As a devotee since my teens of novelist
Kurt Vonnegut, my vision of Dresden had always been one of flaming ruins. An
American POW held in Dresden in February 1945, Vonnegut survived a massive and
controversial Allied air raid along with four German guards by hiding out in a
meat locker. Some 20 years later, he finally recounted the horror of the
bombing in his satiric, darkly humorous best seller, Slaughterhouse-Five.
So it was that my mental picture of
Dresden vanished in a mild morning breeze last May as I sailed into eastern
Germany's born-again capital of art and culture onboard Viking River Cruises' MS
Viking Schumann.
Some
60 years after its fiery destruction
in World War II and little more than a dozen years following
reunification,
Dresden has risen like the proverbial phoenix. It has become once again
the "Florence of the Elbe" and the German pearl of Baroque style as
seeded during
the early 18th century by the flamboyant Frederick Augustus I (The
Strong), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.
Dresden comes on day seven of a ten-day
experience featuring a cruise along the Elbe from Magdeburg through the heart
of the former GDR to Decin, Czech Republic, near Prague. I'm in the company of
my younger brother and sometimes photo-assistant Al and 88 other passengers -
American and German seniors for the most part - plus a few folks from the UK,
Switzerland and France. Al and I
forego Viking's included city tour in favor of exploring Dresden's walkable
historic center at our own pace.
Strolling above the Elbe along panoramic
Brühl Terrace, once known as "The Balcony of Europe," we approach grand
Augustusbrücke (Augustus Bridge) that leads to the magnificent portals of the
palace Georgenbau. We pass beneath the soaring bell tower of the former
Catholic Hofkirche, its blackened sandstone balustrades adorned by 78 saintly
statues, and onto the broad Theaterplatz. The scene is simply mind-boggling and
causes us to ponder how all of this could have been accomplished in the first
place - let alone rebuilt so splendidly in our own time.
Dominating the center of the square is a
massive equestrian statue of the Saxon King John, best remembered, perhaps, for
his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy. Sprawling the square's western flank is Gottfried Semper's majestic
Renaissance-style opera house, the Semperoper, which once premiered the works
of Bach, Mendelssohn, Wagner and Strauss. To the south stands the great glory
of Dresden Baroque, the renowned Zwinger Art Galleries, home to the world's
foremost collection of porcelain and an Old Masters Gallery lined with the
paintings of Titian, Correggio, Vermeer, Cranach, Rembrandt and Raphael.
One could spend a whole day in the Zwinger
complex alone but since we have only three hours to admire all of Dresden, we
cut short our gallery tour after a few moments of reverence before the Raphael
masterpiece, Sistine Madonna, and
head out again across the spacious Theaterplatz.
While the restoration of historic Dresden
is nearly complete, work continues at a determined pace to insure the city's
distinctive panorama - the "Elbe Silhouette" as rendered by painters through
the centuries - is fully restored and free of building cranes in time for gala
800th anniversary celebrations which get underway this year.
Hitting only the highlights now, we view
the Procession of Dukes. This
expansive 315-foot-long mosaic, depicting a parade of Saxon rulers and
comprised of 25,000 Meissen porcelain tiles, is affixed to the outer wall of
the Langer Gang, a wing of the royal palace that once housed the stables. The
use of porcelain here and its prevalence throughout the city reminds us that it
was Dresden alchemist Johann Friedrich Bšttger who invented European porcelain
in 1708, though production has always centered in Meissen. On the other side of
Langer Gang we linger for a moment to admire the 16th century Stable
Courtyard, its elegant Tuscan arcades bedecked with hunting trophies and
coats-of-arms of the Saxon estates.
A bit disgruntled as we stride past the
colossal Albertinum that there's no time left to explore the three museums
therein - including the fabled treasures of the Grünes Gewšlbe (Green Vault) -
we reboard the Viking Schumann,
destined for an overnight mooring at Bad Schandau in the cliff-lined Saxon Switzerland
region.
We realize, of course, that a river cruise
of this kind is introductory by its very nature with brief but frequent shore
calls. We preferred it that way for the most part and, in fact, selected this
cruise for its potential to show us as much as possible of the former East
Germany in just ten day's time. Comfort and convenience were deciding factors
as well and Viking Schumann proved
a perfect platform from which to explore a huge and historic chunk of Germany
we'd never seen.
Typical of European river cruisers, MS
Viking Schumann, (christened after
Clara, the 19th century pianist, composer and wife of Robert),
reveals a long, slender figure (320ft x 37ft) and is lined on two decks with 62
cozy but nicely fitted cabins. Each one has a large picture window looking out
over the river that contributes to a greater sense of space. All cabins are
twin-bedded, air-conditioned and equipped with telephone, radio, television,
shower, toilet, sink and hair dryer. Topside is a sun deck with enough space,
I'd think, to land a small plane. Deck chairs provide the ideal outpost from
which to view the passing countryside.
Forward on the upper deck there's a roomy
lounge and full-service bar. The dining salon, immediately below on main deck,
can accommodate a full complement of 124 passengers at a single seating. The ship's menu features a variety of
tasty and attractively presented German and Continental favorites, nearly
always complemented with fish, chicken and vegetarian alternatives.
Beginning in Berlin and concluding in
beautiful old-world Prague, this Elbe itinerary thoughtfully provides a couple
of days in both of these popular cities.
While one could easily write an article complete on each of them, space
limitations in these pages compel me to deal with the cruise portion of our
experience exclusively.
Hopping a chartered coach at our Berlin
Hotel, the Jolly Vivaldi, we were whisked to nearby Potsdam where we were
suitably introduced to the elaborate German rococo style at the 18th
century Sans Souci Palace. Then it
was on to Magdeburg where MS Viking Schuman stood ready for the six-day voyage to
Decin/Prague. Puzzled at first by
the fact that, although southbound, we were moving against the current, it finally came to us that the Elbe is
one of those rare north-running rivers - flowing from its source in the
Bohemian hills of the Czech Republic and emptying into the North Sea beyond
Hamburg.
Magdeburg is the flourishing new
(post-unification) regional capital of Saxony-Anhalt and is a center of commerce
and education. Magdeburg University has just been rated tops in the country and
everywhere you look those drab structures of the socialist era are toppling in
favor of more up-to-date designs, including that of a massive new glass and
steel shopping mall in the city center. Historic buildings are being restored
right and left as well, although the lofty 13th century Gothic Dom -
one of the country's most impressive cathedrals - appears in certain need of
shoring up.
In Dessau we viewed the Bauhaus, one of
the classic buildings of modern times and home to this century's most
influential architectural and design movement, pioneered by Walter Gropius,
Mies van der Rohe, Vasili Kandinsky and others. At nearby Wörlitz, it was back
to nature as we roamed the 270-acre English Gardens of Prince Leopold III
(Friedrich Franz von Anhalt-Dessau). Laid out by Prince Franz in 1764 it was
not only one of the first, but also the largest and most splendid of landscape
parks on the European continent.
Wittenberg is well-known as the seat of
the Protestant Reformation and most of this Elbe-side city's attention is
directed to the doings of Martin Luther who in 1517 changed the course of world
religion when he posted to the doors of the Schlosskirche his "95 Theses" attacking
Rome for its corrupt trade in indulgences. Viking's included excursion takes in the remarkable
Lutherhalle, a former Augustinian monastery and Luther home - now the
definitive museum on the life and work of Luther and an immense repository of
Lutherabilia. The famous Schlosskirche doors, incidentally, were destroyed
during the Seven Years' War; their bronze replacements were installed in 1858
and have the Latin texts of the 95 Theses inscribed on them.
Torgau presents a scenic mooring for MS Viking Schumann - in the shadows of massive Schloss Hartinfels, a
castle with a moat that harbors brown bears just as it did in medieval times,
and the Gothic spire of the Marienkirche, which contains the tomb of Katharina
von Bora, wife of Martin Luther, who died in the town. Here, like Dresden and
many other places we visited the recent history of World War II figures
significantly. Torgau was the spot where Soviet and American armies met up in April
1945, spelling the end for Nazi Germany. There's a stern Stalinist monument to
the meeting at river's edge.
Moored next evening in Meissen, we had
plenty of time to explore this city, so renowned for its craftsmanship and so
notable for its 18th century structure and appearance.
Since 1710 the Meissen porcelain factory
has been producing its revered handmade ornamental and functional porcelain,
each piece bearing the famous blue crossed swords. We join an afternoon tour of
the factory to learn about the intricate manufacturing process and to view the
facility's vast porcelain collection. Buying any of these treasures is another
matter, however, when we learn prices have gone up almost 50 percent across the
board since unification - and, of course, introduction of the profit motive.
Later we tour Albrechtsburg Castle,
perched on a hill above the city, and wander medieval lanes back down to the
marketplace where old bürger houses reflect the fusion of flamboyant Gothic
with the new spirit of the Renaissance.
At the 200-year-old weinschönke, Vincenz
Richter, Al and I settle in among displays of swords and armor for a taste of
the region's dry, distinctive Müller-Thurgau. From the nearby Frauenkirche
comes a chime. But what kind of bells are these, so light and melodious? Porcelain, of course, and the first of
their kind in the world!
Toasting the day, we concur that Meissen
has been our favorite of the trip.
Ah, but that was the day before DresdenÉ
For more information about Viking River Cruises' Elbe program, contact your travel agent or visit www.vikingrivercruises.com
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Dave G. Houser is an award-winning New Mexico-based travel journalist and member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and North American Travel Journalists Association (NATJA). See www.houser.squarespace.com