In the city of Dresden, the capital city of the German state of Saxony

 "At Dresden on the Elbe, that handsome city, Where straw hats, verses, and cigars are made, They’ve built (it well may make us feel afraid,) A music club and music warehouse pretty." – Heinrich Heine

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(on the banks of the lovely Elbe River, the German city of Dresden is lush and green, filled with forests and gardens and parks) Dresden originated as the Slav village of Drezdzany, meaning “Forest Dwellers on the Plain,” on the Elbe’s north bank. First mentioned in 1216, the town on the south bank was founded at a ford by Margrave Dietrich of Meissen as a German colony. The Slav settlement on the north bank, although older, was known as New Town and the later German town on the south bank as Old Town.

+ In 1270 Dresden became the capital of Margrave Henry the Illustrious, and after his death it belonged to the king of Bohemia and the margrave of Brandenburg until it was restored about 1319 to the margraves of Meissen, who chartered it in 1403. The electors Augustus I and Augustus II modernized the city in the Baroque and Rococo styles in the late 17th and 18th centuries, rebuilding New Town and founding Friedrichstadt, northwest of Old Town. The Treaty of Dresden (1745), between Prussia, Saxony, and Austria, ended the second Silesian War and confirmed Silesia as Prussian. Two-thirds destroyed in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), Dresden’s fortifications were later dismantled. In 1813 Napoleon I made the town a center of military operations and there won his last great battle. Dresden’s prosperity grew rapidly during the 19th century, accelerated by the completion of railways connecting the city to Berlin and Leipzig.

+ Before World War II, Dresden was called “the Florence on the Elbe” and was considered one of the world’s most beautiful cities due to its architecture and art treasures. During the war, however, it was almost completely destroyed by massive bombing raids.

+ After the war, the city undertook rebuilding of the Zwinger, the Saxon royal palace, and the Baroque buildings around the palace and creating a new city in the area outside. Much of the city was subsequently reconstructed with modern buildings, broad streets and squares, and green open spaces, with the aim of preserving as far as possible the character of the old city.

+ Dresden's story is one of rebirth. Allied bombing leveled the city in 1945, but in the decades since the end of the war, renovations have restored the historical core into the vibrant city it was in the 18th century. Dresden’s urban rebirth continued with a second phase of renovations of the Altmarkt (central square) to include more accessibility and climate protection measures. The project reopened in time for the 2023 Striezelmarkt, one of the oldest and largest Christmas markets.

+ Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has once again become a cultural, educational and political center of Germany. Dresden is now one of the most visited cities in Germany with 4.7 million overnight stays per year.