkel)
is modeled on the Guard House in Berlin

Morning concert from a brass quartet

Zwinger (1710-1728. by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, with the east wing
built 1847-1855, rebuilt 1945-1951) was a palace built for
Augustus the Strong after his grand tour where he visited
Louis XIV's Versailles and wanted something similar to show off his
collections and to include an orangerie and plenty of party space

Poster for Zwinger (KSS)

Inside the Zwinger courtyard, looking southwest at the 32-bay gallery (KSS)

On the northwest side, the north wing of the Semper Gallery

Then moving counterclockwise to the left:

Wallpavillon built as the orangerie with
a sun pavilion

The pavilion housing the Mathematics-Physics Salon

Lantern (KSS)

Crown Gate/Kronenetor

The pavilion housing the Porcelain Collection

The Glockenspiel Pavilion (KSS)

The south wing of Semper Gallery

A toddler follows the "path" (KSS)

Comical atlants (male support columns)
on the Glockenspiel Pavilion (KSS)

We were there for the 10:00 ringing of the
ceramic bells from Meissen

We exited the Zwinger, which is so named because it is located in the Zwinger, the area between the inner and outer defensive city walls, that were no longer needed in the time of Augustus the Strong.

Cholera Fountain/Brunnen (1846, by
Gottfried Semper and Karl-Moritz Seelig,
rebuilt 1996-1997) was commissioned in
gratitude for Dresden being spared
from a cholera epidemic

Menu built onto the table top!

Taschenberg Palace (1705-1708, by
Johann Friedrich Karcher, rebuilt 1992-1995)
was built for the Countess Cosel,
mistress to Augustus the Strong

There was easy access between the Royal Palace
and Taschenberg Palace!

Onward to the Royal Palace.
Next: Dresden b Royal Palace.