Just a Few Hours in….Dresden, Germany

Beautiful Dresden, Germany….once called "The Jewel Box" due to its beautiful baroque and rococo architectural styles on the Elbe River

As we traveled to Freiberg we bypassed Dresden.  It was less than an hour drive east from Freiberg, so on Friday afternoon we drove back to Dresden and spent 4-5 hours exploring this beautiful German city. 

Prior to WWII, Dresden was known as the "Florence of the Elbe"….then the entire city center was destroyed near the end of WWII, somewhat like what happened to the city of Warsaw.

While Warsaw was destroyed by Germans, Dresden was destroyed by English and American forces in four massive incendiary bombing raids from February 13-15, 1945.

Reconstruction and restoration of the former beauty of Dresden continues to this day.

 Here are some highlights from a few hours in Dresden….

Frauenkirche

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), one of Dresden's most beloved symbols, has "risen from the ashes."  For over 200 years this church was a part of Dresden's skyline…then 2 days after the WWII bombing it collapsed.

The East German government wanted to leave the rubble as a war memorial, but after the reunification of Germany a movement was made to reconstruct and rebuild this landmark.  It was reopened in 2005.

Frauenkirche is a Lutheren Church in Dresden. This church has one of the largest domes in all of Europe….it sits in the middle of the city center and it is really quite beautiful!

Hofkirche

One of the most beautiful buildings in Dresden is the church below…Hofkirche (Church of the Court). We found this building most interesting because it has a Polish connection.

Augustus II the Strong converted to Catholicism so he could become King of Poland.  Dresden was a Protestant city which had recently built the beautiful Frauenkirche in 1743. 

Augustus III decided there should also be a Catholic church, so to counter-balance the newly constructed Protestant Frauenkirche, he had the Catholic Hofkirche built.

Many of the stone walls of the pre-war buildings that have been reconstructed in the city center are black from having been burned during the bombing.  It is amazing to see the burned sides, columns and walls.

The Royal Palace is a beautiful castle built by Frederick Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland. He built this massive baroque palace for his residence in Dresden.

It was heavily bombed during the war and was later rebuilt to house beautiful works of art.

Continuing through Dresden's Auldstadt (Old Town)….

 ….we saw interesting archways….

….cobblestoned streets….

….decorative street lamps….

….and beautiful architecture.  No matter which direction we looked there was always something interesting to see.

And though a bit rainy, we enjoyed walking in and around Dresden.

In the picture below, Mark and I stand in the entryway of the Old Town.  Part of the Royal Castle is behind us, with the Catholic Hofkirche to the right.

Time for lunch.

Mark ordered a traditional German meal.

After lunch we boarded a bus tour around the city.  Riding on the bus was a good way for us to see the many beautiful and historical sites….

.…especially since we were only going to be in Dresden for a few hours.

Semperoper
 The first site on the city tour was Theatre Square with the majestic opera house.  The Semperoper is said to be one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world. 

Zwinger

The Zwinger is a complex of pavilions and galleries around a huge open esplanade.  The name refers to the open space between the inner and outer walls of a fortress.  The Zwinger once served as a gallery, a festival arena, and an orangery (greenhouse for orange trees).

One feature of the Zwinger is the Crown Gate, which sits in the center of the famous Zwinger beneath a Polish crown with four eagles.

 

Originally the Zwinger was part of the Dresden fortress.  This building was heavily destroyed but it was also rebuilt and today is a museum.

The clock tower atop the Zwinger museum….

….is also part of the town hall area.

Yenidze

When we first drove through Dresden, we passed this large, ornate building. We thought it was a religious structure of some kind.  However, it was a factory that produced tobacco products in the early 1900s….so is sometimes called the "Tobacco Mosque". 

From the Old Town side of Dresden, we saw beautiful countrysides with homes scattered on the hillsides.

We crossed over the Elbe River and had a closer look at this side of Dresden.

The New Town side was quite beautiful.

Crossing the Elbe and returning to the Old Town side of Dresden…. 

.…we passed the same spot where 300 years earlier, the Italian artist Canaletto made his famous painting of Dresden (below).

While Mark and Grace ordered a snack, I had a look at the city center's outdoor skating rink.  I was curious about the little penguins people were leaning on….

….and realized that they were like "walkers" when a child learns to walk….but for learning how to ice skate!

We found a city map of the historical area…which showed the location of the old and new areas of Dresden.

Across from the city map, there was an excavation site.

Though chilly outside, Mark was enticed by a German ice cream shop. 

Nearby we saw another Ampelmann Store…similar to one I saw last summer while visiting Berlin with my sister and her granddaughter.  The "Ampelmann" is the pedestrian sign seen on crosswalk signals in the former East German cities. 

Dresden is a beautiful historical city….it celebrated it 800th birthday in 2006!

The city's pre-WWII beauty is gradually being restored, even though the name "Dresden" evokes a city of much destruction.

It was enriching to explore Dresden, Germany even for just a few hours.

A Few Days in….Freiberg,Germany

Mark and I have lived in Warsaw for over 3 years but had not driven outside of Warsaw together.  Through my church assignments, I have traveled with others to Polish cities such as Poznań, Łodz, Białystok, Bydgoszcz and Lublin….and Mark has made some business trips by car out to drilling sites….but we had not driven together outside of Warsaw. 

So we made plans to travel to Freiberg, Germany at the end of February, and there attend the Freiberg Germany Temple with a few Polish members of our church. 

We looked forward to these few days together. 

Mark and I drive our little Skoda around Warsaw just fine….

….but the journey to Germany would take between 6-1/2 to 7 hours each way.  Mark wanted a bigger car for such a long, high-speed trip….and also wanted a bigger car because we had been asked to take a young lady from Lublin with us on the trip.  So he rented an Opel Insignia, which came with a 2.0-liter, diesel engine….more than enough power for the long distance trip.

Unfortunately, we neglected to take a picture of the car….it was a gray station wagon with a low, aerodynamic profile….not the boxy type of station wagons that we grew up with.  We also didn't take a picture of the gear shift knob, which to Mark's surprise didn't have P-R-N-D-L on it.  Instead, it had R-1-2-3-4-5-6….that's right, a 6-speed standard transmission.  Though surprised, after pausing for a minute Mark thought to himself, "This could be fun."

Since I have not driven a "stick shift" car for many years, I opted for Mark to be the driver for the entire journey.  He did a great job!

Though it was still February, the weather was spring-like as we traveled west across Poland.  There were beautiful skies….

….and rows and rows of stately trees.

Missing from the roadsides, which we didn't miss, were billboard signs that are so common when traveling across the US.

There were many clean and beautiful bridges (sans graffiti) spanning the highways.

We saw many large semi-trucks traveling in both directions…something we rarely see as we travel in and around Warsaw.

There were a number of modern windmill farms….many more as we got closer to Germany.

We crossed the border into Germany and then had about a 3-hour drive until we arrived in Freiberg.  There were no "Welcome to Germany" signs….but we knew we were no longer in Poland.

The GPS worked well until we crossed the German border….since our extra chip is only for Poland, the GPS didn't work in Germany.

However there appeared to be a navigation guide of a higher power for us….as we approached Freiberg the sun's rays appeared to be shining down onto the location of the Freiberg Temple!

This scene was quite beautiful and symbolic….and it left me pondering. The temple brings light not only into the lives of the people who attend, but also to the people and cities where it is built. Here I see the temple as a beacon of "light" for Freiberg.

A welcome sight for us….

We had arrived at the temple grounds…Grace, me and Mark.

Grace is the young woman from Lublin that rode with us.  She is actually from Taiwan, attending medical school in Lublin….a long way from her home in Taiwan, and from the husband with whom she could only spend ten days after they were married, before she had to return to school in Poland.

Having arrived in Freiberg before dark, we were happy to be able to walk around the temple grounds.

The complex of buildings on the temple grounds includes the temple, housing for the people who visit the temple, a Family History Center, and a stake center (large meetinghouse).  The building below is part of the housing for the patrons. We stayed in rooms in this building.

The people of Freiberg commonly refer to the temple grounds as "Temple Square"….the same term used for the temple and surrounding buildings in Salt Lake City….quite interesting that they would use the same term. 

The Freiberg Germany Temple was the 33rd temple built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and it was the first temple built behind the Iron Curtain, in the former German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. 

The story of how the Freiberg Temple came to be built in a communist country is quite interesting and inspiring.  I read part of its history to Mark as we drove to Freiberg….it made coming here more meaningful. 

The temple was dedicated in 1985, and its story is often referred to a "latter-day miracle". 

https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/regional-studies-latter-day-saint-church-history-europe/8-freiberg-germany-temple-latter-da

When we arrived at the temple grounds there were gray clouds, but the temple was still a beautiful sight.

On all the temples around the world are the words…."Holiness to the Lord….House of the Lord".

It is written in German below.

After taking pictures around the temple we wanted to explore around Freiberg and find somewhere to eat dinner.  I had been told that there was not much to see and do in this small German city.  But not far from the temple grounds we did find part of the town square.  A few people were out strolling and skating.

After figuring out how to pay for parking we parked the car and began walking to see the sights and find a place to eat.  I was searching for a sign that said something about "Freiberg"….and finally found one, although I believe it is a sign advertising a local beer.

The city of Freiberg was founded in 1186, and for centuries it was the center of the mining industry in the Ore Mountains.  Today Freiberg is both a mining an university town….the university was established in 1765 and is the oldest mining university in the world.

A "Freiberg" manhole cover....

A very old brick tower….

….and a quaint German restaurant….just what we were looking for.

We enjoyed a relaxing German meal….and then had a nice walk back to the town square area where our car was parked. 

As we drove back toward the apartments on the temple grounds we saw the temple once again….it was quite a beautiful site .

We spent time in the temple on Friday morning, then traveled to the nearby city of Dresden and explored there for a number of hours (a separate blog post).  In the evening we returned to Freiberg and attended the temple once more.  The next morning we would leave to return to Warsaw. 

Saturday morning the sky was a brilliant blue….such a beautiful backdrop to the Freiberg Temple

We were glad we made the journey to Germany….

….to share what our Polish friends and members of the church experience.  It is a sacrifice for many of them to come, and that made it all the more rewarding for us to be with them.

Mark wanted me to capture some of the sites on the German autobahn as we journeyed back home to Warsaw….since our GPS didn't work until we met the Polish border, we were quite happy with the occasional signs telling us we were heading in the right direction.

At one point the traffic in the opposite direction was backed up for a couple of miles due to a wreck.  We were glad to be heading east and not west at this time.

Mark said that ever since he heard about the German autobahns when he was a boy, he had been curious about what it would be like to drive on one.

As seen in the picture above and video below, the autobahns look much like a four lane, divided freeway in the US.…but in Germany there are long distances with no speed limits.  Although some drive at very high speeds, it is very orderly, with slower traffic staying to the right and faster traffic passing by on the left.

Mark asked me to take some video of the experience.  The main point of the video is that we are traveling 80 mph or more, and cars fly past us on the left as if we were going 10 mph. 

Finally there was a small sign that we would soon be crossing into Poland….where for long stretches they drive just as fast as in Germany.

Our first experience driving outside the city of Warsaw, and into another country went very well.  We enjoyed traveling to Freiberg and Dresden (another blog post), and we especially enjoyed attending the temple and having simply positive experiences.