Dresden: capital of Saxony, river city and cultural center

Location and area

The city lies on both sides of the Elbe to a large extent in the Dresden Elbe valley widening, embedded between the foothills of the Osterzgebirge, the steep slope of the Lusatian granite plate and the Elbe sandstone mountains at the transition from the northeast German lowlands to the eastern low mountain ranges in the south of eastern Germany.

The northern and northeastern city area therefore belongs to the Westlausitzer Hügel- und Bergland (Dresdner Heide and Schönfelder Hochland). In the south, the valley outlets of the Ore Mountain drains and highlands mark the transition to the Eastern Ore Mountain Foothills (more narrowly referred to as the Dresden Ore Mountain Foothills and Meissen Highlands). The Dresden Elbe Valley Widening is a subunit of the Saxon Elbland. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation has assigned Dresden entirely to the large-scale natural landscape "D19 Sächsisches Hügelland und Erzgebirgsvorland".

The altitude reference for Dresden is the Altmarkt as the central square of the city with an altitude of 113 m above sea level, the zero point of the Elbe level is at 102.73 m. The highest elevation in the city area is the 383 m high Triebenberg on the right bank of the Elbe, the lowest point is on the banks of the Elbe in Niederwartha at 101 m.

After some large-scale incorporations, the city is the fourth largest large city in Germany in terms of area, behind Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne and ahead of Bremen and Munich, and ranks 14th in the list of the largest municipalities in Germany in terms of area. The length of the city boundary is 139.65 km. The extent of the city area is 22.6 km in the north-south direction and 27.1 km in the east-west direction.

Apart from the navigable Elbe (length in the city area: 30 km), the two left tributaries Lockwitzbach and Weißeritz flow through the city area, as well as the Prießnitz flowing in on the right. In addition, smaller rivers such as the Kaitzbach, the Landgraben and the Lausenbach flow through the city.

Nature

After large-scale incorporations, Dresden, with 63% green and forest areas, is one of the major cities in Europe with the highest proportion of vegetation area, of which the Dresden Heath, with 5876 ha, forms the largest closed forest area. In total, Dresden has 7341 ha of forest areas and 676 ha of water areas. In the city area there are four nature reserves with 298 ha and eleven landscape protection areas with more than 12,000 ha, partly congruent with ten FFH areas with almost 1900 ha. Numerous listed gardens, avenues and parks as well as cemeteries form 112 natural monuments with 140 ha or 15 protected landscape elements with 71 ha. In the city area there are also three bird sanctuaries with 1612 ha.

The natural and cultural landscape of Dresden's Elbe Valley with the Elbe meadows stretches almost 20 km through the city area, but is interrupted in the city center. At a particularly wide point near the center, it is cut through by the Waldschlößchen Bridge, built from 2007 to 2013, which is why UNESCO removed the Elbe Valley from its World Heritage List in 2009 after years of controversy.

There are about 54,000 street trees in Dresden.

Geology

Glacigenic deposits of Pleistocene age characterize the predominant part of the near-surface rocks in the urban area of Dresden. In the Elbe valley, fluviatile deposits dominate, while in the area of the southern valley slope mostly eolian sediments in the form of loess and loess loam occur. In the south and southwest, these sediments are interrupted by outcrops of bedrock and transitional stock. These are a diverse sequence of rocks of different formations and ages, e.g. Cretaceous plains, Permian (red-lying) sedimentites and volcanic rocks, and Variscan intrusive rocks. In the morphologically higher northern parts of the city, there are also Proterozoic granitoids near the surface.

The dominant tectonic element is the Lusatian fault (also Lusatian overthrust). It runs roughly parallel to the Elbe and characterizes the landscape of Dresden in a typical way.

Climate

Dresden with its humid climate is located in the cool-temperate climate zone, but a transition to the continental climate is noticeable. The largest part of the inhabited city area is located in the Elbe valley. There, the microclimate is milder than in the parts of the city on the slopes and in the hill country in the immediate vicinity. The meteorological observatory at Dresden-Klotzsche Airport is located on the northern edge of the city above the Elbe basin. At its location at 227 m above sea level, it is about 1-2 degrees colder than in the city center throughout the year.

In the period 1981 to 2010, the mean temperature in Klotzsche was 0.1 °C in January and 19.0 °C in July. The monthly temperatures in the inner city have roughly similar values to those in southwestern German cities. With an annual mean temperature in the inner city area of 10.4 °C, Dresden is one of the warmest cities in Germany. Especially in summer, the location between the warm Lausitz and the cooler Erzgebirge is remarkable. Temperature differences of up to 10 degrees can prevail between these two regions on individual days. The city boundary is then in a way also an isotherm. The Ore Mountains can have a warming effect on Saxony through foehn weather conditions.

Dresden has an average of 1641 hours of sunshine per year.

February is the month with the least precipitation in the long-term average from 1981 to 2010, with an average of less than 40 mm; July is the month with the most precipitation; the western parts of the city (Dresden-Gohlis station, 591 mm) receive on average about 10 % less precipitation than the eastern parts (Dresden-Hosterwitz station, 670 mm). The highest amount of rain within 24 hours fell on August 12, 2002, with 158 mm. The so-called Vb weather situation, which led to this precipitation event and affected the entire Saxon and Bohemian region, resulted in severe flooding of the Elbe.

The cold record in Dresden is minus 30.5 degrees Celsius, measured in the city center on February 11, 1929.

Flood protection

Due to Dresden's location on the Elbe and on tributaries from the Osterzgebirge, flood protection had to be taken into account in the city's development. To this end, open spaces were left and old arms were kept largely free of construction. In addition to this retention, there are flood channels to drain water more quickly. Flood control systems, on the other hand, are hardly found in the city, but in the Ore Mountains to the south and on the upper reaches of the Elbe.

Surroundings

Nearby major cities are Chemnitz (80 km southwest), Leipzig (100 km northwest) and the Czech capital Prague (150 km south). Berlin is 200 km to the north; Wrocław, Dresden's closest twin city, is 230 km to the east.

In the neighborhood are the district of Bautzen with the city of Radeberg, the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge with the cities of Pirna, Heidenau and Freital and the district of Meißen with Moritzburg and the city of Radebeul. All the cities mentioned border directly on Dresden and form the core area of the Dresden conurbation. A little further away are Meißen, Riesa and the mining town of Freiberg. Other neighboring communities are the town of Wilsdruff and Klipphausen to the west, Radeburg, Ottendorf-Okrilla and Wachau to the north, and Arnsdorf and Dürrröhrsdorf-Dittersbach to the east. Adjacent to the south are Dohna, Kreischa and Bannewitz.

Dresden is part of the Elbe/Labe Euroregion.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Dresden was one of the five most populous cities in Germany. In 1933, the highest figure in the city's history was reached with 642,143 inhabitants. The census on May 17, 1939, showed 629,713 inhabitants, of which 281,379 were men and 348,334 women. World War II reduced the city's population to about 468,000 (1946 census). By the mid-1980s, the population increased to about 520,000. Thereafter, due to out-migration and suburbanization, the number of resident population with primary residence decreased to about 453,000 by 1998, below the 1946 figure, which covered a smaller area, despite the incorporations of the 1950s. Thereafter, it was increased by incorporations and is now rising permanently due to a slight surplus of migration and births. The population on June 30, 2006 was exactly 500,068 (only main residences). On August 12, 2006, after extensive investigations, a newborn was therefore symbolically welcomed as the city's 500,000th resident by the mayor.

With more than 6,000 births (in 2012), Dresden was considered the "birth capital" among major German cities until 2014. On December 31, 2017, according to the population register, Dresden had 557,098 inhabitants with a population density of 1,696 inhabitants per square kilometer. On December 31, 2018, 560,641 residents had their primary residence in Dresden, according to the population register. On December 31, 2019, 563,011 residents had their primary residence in Dresden, according to the population register, with a population density of 1,715 residents per square kilometer. On March 31, 2020, the population was 562,132. Dresden ranks 44th among the largest cities in the European Union.

Migration

Germans with migration background

As of December 31, 2018, approximately 23,176 Germans with a migration background lived in Dresden (resident population with foreign origin and German citizenship; equivalent to 4.1 percent of all Dresden residents).

Foreigners, refugees and asylum seekers

The proportion of foreigners (resident population without German citizenship) in Dresden was 8.0 percent on December 31, 2018. From 2010 to 2018, the proportion of foreigners increased from 4.7 to 8.0 percent, or from 24,692 to 44,665 persons. The largest groups of foreigners arriving during 2014 included people from Syria (512 people), Eritrea (216), China (172), India (129), Tunisia (109), and Libya (78). In 2013, Dresden received 1,333 asylum seekers, and 1,740 were expected in 2014. In July 2015, around 2,600 asylum seekers were living in Dresden. Due to the increasing number of refugees, Dresden planned to open 14 new transitional housing centers by the end of 2016 or to expand the number of transitional housing centers to 19 locations.

Settlement area

Buildings and open spaces account for 8087 hectares in the city area, and in 2011 there were 292,740 apartments with 286,889 households in Dresden.

A comparison of Äußerer Neustadt and Innerer Neustadt shows how finely structured and differently populated the urban areas are. With more than 15,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, Äußere Neustadt is the most densely populated district in Dresden, while Innere (historical) Neustadt has a much lower population density of around 4,000 inhabitants per square kilometer, although it is far higher than other districts.

The area with the densest settlement is the borough of Blasewitz: this is primarily associated with the district of Striesen, less so with the former municipal area of Blasewitz. Dense settlement here is not an indication of inferior housing, as could still be true in the days of narrow backyard development; on the contrary, the principles for development as early as the 1880s led, on the one hand, to the Dresden villas as a type of multi-family house, and on the other hand, despite dense development, this resulted in a greened-through district. Moreover, the Elbe with its floodplains acts as a border of the urban space in the area of Blasewitz, which is why the densely populated areas on the left bank of the Elbe and the quasi-unpopulated areas of the Dresden Heath on the right bank of the Elbe are very close to each other. Blasewitz itself was not annexed to Dresden until 1921, although at that time large parts of the current urban district (Striesen since 1892) already belonged to the city. Dresdner Heide, in turn, is located in the borough of Loschwitz, which is the most sparsely populated borough with 268 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Religions

The Reformation took hold in Dresden in 1539. From about 1571, the city advocated strict Lutheranism. In 1661, Catholic services were held in Dresden again for the first time. In 1697, Elector Friedrich August I arranged for the court to convert to the Catholic faith so that he could be crowned King August II of Poland. The Catholic congregations were not given equal status with the Protestant congregations until 1807 and remained a small minority in terms of membership. Of the 396,146 inhabitants of Dresden counted on December 1, 1900 (excluding the later incorporated suburbs, but including the Albertstadt estate, including 11,962 military men), 349,145 were Lutherans, 3340 Reformed, 36,910 Roman Catholics and 3029 Jews.

The end of the monarchy led to the separation of church and state after World War I and to the election of the first Protestant state bishop in 1922. Of the 629,713 inhabitants counted in 1939, 513,301 were Protestants, 40,951 Catholics, 3052 other Christians and 1459 Jews. After World War II, during the GDR period, the proportion of Protestant church members declined from about 85% (1949) to 22% (1989). In 1980 Dresden became the seat of a Catholic bishop, with the Catholic Court Church being elevated to the status of cathedral of the Dresden-Meissen diocese.

Denomination statistics

According to the 2011 census, 15.3% of residents were Protestant and 4.3% were Roman Catholic, while 80.4% were non-denominational, belonged to another religious denomination, or did not specify. At the end of 2019, 76,159 (14%) belonged to one of the Evangelical Lutheran churches and 26,438 (5%) to the Roman Catholic church. At the end of 2018, 78,782 (14.1%) belonged to one of the Evangelical Lutheran Churches and 25,776 (4.6%) to the Roman Catholic Church. A decrease in the number of Protestants was offset by a small increase in the number of Catholics. Today, a majority of 81.3% of Dresdeners are non-denominational. The city administration estimated the number of members of other Christian denominations, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox Church, free churches and non-Christian communities at about 5000 people. There were about 760 Jews living in Dresden in 2011. Other registered religious communities include Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu faith communities and the Bahá'í faith community.

First settlement, city foundation and Middle Ages

The first settlements in the Dresden area existed as early as the Neolithic period. The circular ditches in Nickern from the 5th millennium BC were the first monumental buildings in today's city area.

The ford through the Elbe at the level of today's old town probably existed in the early Middle Ages. However, settlement remained problematic despite the lucrative location on the Elbe and its fertile soils due to heavy forestation. Dresdene's name, derived from the Old Sorbian drežďany (= "swamp" or "floodplain dweller," plural form), points to an originally Slavic settlement. Dresdene was located in what was then the Gau Nisan, which came from Bohemia to the German king Conrad III in 1142. Nearby Meissen was the seat of the Margraves of Meissen from 968 and thus developed into the central place of the Margraviate of Meissen, which was established in the course of the expansion and incorporation of the Sorbian settlement areas east of the Elbe and Saale rivers. To the southeast of Dresden was the castle county of Dohna, which was independent of the empire from 1156 onwards.

On March 31, 1206, Dresden is mentioned for the first time in a preserved document: Acta sunt hec Dresdene. The document, issued in Dresden, deals with a court case concerning the demolition of Thorun Castle on Burgwartsberg, which is located in the area of the present-day city of Freital south of Dresden between Potschappel and Pesterwitz. In a document dated January 21, 1216, Dresden is already mentioned as a city: "Acta sunt hec ... in civitate nostra Dreseden".

In 1350, Dresden (Altendresden), today's Innere Neustadt, was mentioned for the first time as an independent settlement "Antiqua Dressdin". There is no documentary evidence that Altendresden was granted city rights, but it is said to have been granted by Wilhelm I on December 21, 1403.

It was not until March 29, 1549, under Elector Moritz, that the right and left parts of the city formed a single unit.

Early modern times

When the right of staple was obtained on September 17, 1455, Dresden was still a rather insignificant city, but after the Leipzig partition of the Wettin lands in 1485, it became the ducal residence of the Saxon rulers for centuries and, with the elevation of the Wettin dominions to the status of an electorate and kingdom, experienced an upgrade as a political and cultural center. The transfer of the electoral dignity within the House of Wettin (Wittenberg Surrender) made the city the capital of the most important Protestant land within the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. During this period, important cultural institutions were established, which have made the city special until the present day. The Dresden Mint, initially established by Elector August in 1556 in the immediate vicinity of the Residence Palace, became the only mint in the Electorate after the closure of all state mints.

Dresden was never plundered or destroyed during the Thirty Years' War, but around 1632 its development was disrupted by plague and famine as well as the general economic stagnation. The history since the Thirty Years' War is very eventful: on the one hand, the world-famous buildings and parks were created; on the other hand, the city was involved in almost all major European wars and was affected several times.

In 1685, Altendresden burned down completely. It was subsequently rebuilt over several decades and completed in 1732 as the "New Royal Town". The district is therefore referred to as Neustadt. Under Frederick Augustus I, known as Augustus the Strong, Dresden gained the cultural importance it still has today through the Dresden Baroque and the opulent court festivities of the Dresden court. In December 1745, the city was conquered for the first time by Prussia in the War of the Austrian Succession. Again it was unsuccessfully occupied by Prussia in the Seven Years' War in 1756. When the Austrian army approached the city, the Prussian governor called for retaliation and had the city partially burned. In 1760 Prussia unsuccessfully besieged Dresden, shelling the city center. In 1785, Friedrich Schiller wrote the poem An die Freude (To Joy) for the plaque of the Masonic lodge "Zu den drei Schwertern" in Dresden. This poem was set to music by Ludwig van Beethoven for his 9th Symphony. The melody of the theme of this setting is the anthem of the European Union.

In the spring of 1791, the Pillnitz Declaration, issued in the nearby town of Pillnitz, set the stage for more than 150 years of hostility between Germany and France. In it, the mainly German monarchs called on the European powers to crush the French Revolution.

19th and early 20th century

In the greater Dresden area in 1813, in the wars of liberation against Napoleon, pre-decisive battles of the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig took place. Saxony, and thus Dresden, fought on the side of France; the city was further fortified by the French and protected by their troops. Napoleon won one of his last victories on German soil in the Battle of Dresden on August 27, 1813. Some of the southern suburbs of Dresden were heavily destroyed, and the city of Dresden resembled a large field hospital due to the large number of wounded.

The Dresden May Uprising of May 3-9, 1849, which followed the March Revolutions, forced the Saxon King Frederick August II to leave the city. He was only able to regain it with Prussian support. Well-known participants in the uprising were Richard Wagner and Gottfried Semper; both subsequently left Saxony. After the suppression of the revolution, the Dresden Conferences took place here in 1850/1851, the only ones in the period of the German Confederation at which all states were represented.

In the rest of the 19th century, Dresden was spared from wars and became the capital of one of the most prosperous states in the German Empire. During World War I, the city remained untouched by direct combat, but the population declined by almost 20,000 people between 1910 and the first post-war year of 1919.

The 11th German Fire Brigade Day was held in Dresden from July 17 to 19, 1880.

Weimar Republic

After the November Revolution in 1918, Dresden became the capital of the (first) Free State of Saxony. It was one of the ten largest cities in Germany and a cultural and economic center of the Weimar Republic. In 1919, the Dresden Secession was founded, whose most famous member was Otto Dix. This group was preceded by the Brücke association before the First World War. In 1925, the Palucca-Schule Dresden, an important school of the performing arts, was founded alongside the existing Hochschule für Bildende Künste. The Saxon State Opera was an important stage for world premieres. By 1913, the Schauspielhaus of the State Theater had been built.

Although Dresdner Bank, founded in 1872, moved its headquarters to Berlin in the 19th century, Dresden remained an important banking center, especially for smaller family-run private banks, until the 1920s. Leading companies existed here between 1918 and 1933 in (electrical) engineering, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, as well as tobacco processing and the food and luxury food industry. Some of these companies have survived (often in newly founded form) to the present day. The tramway companies taken over by the city in 1909 were privatized again in 1930 as Dresdner Straßenbahn AG.

National Socialism period

The approximately 5,000 Jewish Dresdeners who were still community members in 1933 were expelled or later deported to concentration camps. Anti-Semitism in Dresden is documented above all by Victor Klemperer's diaries ("I will bear witness to the last"). After the Second World War, only 41 Jews still lived in the city.

During the book burnings on March 8 and May 10, 1933, the works of Dresden's Erich Kästner, among others, were to be "symbolically erased forever. Dresden's primarily Expressionist cultural life from the first quarter of the 20th century came to an end in 1933. The works of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff or Otto Dix from this period were part of the Degenerate "Art" exhibition. 56 works from the Galerie Neue Meister were confiscated. The State Opera, dominated by works by Richard Strauss, also came under pressure. As early as March 1933, a theatrical scandal staged by the SA at a "Rigoletto" performance drove its famous longtime general music director Fritz Busch from Dresden; Erna Berger, once discovered by Busch, now engaged at the Berlin State Opera and guesting that evening as Gilda, witnessed this barbarism. The Strauss opera "Die schweigsame Frau" could only be premiered there in 1935 because of its Jewish librettist Stefan Zweig, thanks to the prominence of its composer, but had to be taken off the schedule after only three repetitions and disappeared from the scene in Germany.

During the November pogroms in 1938, the Old Synagogue (Sempersynagogue) was burned down. Numerous stores and homes were vandalized and looted before the eyes of the police, and Jewish citizens were mistreated. The male wealthy Jewish citizens were subsequently deported to concentration camps in order to force them to emigrate and to aryanize their assets.

Between 1939 and 1945, concentration camp prisoners, mainly from the camps in Auschwitz and Flossenbürg, were located in the city in concentration camp satellite camps. Several hundred women were forced to perform forced labor in the armaments industry at Zeiss Ikon (685 women at the Goehle plant and 400 women in Dresden-Reick) and at the Universelle machine factory (685 women). In addition, there was a concentration camp subcamp at Schandauer Strasse 68 in Dresden-Striesen for the Berlin armaments factory Bernsdorf & Co. 500 Jews were forced to perform forced labor here at the Striesen metal works and, after the bombing of Dresden, were evacuated in large part provisionally to Pirna, and later to Zwodau and Theresienstadt. 497 children were born in the "Kiesgrube Dresden" nursing home for foreigners, and 225 infants and toddlers died there. The surviving private banks owned by Jewish families were attached to the Dresdner Bank under duress. Dresden had been a military center for centuries and served as a base for large military units until 1945. Albertstadt, north of the city center, was designed as a self-sufficient military town and was further developed during the National Socialist era.

During World War II, the first air raids on the greater Dresden area were flown as early as August 1944, after which the city prepared for bombing. During the air raids on Dresden, large parts of the city area were severely damaged by British and U.S. bombers in four successive nightly waves of attacks from February 13 to 15, 1945. The exact number of victims is uncertain. In the past, individual publications - and still many historical revisionist and right-wing extremist publications - gave the wrong figure of around 350,000 dead. The Report of the Joint Relief 1941-1946 of the International Red Cross also gave a false figure of 275,000 victims. More recently, the number of victims has been corrected to 22,700, or at most 25,000. According to the historian Frederick Taylor, the false number of victims was falsified by the Nazis themselves: a zero was simply added in order to create a mood against the Allies in neutral media and countries. Damage to buildings is also often overstated. Sixty percent of the city area was severely affected by the attacks, 15 km² starting from the city center were even totally destroyed; districts in the north and northwest, on the other hand, were little destroyed. Dresden-Klotzsche Airport, which was located north of the city limits at the time, was the main supply base for Breslau, which was encircled from mid-February 1945 until May 6, before Dresden itself was occupied by the Red Army on May 8, the day of the Wehrmacht's unconditional surrender. Prior to this, in a covert action, five people, including Paul Zickler and Erich Stöckel, who are named on a memorial plaque, thwarted the demolition of the Blue Wonder planned by the SS without the knowledge of the others.

GDR time

From 1952 to 1990, Dresden was the capital of the Dresden district of the same name.

During the period of socialism, many remains of the heavily destroyed city were removed. Many of Dresden's ruins, including the remains of St. Sophia's Church, but especially the historic residential buildings, were demolished or blown up. The historic city center was thereby gutted and continuously rebuilt. The area around the once busy Prager Strasse resembled a wasteland before it was rebuilt in the socialist style at the beginning of the 1960s.

Above all, the historical monumental buildings were renewed or completely reconstructed, such as the Ständehaus (1946), the Augustusbrücke (1949), the Kreuzkirche (until 1955), the Zwinger (until 1963), the Katholische Hofkirche (until 1965), the Semperoper (until 1985), the Japanische Palais (until 1987) and the two largest train stations (partly continuously). Some of these works, influenced by the overall economic situation of the GDR, dragged on for decades and were sometimes interrupted for long periods. The castle was secured for many years and parts were reconstructed (such as the stable yard). It was not until 1986 that the reconstruction began, which continues to the present day. The ruins of the Frauenkirche were to remain on Neumarkt as a memorial against the war.

While Theaterplatz and Schloßplatz were at least built according to historical models in 1990, Neumarkt remained completely undeveloped. The Altmarkt, on the other hand, is characterized by buildings of Socialist Classicism and a spatial design and orientation according to Socialist ideals (e.g. the Palace of Culture).

From 1955 to 1958, a large part of the art treasures captured from the Soviet Union was returned, so that from 1960 many museums of the State Art Collections could be opened in rebuilt facilities or interim exhibitions. The important orchestras such as the Staatskapelle performed in alternative venues (for example, in the Kulturpalast from 1969). Parts of the cultural institutions were moved out of the city center (such as the State Library to the Albertstadt).

The Outer New Town, which was virtually undestroyed during the war, was preserved due to citizen protests. It was threatened with demolition in the 1980s because its buildings had been severely neglected and were therefore in poor condition.

In Prohlis and Gorbitz, large housing estates were built on previously undeveloped land. Johannstadt and other areas in the city center were also built over in large block construction. The villa districts in Blasewitz, Striesen, Kleinzschachwitz, Loschwitz and Weißen Hirsch were largely preserved.

Until the end of the Cold War, the 1st Armored Guard Army of the Soviet Army and the 7th Armored Division of the National People's Army were stationed in and around Dresden. After the fall of communism in the GDR from 1989, in accordance with the provisions of the Two Plus Four Treaty of 1990, Soviet/Russian troops were withdrawn from Germany in the early 1990s and the NVA was disbanded.

Between September 30 and October 5, 1989, special trains carrying refugees from the German Embassy in Prague traveled via Dresden and Plauen to the Federal Republic. Especially on the night of October 4 to 5, thousands of people gathered at the main train station. Violent clashes broke out between security forces and citizens, some of whom were demonstrating and others trying to catch the trains to escape. On October 8, around 20,000 people marched through Dresden, demonstrating for freedom of travel and freedom of expression, among other things. A large number of them were surrounded by police on Prager Straße. The "Group of 20" was spontaneously formed, which the next day presented the demonstrators' demands to the SED mayor Wolfgang Berghofer. The following day, the first large Monday demonstration took place in Leipzig, as they did in Dresden in the following weeks.

Since 1990

After the political change in 1989 and the German reunification in 1990, Dresden again became the capital of the re-established state of Saxony.

In the city, some old buildings were once again demolished. However, many others were restored with the help of tax subsidies. Many areas of Dresden are therefore considered examples of successful restoration of architectural monuments and are listed as complete ensembles.

In August 2002, the city was hit by the "flood of the century". The Weißeritz and the Elbe together with several of their tributaries flooded the city. The Elbe reached a level that exceeded the worst flood to date in 1845. The repair of the infrastructure after the flood continues to the present day; affected structures were restored much more quickly.

With the construction of the Waldschlößchen Bridge, Dresden received a fourth Elbe crossing for road traffic in 2013.

On October 30, 2005, the Frauenkirche was consecrated after ten years of reconstruction, largely financed by donations ("Miracle of Dresden"). In 2006, the city celebrated its 800th anniversary (formally on the day of its first documentary mention on March 31). The highlight was a re-enactment of the complete procession of princes by horsemen in historical costumes as part of the pageant in August. On June 5, 2009, Barack Obama was the first president of the United States to visit the city and met with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Residence Palace. He then visited the Frauenkirche.

In 2012, Dresden University of Technology was included in the group of "elite universities" in Germany.

In October 2014, the Islamophobic and xenophobic movement Pegida, which gained much attention through demonstrations in Dresden and subsequently in other cities in 2015, took off. On April 21, 2015, the city, together with the Swedish city of Vara, received the Europe Prize, which is awarded annually by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to municipalities that have rendered outstanding services to the European idea.

Historical

→ Main articles: Development of the urban area of Dresden, List of districts of Dresden, List of boroughs and localities in Dresden and List of statistical districts of Dresden and List of streets and squares in Dresden.

Originally, the oldest part of the city was located on the right bank of the Elbe River. The district of Altendresden no longer exists. After it burned down, it was rebuilt in 1732 as the New Royal Town, later simplified as Neustadt, and is congruent with today's Inner Neustadt. The part of the city south of the Elbe River is therefore now referred to as the historic Old Town. The flatter southern valley location has favored more development, so that the entire city has thus shifted to the south. The city does not expand evenly, but follows the Elbe valley in a southeasterly or northwesterly direction. Everywhere, Dresden initially grew through suburbs, which were initially located in front of the city fortifications.

Incorporations of surrounding communities have occurred since 1835, when Dresden expanded to the north and west. Since then, 65 rural communities, the four manor districts of Albertstadt, Wilder Mann, the Gorbitz and Pillnitz Kammergut, and the city of Klotzsche have been incorporated into Dresden. Rural communities that were incorporated after 1990 were given the special status of "locality" within the municipal structure by law. The largest incorporation was that of Schönfeld-Weißig in the east of the city.

Dresden is a sprawling city with different structures in the individual districts, and not only because of the incorporations in the 1990s. Many districts have a preserved village center; some are completely village-like. Other characteristic structures are those of the suburbs and individual development by city villas, as well as the prefabricated housing quarters. There are neighborhoods, some of which have different structural features in close proximity to each other.

The original city included districts, which in the current structure almost all belong to the city districts of Altstadt and Neustadt. In addition to these parts lying within the city fortress, suburbs developed outside the city walls, but mostly on Dresden's own territory, some of which were created on the instructions of Saxon rulers and some of which were named after them (Friedrichstadt, Albertstadt, Johannstadt). Other Dresden suburbs were named after city gates or arterial roads (Wilsdruffer Vorstadt, Pirnaische Vorstadt) or after - no longer existing - natural features (Seevorstadt). Antonstadt is now largely known as Äußere Neustadt. The other suburbs, named after kings, in turn remained as a term. Later, the city grew, especially in the 19th century, when more villages were built on more densely. The term Vorstadt was no longer used for other parts of the city after the First World War.

From 1957 to 1991, the city area was divided into five districts: Dresden-Mitte, -Ost, -West, -Süd and -Nord.

Districts and localities since 1990

Since 1991, there was the division into ten Ortsämter (for the city area before 1990) and nine Ortschaften (areas incorporated after 1990). With the introduction of the local government constitution and the 2019 election, the designation "Ortsamt" was reversed and city districts were now established, which in turn also correspond to the incorporated "Ortschaften".

They are districts or local parts of the city area with an area status of 31 December 1990 and each have a city district office, i.e. a local town hall, as well as a city district council within the meaning of § 71 of the Saxon Municipal Code, which is to be heard by the city council and its committees on all important matters affecting the city district. The chairman of the city district advisory council is the mayor or a person appointed by him. This authorized person is usually the head of the administration of the city district (city district office manager). The honorary members of the municipal district advisory councils are elected directly. The city district advisory councils (as persons) must have their main residence in the respective city district.

The borough with the largest population is Blasewitz, the largest area is Loschwitz. Dresden's city center is located in the districts of Altstadt and Neustadt. Until an amendment to the main statutes in September 2018, the city districts were called Ortsamtsbereiche. Correspondingly, city district councils, city district offices and city district office heads were until then called local advisory councils, local offices and local office heads.

With the exception of Oberwartha and Schönborn, the nine villages, some of which consist of several districts, were incorporated at the end of the 1990s and had been independent until then. Another exception is the district of Kauscha, which, belonging to Bannewitz until 1999, was incorporated into the municipality of Prohlis.

A total of five administrative offices have been set up for the localities; only the locality of Altfranken is co-administered by the municipal district office of Cotta.

Each locality has a local council, which - in contrast to the municipal advisory councils of the city districts - is elected directly by the citizens of the locality at the same time as the city council. Each local council elects a local chairman for its locality. In contrast to the local advisory councils, the local councils have their own decision-making powers and, in return, their own budgets within the city budget, which they dispose of themselves. Insofar as their decision-making powers are not derived from the Saxon Municipal Code, the respective incorporation agreements regulate their competences in detail.

The largest and most populous village is Schönfeld-Weißig, which extends in the Schönfeld Highlands. For its part, it was formed from several former municipalities that had initially united as the municipality of Schönfeld-Weißig in the 1990s.

The "introduction of the local council constitution for the entire city of Dresden", which was only discussed unofficially for years, was an election campaign issue in 2014 and was to be introduced for the subsequent city council elections in 2019. The amendment of the Saxon Municipal Code in 2018, which strengthened the rights of the local advisory councils, ultimately prevented the introduction of the local constitution.

Origin of the names of the districts

Many district names, like the city name Dresden, are of Sorbian origin. Typical endings of the names are "-itz" and - originally a suffix connection with the previous one - "-witz". Both endings have adjectival function; the former are derivatives of appellatives, the latter of personal names and are thus patronyms. -nitz is etymologically not an own ending, but a connection of stem-sounding -n with the ending -itz.

The endings Germanized in the wake of the eastern settlement thus often go back to original (medieval) ownership. Leutewitz, for example, was first mentioned as Ludiwice "bei den Ludischen, i.e. with the people of Lud, village of Lud". Pillnitz was originally called Belenewitz "village of Belan". Other district names have been formed from geographical features; for example, Klotzsche means "cleared forest".

Very few place names like Langebrück actually originated in the German language. The (more recent) place names "Weißer Hirsch" (White Deer) and "Wilder Mann" (Wild Man) both go back to inns that were located in these outlying areas of the city. The district name Gittersee is a folk etymology and developed from the Slavic "Geterssin".

Basics

Dresden's 70 city councillors are elected for a five-year term of office on the basis of a three-vote plurality system, which is standard in Saxony. Before each municipal election, the city itself is divided into electoral districts based on an approximately equal number of eligible voters, although their boundaries shift from election to election. The distribution of seats in the city council is calculated according to the D'Hondt method (§ 22 KomWG) and on this basis, firstly via the respective highest number of votes on the electoral list in the constituencies and then the personally achieved number of votes on the electoral list within the constituency, the elected person or persons are determined in turn.

The main body of the city is the City Council; it exercises statutory powers and issues generally applicable ordinances, defines the basic principles and adopts the resolutions according to which the city administration (including the Lord Mayor) must act. As a body, it directly decides on such matters that are not within the competence of the Lord Mayor. The members of the individual parties in the City Council form parliamentary groups. The city councilors work in eleven decision-making committees and one advisory committee and also participate in seven advisory councils. The individual members have extensive rights to ask questions and receive information, as well as the right to inspect files.

The Lord Mayor, in turn, is solely responsible for issuing directives in accordance with federal and state law. He heads the city administration, is responsible for day-to-day business and represents the city. In accordance with the provisions of the Saxon Municipal Code (SächsGemO), he is directly elected by the citizens for a term of seven years. He is assisted by seven councillors who are responsible for individual areas of business and manage them independently. They bear the title of "mayor", with the "first mayor" permanently deputizing for the Lord Mayor. This came into full effect at the end of 2014 to mid-2015, as the Lord Mayor Helma Orosz had retired early for health reasons. Her deputy, First Mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP) since 2008, was elected as the new Lord Mayor in the second round of voting on July 5, 2015, with 54.2% of the vote.

The City Council has appointed advisory councils for senior citizens, foreigners and the disabled, as well as for matters to be kept secret, but the latter has not met once since 1994 until today.

In 2020, the Dresden city administration will have approximately 7,200 employees, up from 6,200 in 2010. They are spread across more than 50 locations in the city.

Historical development of the city administration

At the head of the city there was a council with a mayor since the 13th century (1292). The mayor was elected by the council and changed annually. He worked on an honorary basis. The city was able to develop special influence on the surrounding countryside through the Dresden Bridge Office of the Cross Church Parish, which acquired estates and villages in competition with the Altzella Monastery, especially in the later city area.

After the introduction of the General City Code of the Kingdom of Saxony in 1832, there were elected city councils in addition to the mayor. Like Cologne and Munich, Dresden in 1852 became the fourth German city after Berlin, Hamburg and Breslau to exceed the 100,000 population mark, making it a major city. In 1853, Mayor Friedrich Wilhelm Pfotenhauer was awarded the title of Lord Mayor, then reserved for large cities, for the first time. In 1874, the city left the Amtshauptmannschaft and became an "exemte Stadt" (district-free city). It remained the seat of the Amtshauptmannschaft Dresden (or both AHM Dresden-Altstadt and -Neustadt) and the Kreishauptmannschaft Dresden. With the GDR district reform in 1952, Dresden was defined as a city district; the district Dresden-Land received a new layout, with which it continued to exist until its dissolution in early 1996.

During the National Socialist era, mayors and councilors were appointed by the NSDAP in accordance with the German Municipal Code.

After the end of the Second World War, the Soviet City Command initially established an administration in 1945. In September 1946, a city council was elected to represent the city. In later elections until 1989, all parties and organizations appeared on a common list of the National Front.

After the GDR's accession to the Federal Republic of Germany, the body, which initially continued to be known as the City Council, and since 1994 as the City Council, was again freely elected. From 1990 to 1994, this body was chaired by a special president (or president: Evelyn Müller, CDU). The election of the mayor was a matter for the city council. After the introduction of the South German Council Constitution in Saxony, since 1994 the Lord Mayor, now directly elected by the people, has also been Chairman of the City Council.

Since 2015, the incumbent has been Dirk Hilbert of the FDP, who won a runoff election with 54.2% of the vote against Eva-Maria Stange (SPD).

City Council

The following City Council was elected at the last municipal election on May 26, 2019:

The following parliamentary groups have formed in the City Council: CDU (incl. FREIE BÜRGER, 14 members), GRÜNE (13 members), AfD (12 members), DIE LINKE. (12 members), SPD (6 members), FDP (5 members), FW (4 members). The council member of the PIRATEN and the council member of the PARTEI were factionless until May 18, 2021. This was followed by the merger with two council members of the GREENS to form the DISSIDENT faction. From then on, the parliamentary group consisting of the CDU and the FREE CITIZENS was the largest parliamentary group.

Police and justice

The Dresden Police Department is located in the police headquarters near Pirnaischer Platz.

The Dresden Local Court is located in the district of the Dresden Regional Court; its superior court is the Dresden Higher Regional Court. Other courts are the Dresden Administrative Court, the Dresden Labor Court and the Dresden Social Court. In GDR times, there was the Dresden District Court as well as the Saxony Regional Administrative Court with its seat in Dresden.

Dresden Prison is located in the Albertstadt district of Dresden.

Coat of arms

Municipal policy issues with supraregional resonance

Recent past

Waldschlößchen Bridge

The construction of a new Elbe crossing, the Waldschlößchenbrücke, sparked off a heated debate when UNESCO considered the bridge construction to be so essential that it placed the World Heritage Site, which had been included in 2004, on the Red List of World Heritage in Danger just two years later. Construction began in November 2007, and the new Elbe bridge was opened in August 2013. Dresden was the only site in the world to lose its World Heritage title in 2009.

Debt-free city through WOBA sale

In March 2006, the city council decided to sell the housing company Woba Dresden with 47,000 apartments to the US investment company Fortress Investment Group LLC. This made Dresden Germany's first de facto debt-free major city. The sale was controversial and triggered widespread media coverage. It was secured with an extensive social charter, including a free occupancy right for 8,000 apartments for a total of 20 years, and, to protect tenants, numerous restrictions on terminations and rent increases. On June 21, 2007, by a vote of 37 to 12 (with 9 abstentions), the City Council included a debt prohibition in the main charter. While in 2006, at the time of the sale, Dresden's real estate market was characterized by a high vacancy rate, in recent years investors such as Capital Holding S.A. and Intershop Holding AG (MiKa-Quartier), Adler Real Estate AG (Hufewiesen Alttrachau) and Immokles AG (Lingner Altstadtgarten Dresden) have discovered the residential market in Dresden as a profitable form of investment. Meanwhile, Dresden's housing cost ratio of 32% of total income for families is higher than in Stuttgart and tied with Nuremberg for fourth place. Political solutions to this problem, such as buying back former municipal apartments as in Berlin or establishing state-owned housing companies as in Bavaria, are not in sight in Dresden, as the city's debt-free status is to be maintained.

Present

Neumarkt

The redevelopment of Neumarkt - in what density and whether modern or historicized - is exemplary for the international interest in Dresden's architecture. The Gesellschaft Historischer Neumarkt Dresden was founded because of this controversy.

Declaration of Principles against Right-Wing Extremism

On October 30, 2019, Dresden's city council adopted a declaration of principles against right-wing extremism. This received attention in international as well as national reporting under the term proclamation of a Nazi state of emergency. Lord Mayor Hilbert distanced himself from this term just a few hours later. The declaration of principles was passed across all factions with the votes of the SPD, Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen, Die Linke, FDP and independents and provides for "strengthening everyday democratic structures," supporting "citizenship and civil society alliances that actively promote human rights," helping victims of right-wing violence, consistently prosecuting perpetrators and not allowing the spread of misanthropic and extreme right-wing attitudes in public places unchallenged.

Member of the Bundestag

The constituency 160 (Dresden I) includes the districts south of the river Elbe with the exception of some western areas. In this constituency, Andreas Lämmel of the CDU is the elected MP.

The electoral district 161 (Dresden II) includes all districts north of the Elbe and some western ones south of the Elbe and extends into the district of Meißen. The member of parliament for this constituency is Arnold Vaatz of the CDU.

Furthermore, Katja Kipping (Left) and Stephan Kühn (Greens) represent the city from the state lists of the respective parties, as well as the Meissen member of the Bundestag Susann Rüthrich (SPD).

Town twinning

The town is twinned with the following cities:

A city friendship has also existed since 1976 with the Polish city of Gostyń in connection with the Black Legion resistance group that originated there. Other friendships exist with Daejeon in South Korea and Shiras in Iran.

Consulates and foreign missions

In addition to a Czech consulate general, Dresden is home to the honorary consulates of Austria, Cape Verde, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Panama, the Philippines, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland. There is also an Institut français in Dresden.

Dresden is already traditionally characterized as a location for important and forward-looking companies and institutions, which promotes its further development into one of the world's leading technology locations, but as a city of art and culture it is equally committed to the fine arts and humanities. The network of research, business and culture, the anchoring of science in the general population as well as Dresden's scientific tradition and current role have contributed to Dresden being named "City of Science" for 2006 by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft (Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany). The associated events were closely tied to the city's 800th anniversary celebrations.

The anchoring of science and education in the population is particularly evident in the annual, well-attended Long Night of the Sciences.

Higher education and university research

There are nine universities in the city. Traditionally, their strengths and significance lie in technology and business on the one hand, and art and culture on the other. A total of more than 40,000 people study here. The students of the universities are looked after by the Studentenwerk Dresden.

Dresden University of Technology (TUD) ranks 18th among Germany's largest universities, with nearly 33,000 students and about 6,000 employees. Its campus is located south of the city center near the main train station, with a large part housed in the southern suburbs. A spin-off of the TU Dresden is the Dresden International University (DIU), where only postgraduate degrees can be earned. In addition, a children's university in the form of a lecture series on a wide variety of topics is held at the TUD every semester.

The largest university of applied sciences in Dresden is the Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTW Dresden). The main buildings of the HTW Dresden are located directly at the main station. Until 1992, they housed the "Friedrich List" College of Transportation, which since 1992 has formed the Faculty of Transportation Sciences of the same name in the TU Dresden. Currently, about 5000 students study at the HTW Dresden.

The Hochschule für Bildende Künste (HfBK), which is located directly in the city center on Brühlsche Terrasse, is important in the field of fine arts. Also important in their fields are the Palucca University of Dance Dresden and the University of Music "Carl Maria von Weber" (HfM).

Since December 2012, the United Nations University (UNU) has also been represented in Dresden by the Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU-FLORES). UNU-FLORES will focus on global change and resource management for the green economy.

Other colleges include the Protestant College of Social Work and the College of Church Music.

Other important educational institutions include the Staatliche Studienakademie Dresden (Berufsakademie), a branch of the Staatliche Studienakademie Sachsen (Saxon State Academy of Studies), and the Sächsische Verwaltungs- und Wirtschafts-Akademie e. V. (Saxon Academy of Business and Administration), which is purely a further education institution. The Army Officers' School, which traditionally trains the officers of the German Army, can also be assigned to the higher educational institutions.

Non-university scientific institutions

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft is currently establishing its largest location in Germany in Dresden with its eleven facilities and the Institute Center. As the leading sponsoring organization for applied research in Germany, it conducts contract research in its institutes. The research carried out by the Fraunhofer facilities has become a significant location factor for many high-tech companies. For example, the company operates the Fraunhofer Center Nanoelectronic Technologies (CNT) - integrated into the facilities of the former Qimonda plant - in cooperation in the form of a public-private partnership with AMD Saxony and Qimonda.

Other Fraunhofer institutes in Dresden are:

• Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (IKTS)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (IVI)
• Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology (IWS)

Fraunhofer Institute parts and centers in Dresden are:

• Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM) - Dresden Branch
• Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS) - Dresden branch
• Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology (IWU) - Dresden Branch
• Fraunhofer IVV, Branch Office for Processing Machines and Packaging Technology (IVV Dresden)

The All Silicon System Integration Dresden (IZM-ASSID) center, which is located directly at the city limits in Boxdorf, will also be linked to the Dresden site.

Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society has been operating the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI CBG) in Dresden since 2001. Since then, it has developed into an important institute in the field of functional genomics through research programs such as Molecular Bioengineering Dresden. About 300 employees work at this institute.

Other institutes of the Society are the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids (MPI CPfS) and Max Planck Institute for Physics of Complex Systems (MPI PKS).

Helmholtz Association

The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e. V. (HZDR) belonged to the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Science Association until 2011 and has research focuses in the life sciences (especially cancer research), energy research and materials research. Since 2009, the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) has had a site in Dresden.

Scientific Community "Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz

The scientific community known as the Leibniz Association has been operating research institutes of various disciplines here for several years:

• Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research (IFW) Dresden
• Institute for Polymer Research Dresden e. V. (IPF)
• Leibniz Institute for Ecological Spatial Development e. V. (IOER)
• ifo Institute for Economic Research (only branch focusing on the economy in the new federal states)

High Schools

Dresden has 31 grammar schools, nine of which are independent and one of which is run by the state. The Martin-Andersen-Nexö-Gymnasium provides an in-depth mathematical and scientific education, the Romain-Rolland-Gymnasium an in-depth linguistic education and the Semper-Gymnasium an in-depth artistic education. Dresden's classical grammar school and also the city's oldest school is the Evangelisches Kreuzgymnasium, whose history dates back to the 13th century. The Saxon State High School for Music "Carl Maria von Weber" educates musically gifted students. There is also an elite sports school, the Sportgymnasium.

Honorary citizen

In addition to monarchs and politicians, the city's honorary citizens include scientists and artists who worked in Dresden - for example, the scientist Manfred von Ardenne, the dance teacher Gret Palucca and the musician Richard Strauss.

Adolf Hitler was also an honorary citizen of the city during the National Socialist era, as was customary at the time. However, this status was revoked after May 1945.

Sons and daughters of the city

The world-famous author Erich Kästner was born in Dresden and grew up in the Neustadt district. Among the famous people who were born in Dresden is the painter Gerhard Richter. He studied at the Academy of Art and is one of the most important German painters of the post-war period. Also from Dresden are long-time SPD parliamentary party leader Herbert Wehner and his FDP colleague Wolfgang Mischnick, as well as soccer coach Helmut Schön, who led the Federal Republic's 1974 selection to the World Cup. The former Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Christine Bergmann, was born in Dresden.

Other people who lived and worked in Dresden for a long time were (among others.) Hans Georg von Arnim-Boitzenburg, Berthold Auerbach, Carl Gustav Carus, Johan Christian Clausen Dahl, Otto Dix, Felix Draeseke, Hans Erlwein, Caspar David Friedrich, Karl Gutzkow, Heinrich von Kleist, Victor Klemperer, Charlotte Meentzen, Pierre I Mercier, Daniel Pöppelmann, Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninov, Wilhelm Rudolph, Wolf Curt von Schierbrand, Gertrude Seltmann-Meentzen, Richard Wagner, Carl Maria von Weber, Maria Reiche, Mary Wigman, Erhard Ludewig Winterstein, Nicolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf and Otto Zirnbauer.