Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [140]
If you’ve got tots in tow, they’re likely to have more fun in the Hygiene Museum’s integrated Children’s Museum. Located in the basement, it’s a highly interactive romp through the mysteries of the five senses.
YENIDZE
Northwest of the Altstadt, you can’t miss what looks like a huge kitschy mosque with a great stained-glass onion dome. The Yenidze (Weisseritzstrasse 3), the world’s first reinforced concrete-framed building, actually started out life in 1907 as a tobacco factory, manufacturing an unsuccessful pseudo-exotic cigarette named Salaam Alakhem. Today it’s home to three restaurants and a rooftop beer garden, with cultural events taking place in the dome.
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Walking Tour
This Altstadt circuit begins at Altmarkt and makes an arc northwest along the Elbe, taking in the main churches, the Semperoper, the Residenzschloss and the Zwinger. It’s a 1½-hour stroll, but with stops you could easily stretch the tour to a day.
The Altmarkt (1) was once the historic heart of Dresden. Postwar reconstruction here was heavily influenced by a socialist aesthetic, which meant lots of stark granite, an impractically wide square and the obnoxiously squat Kulturpalast (2; 486 60; www.kulturpalast-dresden.de; Schlossstrasse 2), home to the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra and the tourist office. The starkness is tempered by streetside cafes, the spanking new Altmarkt-Galerie (3) shopping mall and the late-baroque Kreuzkirche (4; tower adult/concession €2.50/2; 10am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, Sat 10am-4.30pm, Sun noon-5.30pm Apr-Oct, shorter hr Nov-Mar). Rebuilt after the war, the church’s interior was left deliberately plain and is best enjoyed during a concert, or at 6pm evening prayers (5pm December to March), which are accompanied by the church’s world-famous boys’ choir, the 700-year-old Kreuzchor.
Following Kreuzstrasse east, you’ll soon spot the neo-Renaissance Neues Rathaus (5; New Town Hall; 1905-10; tower adult/concession €3/1.70; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct) with its 100m-high climbable tower. Cut north through pedestrianised Weisse Gasse, the Altstadt’s most delightful dining street, to Wilsdruffer Strasse, where the Stadtmuseum (6; 488 7301; www.museen-dresden.de; Wilsdruffer Strasse 2; adult/concession €4/3; 10am-6pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun, 10am-7pm Fri) presents exhibits on general city history as well as on the reconstruction of the Frauenkirche. Also here is the Städtische Galerie (7; 488 7301; adult/concession €4/3; 10am-6pm Tue-Thu, Sat & Sun, 10am-7pm Fri), where the baroque city presents its modern side with a respectable collection of 20th-century art. Enter from Landhausstrasse.
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WALK FACTS
Start Altmarkt
Finish Zwinger
Distance 3.5km
Duration 1½ hours
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Follow Landhausstrasse northwest to Neumarkt, which is again dominated by the landmark Frauenkirche (8; Click here), whose reconstruction was completed in 2005. On Neumarkt, all around the church, construction is progressing at a steady clip, with sometimes controversial new hotels and shopping complexes springing up. For a preview, check www.neumarkt-dresden.de.
From the north side of Neumarkt, narrow Münzgasse leads straight to the Brühlsche Terrasse (9), a spectacular promenade that’s been called the ‘balcony of Europe’, with a pavement nearly 15m above the southern embankment of the Elbe. It’s a must for strolling, with expansive views of the river and the Neustadt on the opposite bank.
Beneath the promenade is the Renaissance brick bastion known as the Festung Dresden (10; Dresden Fortress; 438 370 312; adult/child incl audioguide €4/2; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm Nov-Mar), now a museum. The free audioguide helps bring the place to life. Enter from Georg-Treu-Platz.
Otherwise, take the staircase down to Brühlsche Gasse, which leads back to the Neumarkt. From here, turn