Top Ten

These sights you should not miss during your visit in any case. The buildings are listed according to their distance from the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) as an inner-city center.

1. Frauenkirche and Neumarkt Square

Dresden's most famous symbol is the rebuilt Frauenkirche. This monumental Protestant church was constructed between 1726 and 1743, reduced to ruins on 13/14 February 1945 and rebuilt from the 1990s. In 2005 it was reconsecrated. On the surrounding Neumarkt square, the typical Baroque gabled houses were rebuilt section by section. After more than half a century, the city's new old centre has returned.

2. Procession of Princes

Behind the Royal Palace, the Fürstenzug, or Procession of Princes, links Neumarkt and Schlossplatz squares. The 101-metre mural tiled with Meissen porcelain depicts the rulers of the House of Wettin in a mounted procession.

3. Royal Palace

This Renaissance building was constructed in the 15th century as a new centre of power for the Saxon electoral princes and kings. After its destruction in the Second World War, in 1985 the building began to be reconstructed as a museum complex for Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.

4. Sanctissimae Trinitatis Cathedral

This cathedral, also known as the Catholic Court Church, is found between Schlossplatz and Theaterplatz, and is Saxony's largest ecclesiastical building. It was built by Chiaveri between 1738 and 1754 in the Baroque style. Since 1980 it has been the cathedral of the Dresden-Meissen diocese.

5. Semper Opera House
Built between 1838 and 1841 by Gottfried Semper, the opera house fell victim to the bombing of Dresden in 1945. Today, the Semper Opera House is considered one of the world's loveliest and is the residence and main venue for Dresden's Saxon State Orchestra.

6. Zwinger Palace

The most significant building of the late Baroque period, the Zwinger is a composite work of art combining architecture, sculpture and painting. Designed and built between 1710 and 1728, today the building houses the Old Masters Picture Gallery, the Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments and the Porcelain Collection.

7. Brühl's Terrace

The most architecturally beautiful section of the Elbe's banks in Dresden was laid out between 1739 and 1748 as Count Brühl's private pleasure gardens, and is known as the “Balcony of Europe”. From the terrace you can access the Art Academy, Dresden Fortress and the Albertinum.

8. Golden Horseman

This monument, Dresden's most famous, was built from 1732-1734 and shows Elector Friedrich August I, better known as Augustus the Strong, riding north-east on a horse, dressed in ancient garb. This statue was hammered out in copper by the smith Ludwig Wiedemann and fire-gilded. The Golden Horseman has been restored several times, most recently in 2002/2003. Since then it has shone in renewed glory with roughly 500 grams of gold leaf.
At the foot of Augustusbrücke bridge, the Golden Horseman points the way into the Inner Neustadt, and simultaneously northeast to the kingdom of Poland, whose crown Augustus the Strong gained in 1697.

9. Pfunds Dairy

Founded in 1880 by the Pfund brothers, this dairy is known as the “most beautiful dairy shop in the world”. Hand-painted majolica tiles decorate the walls, floor and sales counter with fabulous creatures, floral elements and motifs from the dairy industry.

10. Blue Wonder

This steel truss bridge was one of the first in Europe not supported by “piers”, an impressive technological achievement at the time and the reason the Loschwitz bridge was given the nickname “Blue Wonder”. “Blue” refers to its colour, which, according to a refuted story, it took on after originally being painted green. Since 1893, the bridge has connected the exclusive residential areas of Loschwitz and Blasewitz, attracting plenty of criticism on its appearance. Today, like the Frauenkirche and Golden Horseman, it is a famous symbol of the city, and the bridge with the oldest structure, as it was not damaged in the war.

Technical data:

• Total length 280 m
• Width 12 m
• Height of supports approx. 24 m
• Weight 3500 t

Official Tourist-Information Center

Dresden Information GmbH

Service Center
Mon to Fri 9 am to 6 pm
Sat 9 am to 5 pm

---

Phone +49 351 501 501
Fax +49 351 501 509
email info@dresden.travel
Link Tourist-Informationen

---

Postal address

Prager Straße 2b, 01069 Dresden