Die Frauenkirche (Church)
Here I learned what elegance truly is...what history truly is. Dresden is a city rich with culture and it is evident everywhere you look. These places here are among the oldest I have yet to see, so this is really an exceptional experience for me! Aside from that, this city exudes a sort of sophistication that I've never seen anywhere else. You can feel the history. Above are pictures of the Frauenkirche. This was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt, the darker bricks of limestone are the originals taken from the ruins and tediously numbered and reconstructed. They literally pieced this building together bit by bit. Creating only the pieces that were not salvageable.
The buildings in Dresden are pretty remarkable, especially when seen at night. The limestone looks so nice under the spotlight, highlighting all the details. I am shocked too, that it is down played in comparison to other cities. Now, after going there, it is on my Deutschland Must See list- hands down.
Augustus der Starke (Augustus the Strong) has a vault of treasures in Dresden. Ones they call the old and the new vaults. I was lucky enough to be able to see both! The tickets to the old vault are usually sold out immediately. After some convincing the lady finally caved and gave Marcel and I tickets. Boy, was it worth it! Every room of the Grüne Gewolbe (Green Vault) had a different theme. It is a pity I couldn't take pictures...(they had the place on lock down!) I've never seen such a lavish collection of treasures: gold, silver, bronze, diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies, ivory, nautilus shells made into Goblets. Ostrich eggs were made into display items that were thought to be something holy due to the fact that mother Ostriches would leave the egg burried in the sand and the egg would hatch (incubated by the sun) but it was thought to be somewhat of a miracle "virgin birth" of sorts. One of the largest and rarest diamonds found is housed there. Some chemical reaction happened where it had formed, so it has a green tint and it is really enormous, a good 3-4 inches!
Above is the inside of the Semperoper (Opera House of Dresden.) Dresden is a well known city for classical composers. Richard Wagner had a number of his works performed in the Semperoper for the first time. Strauss & Kirchner had similar firsts in Dresden's Semperoper. Later on, we returned to the Frauenkirche and bought tickets for the Dresdener Phillharmonie:
Robert Schumann
Der Rose Pilgerfahrt, 1. Teil
Märchen nach einer Dichtung von Moritz Horn für Soli, Chor und Orchester
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Auszüge aus „Ein Sommernachtstraum“
It was really beautifully played and a nice ending to a really great day. The children's choir was just phenomenal. Next chapter: Berlin and more of the East German experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment