Germany is a land of many gems and Saxony is undoubtedly the hidden treasure of Germany. I was convinced about the same after having attended a presentation by Shireesh Sharma , Marketing Consultant for Saxony Tourism for the Americas. In fact, I would add that no other Indian knows Saxony better than Shireesh and this was further reiterated when I attended his presentation earlier this year at the ASTA IDE in Lyon. Last September, I had the opportunity to visit Germany's No 1 Cultural Destination and on arrival at Berlin airport we were greeted by our host Wolfgang Gärtner- Head of International Marketing, Tourism Marketing Company of Saxony and we boarded our coach to head to the South East corner and the capital of Saxony, Dresden. Dresden is located to the south of Berlin and it takes under 2 hours to cover the distance of 165 kilometres on the Autobahn between the two cities. You can even fly to Dresden on Austrian via Vienna as they offer convenient connections to the capital city of Saxony Saxony, the art and cultural capital of Germany is on the South East corner of Germany and borders the Czech Republic and Poland. We were to spend 4 days to get a flavour of this wonderful area of Germany comprising of 7 regions.

Our first halt en route was at Pillnitz Castle Gardens. Pillnitz used to be the summer residence of the Saxon Kings near Dresden. The park and the castle were built here at the end of the 18th Century. This used to be the summer residence of the Saxon Kings and the Riverside Palace was linked to the New Palace and the Hillside Palace to form a unique ensemble of architecture. The English and Chinese pavilions were added later. We had the opportunity to take a short stroll for about 15 minutes to get an impression of this wonderful area which has been part of the Dresden Elbe Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004. Before Dresden became a centre of research, industry and tourism, it was the seat of the royal residence and being royalties they had castles. Pillnitz was built in a Japanese style and was the closest castle to Dresden with the exception of the city castle.

The city castle used to be the winter residence of the royalties. Originally there was a Renaissance Castle in Pillnitz and later the castle was in the possession of Countess Cosel, the most famous mistress of Augustus the Strong. She started redoing the castle in Baroque style with the help of famous architect Matthäus Daniel Pöpellmann who was also responsible for rebuilding Dresden after the fire of 1685. He also built a water pavilion from where you can take gondolas and go along the Elbe River. He also built the Hill Palace which was later connected to the Castle. The architecture here is chinoiserie or Chinese style, probably due to the influence of Marco Polo who around the same time had discovered China and you can see the Chinese impressions in the architecture at Pillnitz. The site consists of an English garden which is used for concerts and cultural events today, as well as a Chinese Garden, a Chinese pavilion and an Orangerie. You can arrive at the Pillnitz gardens and Castle in one of the Elbe Steamboats as well.  

After a quick lunch at the restaurant within the garden premises, we took a steam boat ride to the capital of Saxony also known as the Florence on the Elbe Dresden.
Dresden was one of Europe's most beautiful cities until 1945 when the Allied bombers turned this city into a pile of rubble. The city which celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2006 is probably much older city as the first settlers who came to Dresden came from the East of Europe from Russia, Poland, Czech and settled on the banks of the river Elbe and they used to speak Slavic language. The name Dresden is derived from the old Serbian word Drježdžany which the Slavic settlers here used to speak. This word stood for “inhabitants on a swampy ground” and over the years this place grew from its obscurity to what it is today, probably the richest in Germany in terms of art, culture, history, architecture, music, shopping, gold, wine and fine gastronomy. Today the city has 510000 inhabitants in an area of 18413 sq.kilometres

The most inspiring Saxon was Augustus the Strong and you can find his statue as you arrive into Dresden from the Elbe river. After World War II, Dresden was completely destroyed and this was followed by Communist rule before being reunited with Germany.

We took a brief historic walking tour of this beautiful city comprising of many historical monuments such as the reconstructed Frauenkirche or the Church of our Lady which is the largest Protestant Church in Germany. The Frauenkirche which miraculously survived the bombings and subsequent fires thereafter, suddenly collapsed a few days later as the building's sandstone had started to cool down. It was rebuilt as a symbol of reconciliation between former enemies of war. This Lutheran Church, which was built between 1726 and 1743 took 13 years to rebuild and was eventually completed in 2005. It is undoubtedly one of the most famous icons of Dresden. The Church used to also host several musical concerts as it was famous for its acoustics. Richard Wagner did a presentation with 1100 singers here. The cost to rebuild the church was $200 million and most money came by donation and most of the work was voluntary.

As you walk near the theatre square, you see the imposing Semperoper or the Semper Opera House, a later Baroque building in Germany and one of the world's best opera house where our Zubin Mehta has also performed on several occasions.

The Dresden Zwinger is yet another famous landmark comprising of pavilions and galleries in baroque style and was commissioned by Augustus the Strong, the elector of Saxony. Zwinger which means interspace originates from its location between former city fortifications. The most impressive pavilions are the Rampart and Glockenspiel. The Zwinger with its large inner courtyard was used for court festivities, tournaments and fireworks and today, houses several museums such as the Porcelain Museum, the Old Master's Gallery and the Historical Museum. One of the highlights of the Zwinger is the Crown Gate, a baroque gate topped by a large crown and the Nymphenbad, a small enclosed courtyard near the Rampart pavilion which has a baroque fountain featuring numerous statues.

Another interesting area of the city centre is Neumarkt. Neumarkt which stands for New Market is misunderstood as a market place. Here in Germany, it is the name of the square and is a culturally significant section of the inner city of Dresden. The Neumarkt like most of Dresden was destroyed during WW II and was rebuilt to its original pre-war look.

Amongst the other Baroque masterpieces in Dresden are the Taschenberg Palace and the Dresden Cathedral. Later in the day we had the opportunity to visit the Green Vault- Europe's most important treasury museum. The original “Green Vault” too was destroyed during WWII and later rebuilt by Augustus the Strong and here you can find the most important pieces of art including the “Court of Aurangzeb”- a masterpiece of the Dinglinger family of Jewellers. This amazing work took as long as 7 years to build; and costs as much as the famous Moritzburg Castle of Saxony. Dresden is a city for lovers of art and is home to several museums. With a standard ticket costing 12 Euros, you can have access to as many as 11 different museums on a single day which include the Green Vault(extra charges for Historic Green Vault), Numismatic Collection, Porcelain Collection, Armoury Museum, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Sculpture Collection, to name a few.

After getting a preview of what was in store for us during our stay, we checked in at the Steigenberger Park Hotel in Radebeul, situated on the foot of the Loessnitz vineyards, seven kilometers away from the city of Dresden. Radebeul is an ideal locations for trips to Moritzburg Castle, the porcelain city of Meissen and Saxon Switzerland, one of the most unique landscapes in Germany. It is also on the Saxon Wine Route which runs from Pirna, located to the south of Dresden upto Diessbar-Seusslitz, a village to the north of Meissen. Nearby we had the opportunity to visit one of the most amazing vineyards of Saxony the Schloss Wackerbarth or the Wackerbarth Castle.

The Wackerbarth Castle, nestled in the town of Radebeul houses Saxony's oldest sparkling wine(Sekt) producing facility. It is Europe's first vineyard to allow guests to discover and experience the world of wine first-hand. We arrived at Wackerbath Castle late in the evening where the Mediterranean style palace stood out at twilight and we could smell the fruitiness of the Riesling grown in the area. We were taken for a guided tour of the state-owned winery and got to experience a bouquet of wines from black currant to exotic peach aromas before being treated to some fine gourmet meals prepared by their head chef providing the perfect culmination to our visit to the Wackerbath Castle which has attracted connoisseurs and lovers of the Mediterranean way of life since the 18th Century. The special menu exclusively prepared for us comprised of gratinated goat's cheese from Altenburg in a filo dough on fig curry jam and reduced grape's vinegar accompanied by 2006 Riesling Qba semi-dry. This was followed by the main course comprising of breast of Moritzburger pheasant a la vinter on pineapple cabbage and herbal couscous accompanied by a 2006 Frühburgunder Qba dry and concluded by a dessert comprising of Borthner apple soup with iced sour cream accompanied with a 2003 Weißburgunder Auslese. The sumptuous meal accompanied by the finest wines convinced me that Saxony is undoubtedly the gastronomic capital of Germany.

Those who love Indian food needn't despair for there is Kamasutra! Don't get me wrong as Kamasutra is one amongst several Indian restaurants that you can find in Dresden which serve Indian cuisine and claims to be the first in continental Europe to offer authentic Indian food. There is also Maharadscha, another Indian restaurant, which claims to be the first Indian restaurant in Dresden. So I wonder who was first, but the important thing is that there are several Indian restaurants in Dresden amongst cuisines from across the world.

There were lots of exciting places in store for us to visit in Saxony. The following day started with a visit to Saxon Switzerland.

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