Dresden

We are on a holiday trip to Dresden and Leipzig. This blog entry includes only Dresden pictures. Leipzig will follow next week.

Reflections

Dresden was a beautiful city before WWII bombing, and much of its beauty has been restored since the wall came down and east and west Germany reunited. As will be obvious from the photographs, I am interested in the artistic effect of reflections. Only one of the photographs below contains no reflections, and two are only reflections. Reflection both distorts images and gives them context because of the surface on which the reflection takes place. The effect can be at once impressionist and ethnographically informative.

Dresden Sights

The Altmarkt (old market) reflected in the Kulturpalast, was the first photo I took in Dresden. The orange-glass Kulturpalast is architecturally reminiscent of the now vanished Palast der Republik, the parliament building of the old east German regime. In the right light, he building functions marvelously as a mirror.

Kulturpalast-Reflections

The Grosser Garten in Dresden is the city's equivalent of the Tiergarten in Berlin or Hyde Park in London or Central Park in New York City. It is large and diverse. The Palace below stands roughly at the center of the Garden and reflects in its own large pool.

Grosser Garten - Dresden - Palace

Dresden Neustadt is the area across the Elbe where my great grandfather (among others) lived before the bombing. It has a mix of architecturally boring state offices, decrepit buildings awaiting repair,  lively shopping, and a bohemian district that resembles the atmosphere of Prenzlauerberg in Berlin. This photo shows a reflection from a window in the shopping district.

Dresden Neustadt - Reflected

The river Elbe is a major feature of Dresden, and an annoying one when it floods, as happened recently. This tourist photo shows the bridge known as der Blaue Wunder (the blue wonder). The restaurants along the Elbe suffered badly during the flooding, but most are back in business.

Blaue Wunder - Elbe Bridge

Wildflowers

In the middle of a very well-to-do district on the Elbhang, I saw a garden filled with wildflowers and with bees feeding on them. Bees are not easy to capture on camera, but this one cooperated.

Wildflowers with Bee - Elbhang