Dresden, the birthplace of milk chocolate

This delightful duo lives in Dresden. Where? Keep reading 🙂 Credits (1) at the end.

Dresden, the birthplace of milk chocolate, is a city of art, history and culture. It’s also the city made famous by Slaughterhouse Five. The inner city, left mostly in ruins after 1945, has been rebuilt in the image of its past Baroque elegance.

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In 2002, we spent one afternoon in Dresden.

Lured by the Rembrandts and the Rubens, we added a huge detour into a Wiesbaden-to-Berlin train trip so that we could spend one afternoon in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Gallery). The train schedule was tight, so we saw nothing of the city but the gallery, the train station and the street in-between.

For years, we’ve wanted to return to see more. Now, we finally have.

Stepping out of the main train station with our suitcases in tow, ambling down the pedestrian-only shopping district towards our hotel, it was hard to imagine that this was the same city that we had visited some 18 years ago. Walking along, admiring the modern storefronts, neither of us could remember the city looking this contemporary. It was also hard to imagine that this was the same city that had been destroyed near the end of WWII. Everything was so ~ shiny.

Once we got to the old inner city, the shine was replaced by buildings that had been built to look old but were clearly new. These new/old buildings are meant to coexist, to compliment, the restored, actual-old buildings of Old Dresden. After more than 45 years of neglect, those actual-old buildings have been lovingly and faithfully restored, using as many of the original stones and plans as possible, in hopes of reclaiming their pre-1945 grandeur.

Rebuild, Restore, Reclaim the history. We’ve seen this strategy used in Warsaw, Gdansk and elsewhere in this part of Europe.

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The bombings of February 1945 were a defining moment in Dresden’s history and still weigh heavily on the city, but there is much more to Dresden than those two days of destruction. Dresden has history, art, wine and chocolate. And resilience. Let’s begin with chocolate.

Food tour: begin with chocolate, end with wine

In 1839, Jordan & Timaeus, a chocolate company based in Dresden, used donkey milk to make the first known instance of milk chocolate. In 1875 the Swiss confectioner Daniel Peter developed a way to use Henri Nestlé’s invention, condensed milk, to make milk chocolate. This was fortunate for us because the condensed-milk version tastes much better.

This is the best way to begin a food tour: visit a chocolate shop! During our visit, we saw the chocolate-making process and then decorated our own chocolate pieces.

Our second stop was at a bakery where we had a slice of kalterhund (cold dog), a no-bake cake (hence the ‘kalter’ part of its name), made from a rich chocolate ganache layered with thin vanilla cookies and coated all around with the chocolate ganache. Yummy. First chocolate, then a cake. This tour was definitely going in the right direction.

Along the way, our guides gave us some Russisch Brot. Russisch Brot are crisp cookies flavored with caramelized sugar and shaped like letters. A local specialty created by a Russian immigrant, they are shaped like letters to help children learn the alphabet.

Next stop: potato soup and beer. Potato soup was a traditional healthy meal for the poor before WWII. The Dresden version is made with potatoes, carrots, vegetable stocks and herbs ~ no cream, bacon or cheese, as in the U.S.

Life in East Germany (GDR)

One of our guides has lived in eastern Germany since the mid-80s, back when it was the GDR (DDR in German). Born and raised in England, she came to the GDR to attend university and ended up staying. While eating our solyanka soup, she told us a bit about life in the GDR:

she said that because her expenses were low ~ rent and basic food were cheap ~ and there was little to spend money on, her salary went a long way.
If you wanted a luxury product or consumer goods, it was expensive and there would be a long wait.
There weren’t many restaurants or entertainment, so it was quite dull.

We were sorry we didn’t have more time with our guides, as they were funny and full of interesting stories. A good reason to return to Dresden and arrange another tour…

This is solyanka soup, a staple from Dresden’s communist years. It’s made with different kinds of meat, veggies, dill pickle and olives, topped by a dollop of sour cream and a slice of lemon. It’s quite good.

Saxony wine region: tasting local wines

Our food tour ended at a wine shop that specialized in local wines. Local wines? We had no idea that there are vineyards in the southeastern part of Germany. This wine region, while small, is an up-and-coming wine producer.

We sampled three wines: a Goldriesling (created in 1893 by crossing Riesling with another grape variety), a sparkling white and a red varietal called Regent. All three were yummy. We had planned to return the next day to buy some to take home, but that didn’t work out. So, here’s another good reason to return to Dresden: to buy local wines.

Frauenkirche: exemplifying Dresden’s resilience

Dresden, like much of this part of Europe, is both enriched and burdened by a long history. The 20th century in particular was unkind to this city, one that had once been known as the “Florence of the North.” The Frauenkirche, a celebrated example of Protestant sacred architecture, exemplifies this better than perhaps any other building in the city.

In the 18th century, the baroque, domed version of the Frauenkirche replaced an 11th-c. church. The distinctive dome is an engineering feat that has been compared to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This unique dome also gave Dresden a distinctive skyline that many artists featured in their works. The reunification of Germany in 1990 provided the opportunity for the church to be rebuilt. The rebuilding process began in 1994 and was completed in 2005.

The Frauenkirche in 1958. The church, along with the inner city, was destroyed by the February 1945 bombings. After the war, the East German government left the church in ruins as a war memorial. By 1958, the year of this photo, the statue of Martin Luther had been restored to its plinth. Credits (2) at the end.

The plaza around the Frauenkirche is called the Neumarkt. After German reunification, the plaza, left mostly untouched by the East German government, was rebuilt in the pre-WWII Baroque style.

The Frauenkirche can be seen from almost everywhere in the old city.

While the buildings’ appearances are inspired by the past, the rebuilt inner city also accommodates today’s needs. The streets and plazas surrounding the church are filled with restaurants, hotels and shops.

Construction cranes remain around the Neumarkt because even 75 years after the end of WWII, Dresden still hasn’t finished rebuilding.

Dresden’s other famous church, the Katholische Hofkirche, is a Roman Catholic Cathedral. It was built in this solidly Protestant city in the early 18th century because the king, Augustus the Strong, had to convert to Catholicism to also become the king of Poland. The large group of people, who are clearly not social distancing, were protesting against the proposal to fix the maximum speed limit on the autobahn to 130 kph rather than the current speed limit of “as fast as you want.”

The Semperoper is next to the Hofkirche and is home to a well-regarded opera company. The facade was undergoing work during our visit, so I found this image online to share. According to one of our guides, many locals think this building is a brewery, not an opera, because it’s featured prominently in the advertising of one of the biggest breweries in the area. Credits (3) at the end.

The statue on the top of the Semperoper is a chariot being pulled by four cats. A chariot being pulled by four horses is known as a quadriga; does that mean a chariot being pulled by four cats is a “cat-triga”?

We did not go inside the opera house because there was no need ~ some of the singers were performing in the plazas.

Dresden has been called the Florence of the North and The Jewel Box because of the beautiful Baroque and Rococo buildings. Bernardo Belloto painted the city in 1748. Credits (4) at the end.

In the 1860s, the city looked like this. Credits (5) at the end.

Dresden around the turn of the 20th century… (Credits (6) at the end.)

And of course, there is Art

Art lured us to Dresden first in ’02 and then again in ’20. We revisited the Rembrandts and Rubens, plus discovered many more artists. In addition to those two, Dresden is the home to works by Raphael, Lucas Cranach the Elder and many others. Wikipedia has a fine list of the artists and their works in the Old Masters Gallery and the New Masters Gallery (Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Kirchner).

Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” is one of, if not **the**, star of the Old Masters Gallery. The painting was purchased and brought to Dresden in 1754, at which time it immediately became popular and influential. Today, I believe that the two cherubs at the bottom are more famous than the painting in its entirety. Credits (1) at the end.

The Old Masters Gallery is in the Zwinger, a palace complex designed to impress visitors to Dresden’s royal court. This photochrome print is from around the turn of the 20th century… (Credtis (7) at the end.)

… and this is how we saw it on our visit.

The Zwinger’s main gate is topped with a crown to signify that the ruler of Dresden was also the king of Poland (at least for a while).

Our recommendation: visit Dresden

If you’re at all interested in art, history or just like to visit beautiful cities, visit Dresden. Dresden is a perfect stopover between Berlin and Prague. Berlin, Dresden, Prague ~ these three are part of an itinerary of the great cities of Europe.

As for us, I think we’ll be back. After all, we have more local wines to try and we want to hear more good stories from our food tour guides.

What else has changed about traveling?

This was our second trip since COVID restrictions have been relaxed. On our first trip, I talked about what had changed about travel. During this trip, had anything else changed?

No changes

Traveling by bus and train was the same this time as last; everybody wearing masks, social distancing, etc. The hotel check-in process was the same, too: everyone wearing masks and a plexiglass screen between the hotel clerk and us.

The changes

This time, breakfast was not served on a cling-wrapped tray, I’m happy to say. Breakfast was buffet style with two significant changes: we had to make a reservation and the kitchen staff served the food to us ~ we weren’t allowed to help ourselves. All in all, it was a good breakfast experience.

Another difference was that when we ate at a restaurant we didn’t have to provide our contact information (names, address and a phone number). Providing contact information is mandatory where we live and we have gotten used to it even in this short time frame, so the absence was notable.

Parting Shots

Odd and ends that don’t fit neatly elsewhere but that are ready for sharing.

We chanced upon this artist moving a bronze statue out into the plaza. Once the statue was in place, it seemed as if they said a tender goodbye.

View of a crosswalk seen while just hanging out. Light and shadow, up versus down, it reminded me of Dresden’s tumultuous history.

A view of the Frauenkirche at dusk seems an apt finale for this story.

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Credits

(1) File:RAFAEL – Madonna Sixtina (Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister, Dresden, 1513–14. Óleo sobre lienzo, 265 x 196 cm).jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAFAEL_-_Madonna_Sixtina_(Gemäldegalerie_Alter_Meister,_Dresden,_1513-14._Óleo_sobre_lienzo,_265_x_196_cm).jpg; Sistine Madonna, 1513-14, Peter Paul Rubens. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.

(2) File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-60015-0002, Dresden, Denkmal Martin Luther, Frauenkirche, Ruine.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-60015-0002,_Dresden,_Denkmal_Martin_Luther,_Frauenkirche,_Ruine.jpg; Dresden, Luther-Denkmal, Ruine der Frauenkirche, November 1958. (https://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/dba/de/search/?query=Bild+183-60015-0002) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-60015-0002 / Giso Löwe / CC-BY-SA 3.0

(3)File:Dresden Opera – panoramio.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_Opera_-_panoramio.jpg; photo by Art Anderson; 29 September 2016; This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

(4) File:Canaletto – Dresden seen from the Right Bank of the Elbe, beneath the Augusts Bridge – Google Art Project.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canaletto_-_Dresden_seen_from_the_Right_Bank_of_the_Elbe,_beneath_the_Augusts_Bridge_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg. “Dresden seen from the Right Bank of the Elbe, beneath the Augusts Bridge,” 1748. Bernardo Belloto (1722-1780). Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden The author died in 1780, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1925.

(5) File:Dresden Brühlsche Terrasse Belvedere 1860s.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_Brühlsche_Terrasse_Belvedere_1860s.jpg Dresden, Germany, Brühlsche Terrasse, Palais Belvedere, on the background far right first building of Semperoper between 1860 and 1869; Unknown author; This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 70 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1925.

(6) File:Dresden Elbe Terrassenufer.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden_Elbe_Terrassenufer.jpg “Dresden (Saxony, Germany) – view from Carolabrücke to Terrassenufer” between 1890 and 1905; Unknown author; This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1925.

(7) File:Dresden. Zwinger & Sophienkirche. – Detroit Publishing Co.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dresden._Zwinger_%26_Sophienkirche._-_Detroit_Publishing_Co.jpg between circa 1890 and circa 1900 Unknown author; This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1925.