Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The Velorace in Dresden is a city-centre cycling event that has been held since 2013 and has become a fixed part of the national racing calendar. It grew out of the wider Saxon cycling tradition and has steadily developed into one of the best-known mass-participation races in eastern Germany.
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The Dresdner Parkeisenbahn is a charming miniature railway running through the Großer Garten, Dresden’s large historic park. Its origins date back to June 1st, 1950, when a temporary children’s railway was opened between the Zoo and what is now Straßburger Platz. Although it was initially intended to operate for only one season, its popularity led to a permanent service; the line was extended in 1951 and reached its present circular route of approximately 5.6 kilometres.
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The Deutsches Hygiene-Museum in Dresden was founded in 1912 on the initiative of Karl August Lingner, a local industrialist and manufacturer of the mouthwash Odol. Its purpose was to make scientific knowledge about the human body, personal health and preventive medicine accessible to ordinary people. The present building, designed by Wilhelm Kreis in a monumental yet modern style, was completed for the Second International Hygiene Exhibition in 1930. It was badly damaged during the bombing of Dresden in 1945 and later rebuilt; after German reunification, the museum was fundamentally reoriented as a museum about human experience.
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The Grünes Gewölbe in Dresden is one of Europe’s great treasure chambers, created for August der Starke in the early 18th century as a highly theatrical display of power, taste and wealth. It began as the elector’s private collection and was then expanded into a public showpiece, making it one of the oldest museum-like collections on the continent.
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The Verkehrsmuseum in Dresden is one of the city’s most distinctive museums, housed in the historic Johanneum by the Neumarkt. Its roots go back to 1877, when the collection that later became the Saxon Railway Museum first began, while the museum itself was founded in 1952 and opened to the public in its present setting in the 1950s.
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I had to wait several years until I had the chance to attend a live concert of Mando Diao – a Swedish band I listened to intensively for many many years. And then I found a concert at the Alter Schlachthof in Dresden, Germany that fitted well. And that is why we started a road trip. Continue reading “Sweden meets Dresden”
The Loschwitzer Brücke (König-Albert-Brücke until 1912) is a 280 meters long metal bridge spanning the river Elbe in Dresden, Germany. It is an example for German engineering art as to allow ships passing unhindered it was not allowed to have pillars in the water. It is therefore commonly referred to not by its name but by the title Blaues Wunder (blue wonder). Continue reading “Blaues Wunder”
The Alter Schlachthof is a concert hall in Dresden, Germany. It was opened in 1871 as the central slaughterhouse of the city. In 1907 a new slaughterhouse was opened on the grounds now used for fairs and therefore the Alter Schlachthof was closed. The buildings were used as a storage area by different companies.
Continue reading “At the Schlachthof”
The Schwerelos (“Agravic“) is a funny restaurant in the Kugelhaus directly north of the main railway station of Dresden, Germany. The food is good but nothing really special. The highlight of the restaurant is the way how they serve food and drinks: on a rollercoaster-like system through the air. Continue reading “Agravic”
In 1748 the painter Bernardo Bellotto – better known as Canaletto – painted the famous picture “Dresden From the Right Bank of the Elbe Below the Augustus Bridge“. The title says it all, it is a wonderful depictation of the “skyline” of Dresden, Germany – including all those wonderful buildings close to the Elbe. Continue reading “Canaletto view”