Dresden
| Dresden | |
 | |
  Dresden | |
| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Saxony |
| Admin. region | Dresden |
| District | Urban district |
| Lord Mayor | Lutz Vogel (Ind.) stand-in for Ingolf Roßberg (FDP) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 328.8 km² (127.0 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 113 m (371 ft) |
| Population | 504,635 (31 December 2006)[1] |
| - Density | 1,535 /km2 (3,975 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | DD |
| Postal codes | 01001 - 01462 |
| Area code | 0351 |
| Website | dresden.de |
Dresden (etymologically from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the riverside forest) is the capital city of the German Federal Free State of Saxony. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor. The controversial bombing of Dresden in World War II, plus 40 years in the Soviet bloc state of East Germany, changed the face of the city dramatically.
Since German reunification in 1990, Dresden has emerged as a cultural, political, and economic centre in the eastern part of Germany.
Geography
Location
Dresden lies on both banks of the river Elbe, mostly in the Dresden Elbe Valley Basin, with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north, and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an altitude of about 113 meters. The highest point of Dresden is about 384 meters in altitude.
With a pleasant location and a mild climate on the Elbe, as well as Baroque-style architecture and numerous world-renowned museums and art collections, Dresden has been called "Elbflorenz" (Florence of the Elbe).
The incorporation of neighbouring rural communities over the past 60 years has made Dresden the fourth largest urban district in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne.
Surroundings
The nearest German cities are Chemnitz (80 km to the southwest), Leipzig (100 km to the northwest) and Berlin (200 km to the north). The Czech capital Prague is about 150 km to the south; the Polish city of Wrocław is about 200 km to the east.
Greater Dresden, which includes the neighbouring districts of Kamenz, Meißen, Riesa-Großenhain, Sächsische Schweiz, Weißeritzkreis and part of the district of Bautzen, has a population of around 1,250,000 .[2]
Nature
Dresden claims to be one of the greenest cities in Europe, with 63% of the city being green areas and forests. The Dresdner Heide to the north is a forest 50 km² in size. There are four nature reserves. The additional Special Conservation Areas cover 18 km². The protected gardens, parkways, parks and old graveyards host 110 natural monuments in the city.[3] The Dresden Elbe Valley is a world heritage site which is focused on the conservation of the cultural landscape in Dresden. One important part of that landscape is the Elbe meadows which cross the city, 20 kilometers long.
Climate
Dresden has a cold-moderate to continental climate. The microclimate in the Elbe valley differs from that on the slopes and in the higher areas. Klotzsche, at 227 metres above sea level, hosts the Dresden weather station. The weather in Klotzsche is 1-3°C colder than in the inner city. In summer, temperatures in the city often remain at 20°C still at midnight.
The average temperature in January is −0.7°C and in July 18.1°C.[4] Summers are hotter in Dresden and winters are colder than the German average. The inner city temperature is 10.2°C averaged over the year. The driest months are February and March, with precipitation of 40 mm. The wettest months are July and August, with 60 mm per month.
Flood protection
Because of its location on the banks of the Elbe, into which some water sources from the Ore Mountains flow, flood protection is important. Large areas are kept free of buildings to provide a floodplain. Two additional trenches about 50 metres wide have been built to keep the inner city free of water from the Elbe river by dissipating the water downstream through the inner city's gorge portion. Flood regulation systems like detention basins and water reservoirs are almost all outside the city area.
However, many locations and areas have to be defended by walls and sheet pilings. A number of districts become waterlocked if the Elbe river is flooding some of its old bayous.
City structuring
Dresden is a spacious city. Its districts differ in their structure and appearance. Many parts still contain an old village core, while some quarters are almost completely preserved as rural settings. Other characteristic kinds of urban areas are the historic outskirts of the city, and the former suburbs with scattered housing. In the communist era, many apartment blocks were built. The original parts of the city are almost all in the districts of Altstadt (Old town) and Neustadt (New town). Growing outside the city walls, the historic outskirts were built in the 18th century. They were planned and constructed on the orders of the Saxon monarchs, which is why the outskirts are often named after sovereigns. From the 19th century the city grew by incorporating other districts. Dresden has been divided into ten districts called "Ortsamtsbereich" and nine former boroughs ("Ortschaften") which have been incorporated.
History
Although Dresden is a younger city of Slavic origin,[5] the area had been settled in the Neolithic era by Linear Pottery culture tribes ca. 7500 B.C.E.[6] Dresden's founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples,[5] mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony.
Early history
Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany[7] ("alluvial forest dwellers" [citation needed]) had developed on the southern bank. Another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its slavic name is unclear. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin verifiable since 1350 and later as Altendresden.[7][8] Dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place "Civitas Dresdene".
After 1270 Dresden became the capital of the margravate. It was restored to the Wettin dynasty in about 1319. From 1485 it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well.
Dresden in modern Europe
The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I (1670-1733) was King August the Strong of Poland in personal union. He gathered many of the best musicians [9], architects and painters from all over Europe to Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresden's emergence as a leading European city for technology and art. Dresden suffered heavy destruction in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).
Between 1806 and 1918 the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony (which was a part of the German Empire from 1871). During the Napoleonic Wars the French emperor made it a base of operations, winning there a famous battle on August 27 1813. Dresden was a centre of the German Revolutions in 1849 with the May Uprising, which cost human lives and damaged the historic town of Dresden.
During the 19th century the city became a major centre of economy, including automobile production, food processing, banking and the manufacture of medical equipment. The city's population quadrupled from 95,000 in 1849 to 396,000 in 1900 as a result of industrialization.
In the early 20th century Dresden was particularly well-known for its camera works and its cigarette factories. Between 1918 and 1934 Dresden was capital of the first Free State of Saxony. Dresden was a centre of European modern art until 1933.
Dresden was both an important garrison as well as a centre of military industry during the Second World War. The bombing of Dresden by the Royal Air Force and by the United States Army Air Force between February 13 and February 15, 1945, remains one of the more controversial Allied actions of that war. The inner city of Dresden was heavily destroyed during what proved to be the final weeks of war in Europe. While the city center was destroyed rather completely larger villa areas outside downtown suffered few bombing impact.
Post-war period (communist rule)
After the Second World War, Dresden became a major industrial centre in communist East Germany with a great deal of research infrastructure. Many important historic buildings were rebuilt, although the communist leaders of the city chose to reconstruct large areas of the city in a "socialist modern" style, partly for economic reasons but also in order to break away from the city's past as the royal capital of Saxony and a stronghold of the German bourgeoisie. However, some of the bombed-out ruins of churches were razed by the Soviet authorities in the 1960s instead of being repaired. From 1985 to 1990 the KGB stationed Vladimir Putin, the future present President of Russia, in Dresden.
On 3 October 1989 (the so-called "battle of Dresden"), a convoy of trains carrying East German refugees from Prague passed through Dresden on its way to West Germany. Local activists and residents joined in the growing civil disobedience movement spreading across East Germany by staging demonstrations and demanding the removal of the non-democratic government.
Post-reunification
Dresden has experienced dramatic changes since the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s. The city still bears many wounds from the bombing raids of 1945, but it has undergone significant reconstruction in recent decades. The Dresden Frauenkirche, as symbol of the more comprehensive reconstructions was completed in 2005, a year before Dresden's 800th birthday. The urban renewal process, which includes the reconstruction of the area around the Neumarkt square on which the Frauenkirche is situated, will continue for many decades, but public and government interest remains high, and there are numerous large projects underway — both historic reconstructions and modern plans — that will continue the city's recent architectural renaissance.
Dresden remains a major cultural centre of historical memory, owing to the city's destruction in World War II. Every year on 13 February, the anniversary of the major British fire-bombing raid that destroyed most of the city, tens of thousands of demonstrators gather to commemorate the event. Since reunification, the ceremony has taken on a more neutral and pacifist tone (after being used more politically in Cold War times). In recent years, however, far right skinheads have tried to use the event for their own political ends. In 2005, Dresden was host to the largest Neo-Nazi demonstration in the post-war history of Germany. Between five and eight thousand Neo-Nazis took part, mourning what they call the "Allied bomb-holocaust".
In 2002 torrential rains caused the Elbe to flood 9 m above its normal height, i.e. even higher than the old record height from 1845, damaging many landmarks (See 2002 European flood). The destruction from this "millennium flood" is no longer visible, due to the speed of reconstruction.
The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO declared the Dresden Elbe Valley to be a World Heritage Site in 2004.[10] After being placed on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites in 2006, the city is most likely going to lose the title in July 2007 due to the construction of the Waldschlößchenbrücke. UNESCO stated in 2006 that the bridge will destroy the cultural landscape. The city council's legal moves to prevent the bridge being built failed.[11]
Military history
As the capital of a German principality and kingdom, Dresden has been a military centre for centuries. In connection with the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, a large military facility called Albertstadt was built. It had a capacity of up to 20,000 military personnel at the beginning of the First World War. The garrison saw only limited use between 1918 and 1934 but was then reactivated in preparation for the Second World War. It was not directly attacked in the bombings of Dresden but its usefulness was limited by attacks on the railway network in the last month of the war.
The Albertstadt garrison became the headquarter of the Soviet 1st Guards Tank Army in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany after the war. Apart from the German officer school of the army called Offizierschule des Heeres there have been no more military units in Dresden since the army merger during German reunification and the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1992.
Government and politics
Dresden is one of Germany's 16 political centres and capital of Saxony. It has institutions of democratic local self-administration that are independent from the capital functions. Some local affairs of Dresden are observed nationwide.
Dresden hosted some international summits such as the Petersburg Dialogue between Russia and Germany, the European Union's Minister of the Interior conference and the G8 labor ministers conference in recent years.
Municipality and city council
City council
The city council defines the basic principles of the municipality by decrees and statutes. The council gives orders to the burgomaster by voting for resolutions and thus has some executive power.
Currently there is no stable governing majority on Dresden city council.
Burgomasters and municipality
The Supreme Burgomaster is directly elected by the citizens for a term of seven years. Executive functions are normally elected indirectly in Germany. However, the Supreme Burgomaster shares numerous executive rights with the city council. He/She is the executive head of the municipality, and also the ceremonial representative of the city. The main departments of the municipality are managed by seven burgomasters.
Local affairs
Local affairs in Dresden often centre around the urban development of the city and its spaces. Architecture and the design of public places is a controversial subject. Discussions about the Waldschlößchenbrücke, a planned bridge across Elbe, received international attention because of its position across the Dresden Elbe Valley World Heritage Site. Opponents of the bridge are concerned that its construction would cause the loss of World Heritage site status.[12] The city held a public referendum in 2005 on whether to build the bridge.
In 2006 Dresden sold its publicly subsidized housing organization, WOBA Dresden GmbH, to the US-based private investment company Fortress Investment Group. The city received 987.1 million euros and paid off its remaining loans, making it the first large city in Germany to become debt-free. Opponents of the sale were concerned about Dresden's loss of control over the subsidized housing market.[13]
The construction of a new soccer stadium has been in planning for several years but has not yet been realized. The start date for upgrading the Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion into a single use soccer stadium with a capacity of 32,770 is August 2007.
Sister cities
Along with its twin city Coventry, Dresden was one of the first cities to twin with a foreign city. The two cities became twins after World War II in an act of reconciliation, as both had been nearly destroyed by bombing.
Coventry, United Kingdom, since 1959
Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1961
Wrocław, Poland, since 1963
Ostrava, Czech Republic, since 1971
Brazzaville, Congo, since 1975
Florence, Italy, since 1978
Hamburg, Germany, since 1987
Rotterdam, Netherlands, since 1988
Strasbourg, France, since 1990
Salzburg, Austria, since 1991
Columbus, USA, since 1992
Coat of arms
Blazon: Party per pale on a golden shield showing a black lion to dexter and two black pales to sinister. The lion is looking to dexter and has a red tongue. The city's colours are derivatively black and yellow (Or).
Meaning: The lion represents the Margraviate of Meissen and the pales called the Landsberger Pfähle represent the Mark Landsberg, both ruling the city of Dresden. Since 1309 both coats of arms in combination have been used. The pales were originally blue but converted to black to differentiate from the two other important Saxon cities of Leipzig and Chemnitz, which have very similar coats of arms.
Culture
Dresden is seeking to regain the kind of cultural importance it held from the 19th century until the 1920s, when it was a centre of art, architecture and music. During that period, famous artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, Oskar Kokoschka, Richard Strauss, Gottfried Semper and Gret Palucca were active in the city. Dresden is also home to several important art collections, world-famous musical ensembles, and significant buildings from various architectural periods, many of which were rebuilt after the destruction of the Second World War.
Entertainment
The Saxon State Opera descended from the opera company of the former electors of Saxony in the Semperoper. Its musical ensemble is the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, founded in 1548. The Dresden State Theatre runs a number of smaller theatres. The Dresden State Operetta is the only independent operetta in Germany. The Herkuleskeule (Hercules club) is an important site in German-speaking political cabaret.
There are several choirs in Dresden, the best-known of which is the Kreuzchor (Choir of The Cross). It is a boy's choir drawn from pupils of the Kreuzschule and was founded in the 13th century. The Dresdner Kapellknaben are not related to the Staatskapelle but to the former Hofkapelle, the Catholic cathedral, since 1980. The Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra is the orchestra of the city of Dresden.
Museums, presentations and collections
Dresden hosts the Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden (Dresden State Art Collections) which is one of the world's most important museums and collections. The art collections consist of eleven museums, of which the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister and the Grünes Gewölbe are the best known.
Other museums and collections owned by the Free State of Saxony in Dresden are:
- The Deutsche Hygiene-Museum, founded for mass education in hygiene, health, human biology and medicine
- The Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte (State Museum of Prehistory)
- The Staatliche Naturhistorische Sammlungen Dresden (State Collection of Natural History)
- The Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden (Museum of Ethnology)
- The "Universitätssammlung Kunst + Technik" (Collection of Art and Technology of the Dresden University of Technology)
- Verkehrsmuseum Dresden (Transport Museum)
The Dresden City Museum is runned by the city of Dresden and focused on the city's history. The Military Historical Museum of the Bundeswehr is in the former garrison in the Albertstadt.
Sports
Dresden has a rich footballing (soccer) history. In the early 20th century, the city was represented by Dresdner SC, who were one of Germany's most successful clubs, their best days coming during World War II, when they were twice German Champions, and twice Cup winners. However, after the division of Germany, the club was considered too bourgeois by the East German authorities, and it was dissolved in 1950. The mantle was taken up by a new, ideologically acceptable club called Dynamo Dresden. Dynamo went on to become one of the East's most successful clubs, winning eight DDR-Oberliga titles, and representing the DDR in European competition. After reunification, Dynamo found themselves in the Bundesliga, and Dresdner SC were reformed, but both clubs have at times found life difficult, and have struggled both financially and on the pitch. Nevertheless, both clubs remain popular, particularly Dynamo, and the worst of their problems appear to be behind them.
Architecture
Although Dresden is often said to be a Baroque city, its architecture is influenced by more than one style. Other eras of importance are the Renaissance and Historism as well as the contemporary styles of Modernism and Postmodernism.
- Royal household
The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Dresden. The Dresden castle was once the home of the royal household. The wings of the building have been renewed, built upon and restored many times. Due to this integration of styles, the castle is made up of elements of the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist styles.
The Zwinger Palace is across the road from the castle. It was built on the old stronghold of the city and was converted to a centre for the royal art collections and a place to hold festivals. Its gate (surmounted by a golden crown) by the moat is famous.
Other royal buildings and ensembles:
- Brühl's Terrace was a gift to Heinrich, count von Brühl and became an ensemble of buildings above the river Elbe
- Dresden Elbe Valley with the Pillnitz Castle and other castles
- Sacral buildings
The Hofkirche was the church of the royal household. August the Strong, who wanted to became King of Poland, was forced to convert to the Catholic religion, as the Polish king had to be Catholic. At that time Dresden was strictly Protestant. August the Strong ordered the building of the Hofkirche to establish a sign of religious importance in Dresden. The church is the cathedral "Sanctissimae Trinitatis" since 1980. The church hosts the crypt of the Wettin Dynasty. In contrast to the Roman Catholic church, the Frauenkirche was built almost contemporaneously by the citizens of Dresden. It is said to be the greatest cupola building in Central and North Europe. Furthermore, the Frauenkirche is the largest church in Dresden, making Dresden one of the few places where a cathedral is not the largest Christian sacred building. The city's historic church is the Kreuzkirche.
There are also other churches in Dresden, for example a Russian Orthodox Church in the Südvorstadt district.
- Contemporary architecture
Dresden has been an important site for the development of contemporary architecture for centuries, and this trend has continued into the 20th and 21st centuries.
Historicist buildings made their presence felt on the cityscape until the 1920s. One of the youngest buildings of that era is the Hygiene Museum, which is designed in an impressively monumental style but employs plain facades and simple structures. It is often attributed, wrongly, to the Bauhaus school.
Most of the present cityscape of Dresden was built up after 1945, a mix of reconstructed or repaired old buildings and new buildings in the modern and postmodern styles. Important buildings erected between 1945 and 1990 are the Centrum-Warenhaus (a large department store) representing the international style, the Kulturpalast, and a lot of smaller and two bigger complexes of Plattenbau housing, while there is also housing dating from the era of Stalinist architecture.
After 1990 and German reunification, new styles emerged. Important contemporary buildings are the New Synagogue (a postmodern building with few windows), the Transparent Factory, the Saxon State Parliament and the New Terrace, the UFA-Kristallpalast cinema by Coop Himmelb(l)au(one of the biggest buildings of Deconstructivism in Germany) and the Saxon State Library. Daniel Libeskind and Norman Foster both modified existing buildings. Foster roofed the main railway station with translucent teflon-coated synthetics. Libeskind changed the whole structure of the Military History Museum by placing a wedge through the historistic arsenal building.
- Other buildings
Other buildings include important bridges crossing the Elbe river, the Blaues Wunder bridge and the Augustusbrücke, which is on the site of the oldest bridge in Dresden.
There are about 300 fountains and springs, many of them in parks or squares. The wells serve only a decorative function, since there is a fresh water system in Dresden. Springs and fountains are also elements in contemporary cityspaces.
The most famous sculpture in Dresden is the golden equestrian sculpture of August the Strong called the "Goldener Reiter" (Golden Cavalier) on the Neustädter Markt square. It shows August at the beginning of the Hauptstraße (Main street) on his way to Warsaw, where he was King of Poland in personal union. Another sculpture is the memorial of Martin Luther in front of the Frauenkirche.
- Dresden-Hellerau - Germany's first garden city
The Garden City of Hellerau, at that time a suburb of Dresden, was founded in 1909 according to the principles postulated by the British reformer Ebenezer Howard. It was built by renowned architects and artists, amongst them Hermann Muthesius, Heinrich Tessenow, Theodor Fischer and Wilhelm Kreis. In 1911 Tessenow built the Hellerau Festspielhaus (festival theatre) for the Swiss music educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and Hellerau became a centre of modernism with international standing until the outbreak of World War I.
In 1950 Hellerau was incorporated into the city of Dresden. Today the Hellerau reform architecture is recognised as exemplary. In the 1990s the garden city of Hellerau became a conservation area.
Infrastructure
Transport
The Bundesautobahn 4 (European route E40) crosses Dresden in the northwest from west to east. The Bundesautobahn 17 leaves the A4 in a south-eastern direction. In Dresden it begins to cross the Ore Mountains towards Prague. The Bundesautobahn 13 leaves from the three-point interchange "Dresden-Nord" and goes to Berlin. The A13 and the A17 are on the European route E55. Several Bundesstraße roads crossing or running through Dresden.
There are two main inter-city transit hubs in the railway network in Dresden: Dresden Hauptbahnhof and Dresden-Neustadt railway station. The most important railway lines run to Berlin, Prague, Leipzig and Chemnitz. A commuter train system (Dresden S-Bahn) operates on three lines alongside the long-distance routes.
Dresden Airport is the international airport of Dresden, located at the north-western outskirts of the town. Its infrastructure has been improved with new terminals and a motorway access route.
Dresden has a large tramway network operated by the Dresden Transport Authority. Because the geological bedrock does not allow the building of underground railways, the tramway is an important form of public transport. The Transport Authority operates twelve lines on a 200 km network.[14] Many of the new low-floor vehicles are up to 45 metres long and produced by Bombardier Transportation in Bautzen. While many of the system's lines are on reserved track (often sown with grass to avoid noise), some tracks still run on the streets, especially in the inner city.
The CarGoTram is a tram that supplies Volkswagen's Transparent Factory, crossing the city. The transparent factory is located not far from the city centre next to the city's largest park.[15]
Economy
In 1990 Dresden — an important industrial centre of East Germany — had to struggle with the economic collapse of the Soviet Union and the other export markets in Eastern Europe. East Germany had been the richest communist country but was faced with competition from Western Germany after reunification. After 1990 a completely new law and currency system was introduced in the wake of communism's downfall, and Eastern Germany's infrastructure was largely rebuilt with funds from Western Germany. Dresden as a major urban centre has developed much faster and more consistently than most other regions in former East Germany, but the city still faces many social and economic problems stemming from the collapse of the communist system, including high unemployment levels.
Until famous enterprises like Dresdner Bank left Dresden in the communist era to avoid nationalisation, Dresden was one of the most important German cities. The period of the GDR until 1990 was characterised by low economic growth in comparison to West German cities. The enterprises and production sites broke down almost completely as they entered the social market economy. Since then the economy of Dresden has been recovering.
Facts and figures
The unemployment rate fluctuates between 13% and 15% and is still relatively high. Nevertheless, Dresden has developed faster than the average for Eastern Germany and has raised its GDP per capita to 31,100 euros, equal to the GDP per capita of some poor West German communities (the average of the 50 biggest cities is around 35,000 euros).[16]
The economy of Dresden involves extensive public funding. Thanks to extensive public funding of technology, the proportion of highly-qualified workers is around 20%. Dresden is ranked among the best ten cities in Germany to live in.[17]
Enterprises
Three major sectors can be seen as dominating the Dresden economy:
The semiconductor industry was built up in 1969. Major enterprises today are AMD, Infineon Technologies (now partly owned by Qimonda), ZMD and Toppan Photomasks. Their factories attract many suppliers of material and cleanroom technology enterprises to Dresden.
The pharmaceutical sector came up at the end of the 19th century. The Sächsisches Serumwerk Dresden (Saxon Serum Plant, Dresden), owned by GlaxoSmithKline, is a world leader in vaccine production. Another traditional pharmaceuticals producer is Arzneimittelwerke Dresden (Pharmaceutical Works, Dresden).
A third (traditional) branch is that of mechanical and electrical engineering. Major employers are the Volkswagen Transparent Factory, EADS Elbe Flugzeugwerke (Elbe Aircraft Works), Siemens and Linde-KCA-Dresden.
Tourism is another sector of the economy enjoying high revenue and many employees. There are 87 hotels in Dresden, a noted site for heritage tourism.
Media
The media in Dresden include two major newspaper: the Sächsische Zeitung (circulation around 300,000) and the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (circulation around 50,000). Dresden has a broadcasting centre belonging to the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk. The Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus (Dresden printing plant and publishing house) produces part of Spiegel's print run, among other newspapers and magazines.
Education and science
Universities
Dresden is home to a number of renowned universities, but among German cities it is a more recent location for academic education.
- The Technische Universität Dresden with almost 35,000 students (2004)[18] was founded in 1828 and is among the oldest and largest Universities of Technology in Germany. It is currently the university of technology in Germany with the largest number of students but also has many courses in social studies, economics and other non-technical sciences. It offers 126 courses.
- The Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft was founded in 1992 and had about 5,300 students in 2005.[19]
- The Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden was founded in 1764 and is known for its former professors and artists such as George Grosz, Sascha Schneider, Otto Dix, Oskar Kokoschka, Canaletto, Carl-Gustav Carus, Caspar David Friedrich and Gerhard Richter.
- The Palucca School of Dance was founded by Gret Palucca in 1925 and is a major European school of free dance.
- The Carl Maria von Weber University of Music was founded in 1856.
Other universities include the "Hochschule für Kirchenmusik", a school specialising in church music, the "Evangelische Hochschule für Sozialarbeit", an education institution for social work. The "Dresden International University" is a private postgraduate university, founded a few years ago in cooperation with the Dresden University of Technology.
Research institutes
Dresden also hosts many research institutes, some of which have gained an international standing. The domains of most importance are micro- and nanoelectronics, transport and infrastructure systems, material and photonic technology, and bio-engineering. The institutes are well connected among one other as well as with the academic education institutions.
The Max Planck Society focuses on fundamental research. In Dresden there are three Max Planck Institutes (MPI); the "MPI of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics", the "MPI for Chemical Physics of Solids" and the "MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems"
The Fraunhofer Society hosts institutes of applied research that also offer mission-oriented research to enterprises. With eleven institutions or parts of institutes, Dresden is the largest location of the Fraunhofer Society worldwide.[20] The Fraunhofer Society has become an important factor in locatino decisions and is seen as a useful part of the "knowledge infrastructure".
The Leibniz-Gemeinschaft operates a research centre in Rossendorf, which is the largest complex of research facilities in Dresden, a short distance outside the urban areas. It still focuses on nuclear medicine. The "Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research" and the "Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research" are in the material and high-technology domain, while the "Leibniz Institute for Ecological and Regional Development" is focused on more fundamental research into urban planning.
Notes
- ↑ State Office for statistics of the Free State of Saxony. Population of Saxon cities and communities (tentative). Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ↑ Regionales Entwicklungskonzept Dresden: Map of Greater Dresden
- ↑ Dresden: Dresden—a Green city
- ↑ Deutscher Wetterdienst: Average of the period from 1961 to 1990
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dresden.de. "Prehistoric times". Accessed April 24 2007.
- ↑ Natuurhistorisch Museum Rotterdam: Man-animal relationships in the Early Neolithic of Dresden (Saxony, Germany)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Fritz Löffler, Das alte Dresden, Leipzig 1982, p.20
- ↑ Geschichtlicher Hintergrund des Jubiläums “600 Jahre Stadtrecht Altendresden” (German)
- ↑ Dresden in the Time of Zelenka and Hasse
- ↑ world heritage entry, accessed May 15th, 2007
- ↑ magazine report (German), accessed May 15th, 2007
- ↑ UNESCO: World Heritage Committee threatens to remove Dresden Elbe Valley (Germany) from World Heritage List
- ↑ Dresden: Selling of the WOBA Dresden GmbH (German)
- ↑ Dresden Transport Authority: Profile
- ↑ Dresden Transport Authority: CarGoTram
- ↑ State Office for Statistics of the Free State of Saxony: Regional GDPs of 2004
- ↑ Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft (organisation of an employer association): Profile of Dresden in the 2006 city ranking
- ↑ Technische Universität Dresden: Profile of the TU Dresden
- ↑ University of Applied Sciences Dresden: press notice to the 2006 matriculation
- ↑ Fraunhofer Society: Institutes
Sources and further reading
- Dresden: Tuesday, 13 February 1945 by Frederick Taylor, 2005; ISBN 0-7475-7084-1
- Dresden and the Heavy Bombers: An RAF Navigator's Perspective by Frank Musgrove, 2005; ISBN 1-84415-194-8
- Return to Dresden by Maria Ritter, 2004; ISBN 1-57806-596-8
- Dresden: Heute/Today by Dieter Zumpe, 2003; ISBN 3-7913-2860-3
- Destruction of Dresden by David Irving, 1972; ISBN 0-345-23032-9
- Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, 1970; ISBN 0-586-03328-9
- "Disguised Visibilities: Dresden/"Dresden" by Mark Jarzombek in Memory and Architecture, Ed. By Eleni Bastea, (University of Mexico Press, 2004).
- Preserve and Rebuild: Dresden during the Transformations of 1989-1990. Architecture, Citizens Initiatives and Local Identities by Victoria Knebel, 2007; ISBN 978-3-631-55954-3
- La tutela del patrimonio culturale in caso di conflitto Fabio Maniscalco (editor), 2002; ISBN 88-87835-18-7
External links
History
Important institutions
Important cultural institutions
Tourism and business
- Travel guide to Dresden from Wikitravel
- Sächsische Dampfschifffahrt
- Congress Dresden
- Official incoming service
- GermanPlaces - Dresden
- World Photos. Dresden
Media, webcams and information
- Dresden City Panoramas
- City Map of Dresden
- Livecam Dresden downtown
- 3D-Dresden-Panorama-sight
- Dresden: the making of a baroque city
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