Intentional traveler: Dresden - pronounced here as Drees-an

We awoke this morning in Dresden! Everyone, I dare say, has been looking forward to this day in this classical city. We have seen a lot of castles, palaces, historical buildings; heard stories of princes, kings, and reluctant queens. In Berlin we focused on the Hitler and the Reichstag's rule. There is not however much of the old there. It was rebuilt, sometimes with a sense of the value of the old and sometimes not.

In Dresden we could not help but focus on the terrible consequences of a World War. Dresden was demolished in the final days of the War. Here we need to recognize that the British and we Americans destroyed a city and so many people who were not necessarily in a strategic location or an important city to the winning of the War. Perhaps it was done as a wake up call to the German powers that we could obliterate their country if we chose to.

This is a graphic depiction of the bombing of Dresden. The city was rebuilt after the War but kept to their classical style. Nothing here is original. It is a duplicate of pre-war Dresden and pre-war Germany. The buildings are beautiful, the palaces and concert halls and churches are amazing...but it is almost a Disneyland, if you realize that it is a copy. A fine copy using the same materials, the architectural drawings and plans of the original, and the spirit of the people which is undiminished, but a copy none the less.

The view from our window this morning.

Elva and I signed up for the Classic Tour which included a scenic bus ride through the outskirts of the city on the way back to the city center near our docked ship. Beautiful original buildings remained in this area of the town. Mostly now the large villas are apartments and the historical buildings demand quite a high rent. Especially compared to the Communist building block dwellings! The grey day didn't let me take good pictures from the moving vehicle. We saw the University and hospital all of which have Nobel Prize winners attached to their names.

We arrived at the Zwinger Palace. There is a lake in the old moat.

The palace was built by Augustus the Strong specifically to host the

four week long celebration of his daughter's wedding.

The Rococo Palace was originally part of the outer defense system of the city. The name means a kennel or enclosed killing ground. The Zwingergarten was also within the courtyard and grew much of the needs of the inhabitants. But as it became the festive playground and exhibition hall of the king's treasures this was supplanted by ornamental orange trees. Every year in May there are a houndred orange trees brought in large pots to replicate the earlier times.

The Palace was first used for the 1719 wedding festivities but because the massive building was behind schedule on the facade of the mirror image across the courtyard was completed and only a few rooms were usable before being completed in 1728.

Augustus did not hesitate to be sure he was prominently recognized and on display!

Augustus favorite mistress was given this palace until she began to meddle in his politics.

Off to the convent she went where she spent the last 48 years of her life.

Our next stop was the famed Green Vault. I say this tongue in cheek because I had never heard of it until it showed up in our planning booklet from Viking. I am sure glad that we were introduced to its not to be missed treasures. These possessions of the king have their own history of being hidden, found, confiscated, returned and the tale is quite interesting.

Here is the palace that holds these treasures...and that is really the only word that applies!

(Obviously borrowed from the guide book.)

The Dresden Castle is a residential palace incorporating baroque, Renaissance and classical styles. Today it houses a complex of great museums, including the Green Vault.

This ship being held in safety by Neptune is made of ivory that is worked to a fine transparent thinness for the sails. The tiny sailors and all the other pieces are sculpted of ivory. There were many such items in the small portion of the collection that we were privileged to view.

This jolly guy and so many miniatures around here were fashioned of pearls.

Looking through one of the windows I thought it was easy to see how windows were slanted when the tower steps spiraled upwards. You can see it in the corner of the opposing building.

This fantastic scene of precious materials had movable pieces and is called the Maharajahs birthday. It is also called ' the doll house!' Its size is the width of at least a coffee table and as deep as a card table with a height of about one foot to eighteen inches.

A rolling ball starts at the top of the tower and takes one minute to reach the bottom. Inside another ball is lifted simultaneously and then drops...every minute on the minute.

After 60 such journeys the little figures move and music plays and an hour has gone by swiftly.

I was surprised to see a lot of coral worked in with the gold and jewels.

The 41 karat green diamond is surrounded by 141 medium and small diamonds to make this

cockade ornament fit for the son of the King.

Here Clare and Rosemary stand in front of the Semper Opera House trying to decide what to do next.

We did take the short walk back to the ship for our two hour lunch. Today we ate in the dining room as the views were a bit depressing. But we have been very lucky with weather so far so no real complaints here.

Elva and I had signed up for the tour of the theater and so walked back to town with Sebastian. Like everything in this once capital city of Saxony, the Semper Opera House is not the original. It was first built in 1841 and opened with a Carl Marie Von Weber. But this time it was simply a fire started when one of those new-fangled gas lamps exploded. The son rebuilt the showplace using his father's original architectural designs and with constant guidance from his father by letter because he was in exile due to participation in the Dresden Uprising.

In order to avoid another disaster it was built with fire proof materials and modern safety..modern of the time. It was almost completely destroyed in the bombing of Dresden but 40 years later, in 1985 it reopened again with the same opera as the first premiere. The beloved structure now is a time and money saving miracle of architecture. You will see a few pictures here and then I will share the secret of the Semperoper as it is properly called.

In order to operate providing up to 40% of its own costs it hosts performances of many types. I would have loved to see Cabaret performed here. It would have seemed ironic.

A view of the square from the opera steps.

The auditorium seats 1,331 patrons. It is large on the orchestra level but the balconies do not overhang the main floor which accounts for fewer seats.
Standing room in the upper balcony can be had for a few Euros.

The chandelier helps acoustically to keep the sound from being lost in the rotunda.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania semper opera house digital clock

One of the most unique and key features of architectural genius is the digital clock that marks every five minutes. The Opera house itself is 176 years old and this feature was installed as part of the original. Yes it is that old! The King was annoyed by this clicking and chiming of pocket watches and was specific that the design must fit in the small space above the curtain and not interfere with a performance and so must be silent.

So, you ask, what is the secret of the Semperoper in Dresden? The magic of the theater begins upon entering the building. Nothing inside is real. The marble columns are a paste mix that is formed and dryed in layers, painted and sealed to look like marble - indeed faux marble from the 1950s. The wood of the walls is gypsum and painted to have wood grain. The gilt is not but simply painted. Maybe they didn't invest in the real thing in case it burned down again. Hopefully it would never again be bombed!