I still remember the first time I visited Dresden earlier in the year. I was surprised and amazed by the grandness of the city. The spring bloom hadn‘t started yet and the trees were still bare. It was at the end of my first roadtrip (Slovakia, Poland, etc) and Dresden was one of my stops. Then I made it back there again, during summer. Because I had to see the green gardens. So, which one was better. Let’s compare visiting Dresden ‘Winter vs. summer’.
Dresden Winter
Dresden was part of Eastern Germany and it was amazing to see that the baroque church Frauenkirche has only been rebuilt and completed a few years ago. Originally completed in 1743 it has been totally destroyed after WWII. Then, being part of Eastern Germany, it just lay in gravel until the wall came down and it could finally start to be rebuilt again, 50 years later. I have read that the locals collected all the old rocks during those 50 years and put them aside. And they have been used for the reconstruction of the church. It is an unique and amazing church with a grand dome!
And then I saw the Zwinger. The Zwinger is a palace in Dresden, built in Baroque style and designed by a court architect (Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann) from 1709 on. Originally served as an orangery (for a few hundred orange Trees) it has soon developed into a place for exhibitions and a festival arena of the Dresden Court. The detail in each of the buildings and sculptures is stunning! Even without the green gardens inside the square it still looked amazing. Do I need to say more?
Although a day is probably enough time to take the city in, Dresden has become one of my top cities to see (although I did like Hamburg as well). So how is Dresden winter vs. summer. Let’s go and see…
Visiting Dresden Summer
With the season almost gone it was time to visit Dresden again. After all I had to compare Dresden winter vs. summer. So after Prague I headed north to make a stop in Dresden for a summer visit. And what a summers day it was! 36 degrees! Funnily it made almost 30 degrees hotter than my last visit. Talking about change of season. It was nice to see the city alive with coffee shops, ice cream temptations and lots of people.
The Zwinger looked just as stunning as in did in Winter but with more greenery. The buildings and gardens are still being refurnished in parts and I can’t wait to come back again and see the progress as well as the finished product. It was exciting to see that, in order to come close to the original design again, the orange trees were back as well. So just to say it one more time, in case you weren’t sure. Go and visit Dresden! xx
