Facts about Dresden

• Population 479,000.
• The capital of Saxony.
• The city was heavily bombed during the war, with much of its historic centre destroyed.
• Once called “Florence on the Elbe” and known as one of the country’s most beautiful cities.
• Dresden has rebuilt many of its glorious buildings and is now home to some of Germany’s most well-endowed museums and galleries.

Must See's

Pfunds Molkerei – “the world’s most beautiful dairy shop” – was founded in 1880 and claims to have invented condensed milk. The interior is decorated with over 3,500 hand-painted tiles made by Villeroy & Boch with enamelled sculptures in an Art Nouveau style, fully restored in 1995. The shop sells reproduction tiles, wines, milk and over 100 varieties of cheese, and has a stand-up cafe section in the shop and a cafe-restaurant upstairs.

The Transparent Factory (Gläserne Manufaktur) is the ultra-modern Volkswagen plant on the edge of the Great Gardens (Großer Garten), where you can watch most of the manufacturing processes through the huge glass windows.

Striezelmarkt is Dresden’s Christmas Market, one of the liveliest and largest in Germany.

The Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) a baroque masterpiece completed in 1743, was the city’s main Protestant church. It was reduced to rubble by the World War II bombings and left in that state as a permanent war memorial. In 1991 it was controversially decided to rebuild the church. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2006 in time for Dresden’s 800th Anniversary.

Stroll along the Brühlsche Terrasse, a spectacular elevated promenade on the south bank of the River Elbe. Once called “Europe’s Balcony”, it hangs 15 m above the water, and gives great views of the Japanese Palace (Japanisches Palais) and guardhouse (Blockhaus) on the opposite bank.