A day in Dresden, Germany

In the last month of WWII allied forces dropped a huge number of bombs onto Dresden. The Brits rained down the typical blasting bombs and the USA followed up with fire bombing. This meant whatever buildings didn’t explode in the first offensive got burned to bits with the second.

This attack is still considered controversial because there was no military presence in Dresden and was not playing any strategic part in the war. So as a result, the only people who were killed were civilians, around 30,000 and the buildings were all domestic and civil. The entire city was destroyed and this all took place in two days.

Dresden has a large history of being home to royals and for hundreds of years numerous emperors, kings and leaders created a city that was called the ‘Jewel Box’ due to its baroque and rococo (later baroque) architecture and town planning. Dresden has more to show than just baroque. Other forms of architecture are influenced by the Renaissance as well as the contemporary styles of Modernism and Postmodernism.

I gave myself just one day to explore the city, enjoy some local food and take in as much of the culture as I could.

Dresden is about 2.5 hours on a bus from Berlin so with an early start and late return I figured I could get it done.

The city has been rebuilt according to the pre-WWII plan and looks very authentic. Of course, age is something that can’t be made by hand and so there are some buildings that will need time to present themselves in a way the style would reflect but all in all it’s impressive.

Old town is where it all happens. Tourists flock to it and although it’s not big it still takes time to get around as there is plenty to see and lane ways to explore.

In the end one day was enough. I saw all I could or should see, had lunch and a beer with a stranger, took plenty of photos (there are some great post-bombing photos on the net to compare against) and ended up with sore feet from walking. I wasn’t disappointed and my expectations were met.