SAXONY 165 Zittau Bastei Dresden © Lonely Planet Publications Planet Lonely © Königstein Radebeul Leipzig AREA: 18,413 SQ KM 18,413 SQ KM AREA
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© Lonely Planet Publications 165 S a x o n y Saxony has everything you could want in a German state: storybook castles peering down from craggy mountaintops, cobbled marketplaces serenaded by Gothic churches, exuberantly baroque palaces, nostalgic steam trains, indigenous Sorb folk traditions, great wine and food, and friendly locals who are justifiably proud of their riches. And through it all zigzags the broad-shouldered Elbe River, in a steady eternal flow, its banks lined by a gently dramatic landscape of neatly arrayed vineyards, sun-dappled parks, villa-studded hillsides, precipitous sandstone cliffs sculpted by time and the elements, and shaggy meadows where sheep graze amid sprouting wildflowers. It’s a natural mosaic that for centuries has tugged mightily at the hearts of visionaries, artists and wanderers. Canaletto and Caspar David Friedrich captured the baroque brilliance of Dresden and the mystical beauty of Saxon Switzerland on canvas; JS Bach penned some of his most famous works in Leipzig; and the 19th-century ‘musical poet’ Robert Schumann grew up in Zwickau. Saxony’s musical legacy is kept alive everywhere, but nowhere more so than at Dresden’s Semperoper and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, two of the world’s most famous halls. SAXONY SAXONY Dresden and Leipzig are the most high-profile cities, and each has its own personality. While the capital is playful, pretty and historic, bustling Leipzig has a more progressive, contemporary spirit. The latter sparked the ‘peaceful revolution’ of 1989, bringing down the Berlin Wall. Reunification has brought enormous change to Saxony, which was heavily industrialised. Cities that once crouched under the weight of neglect and pollution are again sparkling and proud, their centres alive with cafés and shops, and people walking with a spring in their step. Now is a good time to immerse yourself in this multifaceted and endlessly fascinating state. HIGHLIGHTS Time-Warp Gain an insight into the bizarre world of the GDR at museums in Leipzig (p185) and Radebeul (p179)R00)FA Fine Wining Savour sparkling wine at Rade- beul’s Schloss Wackerbarth winery ( p179 ) Leipzig Views Stand atop the Bastei ( p180 ) for Radebeul Dresden Zittau breathtaking panoramas of Saxon Switzer- Bastei Königstein land and the Elbe Castles Ramble around the massive Festung Königstein ( p181 ) with its glorious views Treasure Trove Be dazzled by the artistry of objects at Dresden’s Grünes Gewölbe ( p170 ) POPULATION: 2.58 MILLION AREA: 18,413 SQ KM 166 CENTRAL SAXONY •• Dresden lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com CENTRAL SAXONY •• Dresden 167 0 30 km SAXONY 0 20 miles But Dresden is a survivor and there is no station, Dresden-Mitte, is little more than a more potent symbol of its people’s determi- forlorn platform between the two main ones. To Berlin To Berlin (140km) B101 (120km) B169 P O L A N D nation than the resurrected Frauenkirche. Dresden’s central bus station is next to the SAXONY Spremberg ANHALT Torgau BRANDENBURG A13 Although the city celebrated its 800th anni- Hauptbahnhof. B6 Weisswasser B87 Neisse versary in 2006, it is also forward-looking and Dresden airport is 9km north of the city B169 B115 Halle Hoyerswerda solidly rooted in the here and now. There’s centre. Eilenburg some great new architecture, a constantly Wurzen River B101 B97 Leipzig B98 evolving arts and cultural scene, and zinging Information Oschatz B107 Riesa Elbe Grossenhain pub and nightlife quarters. BOOKSHOPS A9 Grimma B6 Görlitz Rv Moritzburg A4 Bautzen Take a few days and allow yourself to be Das Internationale Buch (%656 460; Altmarkt 24) A14 Meissen B6 B6 Radebeul caught up in this visual and cultural feast. We Excellent selection of English books. Naumburg B176 Colditz Döbeln B98 Löbau Zgorzelec Borna Bad Dresden B6 promise that Dresden’s world-class museums Der Reisebuchladen (%899 6560; Louisenstrasse 70b) Lausick Bastei Saxon B178 A4 Pillnitz Zeitz B95 Lohmen Switzerland B99 will mesmerise you, its riverside beer gardens Travel books and maps galore. B107 A17 Pirna Rathen B96 Altenburg Altenburg B173 Heidenau Bad Varnsdorf relax you and its light-hearted, almost Medi- Haus Des Buches (%497 360; Dr-Külz-Ring 12; i) Airport Schandau Zittau B7 Weesenstein Frankenberg Königstein Hinter- terranean, disposition, charm you. Lots of Lonely Planet titles, plus internet access. hermsdorf Jonsdorf B93 Flöha Freiberg B170 Schöna Oybin Meerane B172 Gera A4 Chemnitz Erdmannsdorf Orientation DISCOUNT CARDS A9 Augustusburg A17 B173 Dresden City-Card (per 48/72hr €19/29) Provides admis- Lichtenstein B101 The meandering Elbe River separates the Alt- THURINGIA Zwickau e Usti B180 g stadt (Old Town) to the south from the Neu- sion to 12 museums, discounted city tours and boats, and Teplice B95 B174 r A72 i stadt (New Town) to the north. From the free public transport. Buy it at the tourist office. Annaberg- b Schneeberg Buchholz e Hauptbahnhof (central train station) it’s just State Museums Day Card (adult/concession/ g Most B169 B101 z B282 Auerbach r a 10-minute walk north on pedestrianised family €10/6/20) Good at all museums administered by the E Plauen Prager Strasse, the main shopping street, to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, including the Zwinger To Frankfurt-am- Main (300km) Louny Frauenkirche and other blockbuster sights. museum and Neues Grünes Gewölbe. All State Museums B92 The main walking bridge to the Neustadt sell this card. SAXONY Hof C Z E C H is the Augustusbrücke, just west of the fa- BAVARIA Karlovy Vary R E P U B L I C To Munich mous riverside promenade called Brühlsche EMERGENCY (270km) Kladno SAXONY SAXONY Terrasse, with the Terrassenufer boat landing Ambulance (%112/19222) docks below. Police (%110) Information Elbe’s northern bank takes in a playful phalanx Augustusbrücke segues into pedestrianised If you need to book a room, or just want more of delicate spires, soaring towers and dominant Hauptstrasse, the main commercial strip in the INTERNET ACCESS information about Saxony, turn to www.visit domes belonging to palaces, churches and stately so-called Innere Neustadt (Inner New Town), Joker Spielothek (%288 0034; Wallstrasse 11; per hr saxony.com. buildings. Numerous artists, most notably which culminates at Albertplatz. Beyond this €3; h6am-2am Mon-Sat, 8am-2am Sun) the Italian Canaletto, have set up their easels to lies the Äussere Neustadt (Outer New Town), K&E Callshop (Wiener Passage; per hr €2; h10am- Getting Around capture this breathtaking panorama. Dresden’s main pub and bar quarter. 10pm) In the subterranean passageway outside the A serious enticement to use public transport ‘Florence of the north’, the Saxon capital About half a kilometre west of Albertplatz Hauptbahnhof. is the good-value Saxony-Ticket (€24), giving you was called in the 18th century, when it was a is Dresden-Neustadt, the city’s second train Spiel-In (Königsbrücker Strasse 54; per hr €2; h7am- and up to four accompanying passengers (or centre of artistic activity presided over by the station (most trains stop at both). A third midnight Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat & Sun). one or both parents or grandparents, plus all cosmopolitan Augustus the Strong (August der their children or grandchildren up to 14 years) Starke) and his son Augustus III. Their vision unlimited train travel during the period of its produced many of Dresden’s iconic buildings, SAXON SPEAK validity (9am to 3am the next day). Tickets are including the Zwinger, the Frauenkirche and The Saxons speak a dialect as incomprehensible to non-Saxons as Bavarian is to outsiders. Many good for 2nd-class travel throughout Saxony, the Hofkirche. visitors find themselves saying ‘Huh?’ more often than usual. It’s as if the Saxons learned German as well as in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. As But the fact that these monumental edifices from the Scots, with their very soft pronunciation of consonants. For example, when a Saxon says well as any regional Deutsche Bahn trains (IRE, are even here today is really a bit of a mira- ‘lahip-tsch’, he means Leipzig, and they pronounce ‘ü‘ like an English short ‘i’ – ‘bit-nershtrazze’ RE, RB and S-Bahn), you can also use some cle. On the night of 13 February 1945, in the for Büttnerstrasse. private trains, including the LausitzBahn. waning days of WWII, an Allied firebomb- But Saxon-speak is far from an odd off-shoot of German; on the contrary, it was from Saxony ing campaign reduced the baroque city to a that the German language developed. Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible into the Saxon heap of flaming, toxic rubble. Exact numbers language laid the foundation for a standard German language, and Saxons can also hark back CENTRAL SAXONY are blurred by politics and the presence of to a 1717 Dutch reference to the Saxon dialect as ‘the purest, most comprehensible, charming thousands of untraceable refugees, but some- and delightful to the ear of all German dialects’. DRESDEN where between 25,000 and 100,000 civilians In general, though, no outside praise is needed to reinforce Saxon pride in their dialect; %0351 / pop 478,000 were killed as a direct result of these attacks, ‘sächseln’ is the norm, and the worst thing a native can do here is ‘berlinern’ – start talking with There are few city silhouettes more striking the strategic justification of which remains a Berlin accent! than Dresden’s. The classic view from the extremely debatable. SAXONY 168 0 300 m DRESDEN 0 0.2 miles To Strasse E (2km); CENTRAL SAXONY••Dresden To Berlin 90 (200km) Dresden Airport (9km) Erlenstr INFORMATION Besucherdienst Semperoper....(see 15) 46 r G t Hechtstr Crazy Waschsalon..................... 1 D2 S r er o rt s Das Internationale Buch.............2 B5 rfu s E e Conradstr n Der Reisebuchladen....................3 E2 To Krankenhaus h a Dresden-Neustadt i r Eco-Express.............................(see 68) n Alaunplatz (3.5km); Radebeul e r 73 Frauenkirche Visitor's Centre....