DW Travel – Lonely Planet has chosen Dresden as one of its top travel destinations for 2023. We have long been convinced that Dresden is well worth visiting, so now we will show you why. Follow us from the Zwinger to the hip Neustadt district.

Dresden, city, capital of Saxony Land (state), eastern Germany. Dresden is the traditional capital of Saxony and the third largest city in eastern Germany after Berlin and Leipzig. It lies in the broad basin of the Elbe River between Meissen and Pirna, 19 miles (30 km) north of the Czech border and 100 miles (160 km) south of Berlin. Sheltering hills north and south of the Elbe valley contribute to the mild climate enjoyed by Dresden. Numerous parks and cultural monuments exist along the Elbe’s course, particularly a steel bridge (1891–93), a cable railway (1898–1901), and a funicular (1894–95). The Elbe valley around the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004, but the construction of a four-lane bridge across the river caused UNESCO to revoke the designation in 2009. Pop. (2021 est.) 555,351.

History

Dresden originated as the Slav village of Drezdzany, meaning “Forest Dwellers on the Plain,” on the Elbe’s north bank. First mentioned in 1216, the town on the south bank was founded at a ford by Margrave Dietrich of Meissen as a German colony. The Slav settlement on the north bank, although older, was known as New Town and the later German town on the south bank as Old Town.