Dresden has always been a destination I wanted to visit ever after I saw some pictures of its Frauenkirche that was rebuilt after the city was bombed during the second world war. When I was planning a trip to Poland and Czechia with Ivan, the opportunity presented itself to add Dresden into our itinerary.

We travelled by train from Antwerp to Dresden and on the first evening after dropping of our bags in our hotel for the night, the Holiday Inn Dresden am Zwinger, we went for a stroll through the old town and grab some dinner.

As our hotel was located right across from the Zwinger we already visited the outside and the gardens on this evening. It’s a former palace built in baroque style between 1710 and 1728 and served as the residence for the Saxonian rulers.

Today, the Zwinger is a museum complex that contains the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery), the Dresden Porcelain Collection (Dresdener Porzellansammlung) and the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments).

 

It is a truly magnificent building complex and it is one of the must see sights of the city, providing you with a load of photographic opportunities

On the second day we decided to visit the rest of the city centre and venture out into the suburbs. Getting around Dresden is very easy thanks to a modern and efficient tram system serving most neighbourhoods frequently.

 

Our first visit of the day was the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr, located across the Elbe River at the Neustadt side of Dresden. It was originally built as Saxon armoury in 1873 to 1876 and transformed in a museum in 1897.

Subsequently it became a Nazi museum, a Soviet museum and an East-German museum before being closed in 1989. It was reopened in 2011 after a big renovation adding a brand new “wing” in the middle of the museum and now features a collection focusing on the human aspects of war.

The building itself is already worth a visit purely for the architectural vision of the building, but the items and history showcased inside are also very interesting and immersive. Giving you a glimpse of German Military History from ‘their’ side.

 

After the ‘heavy’ visit of the military museum we took a tram back to the city centre where we had some typical Saxonian food on the Square surrounding the Frauenkirche. Unfortunately we where unable to visit the church as it was closed during the time we where there.

Across the Square we went to visit the Verkehrsmuseum Dresden, housed in the Johanneum one of the oldest buildings in Dresden. Divided over different rooms we could find a historic timeline of automobile evolution in Eastern Germany, a collection of historic trains and locomotives, an area about aviation history and a model railway. The museum is a nice visit for anyone interested in technology and transportation.

 

Ivan really wanted to see another special architectural item in the city. For this we headed back over to the Neustadt area where we went to look for the Kunsthofpassage.  This a series of indoor courtyards, decorated by a number of different artists, worth to walk through when you are in the area.

 

We finished our day in Loschwitz, where we walked over the ‘Blaues wunder‘ or Loschwitzer Brücke. This is a prime example of late 1800’s steel engineering in bridge construction and gaves us some very nice panoramic views over the Elbe River.

 

Of course there is much more to see and do in Dresden and we only managed to see a small part of it, next time I’m in the area I will most likely stop again and try to see and do some more.

Have you ever been in Dresden? Did you like it and would you recommend it? Let us know in the comments below!