Rows Of Elegant Houses Line
The Sides Of This Plata, Among Which The Stadthaus Is Particularly
Remarkable.
The famous Japan Palace, as it is called, is also in the
Neustadt, and but a short distance from the Platz.
The gardens of Count
Marcolini afford also a pleasant promenade; but by far the most agreeable
walk, in my opinion, is on the Zwinger, a sort of terrace on the left
bank of the Elbe in the old town, adjoining the palace and gardens of Count
Bruhl. From this place you have a noble view of a long reach of the Elbe.
It is besides the favorite promenade of the ladies. On the Zwinger too is
a building containing a fine collection of paintings. Here are cafes
likewise and a restaurant. The evening promenades are in the gardens of
the Linkischer Bad (Bath of Link) on the banks of the Elbe, where there
is a summer theatre. This is the favourite resort of the bourgeoisie on
Sundays and jours de fete; gouters and supper parties are formed here and
very good music is heard. The Elbe bridge is of beautiful structure, and
there is a good regulation with respect to those who pass over this bridge;
which is that one side of the bridge is reserved for those going from the
new to the old town, and the other side for those going from the old to the
new town, and if you attempt to go on the wrong side you are stopped by a
sentry, so that there is no jostling nor lounging on this bridge. An arch
of this bridge was blown up by Marshal Davoust in order to arrest the
progress of the Russians, and a great deal of management was necessary to
effectuate it, for the worthy Saxons have a great veneration for this
bridge, and in order to inforce the execution of this resolution on the
part of the Marshal, the personal order of the King and the employment of
Saxon troops were necessary. It has been rebuilt since, and no one would
know that the arch had ever been blown up, but from the extreme whiteness
of the new arch, contrasting with the darker color of the old ones.
In the old town or Dresden proper, the finest buildings are: the Catholic
church, standing near the bridge, an edifice yielding in beauty but to few
in Italy and to none in other countries. Here you hear excellent music
during the church service; and the King and Royal family, all of whom are
Catholics, attend constantly. The Royal Palace is very near the church and
not far from it is the theatre. Saxony being a Lutheran country, the public
exercise of the Catholic religion was not permitted until Napoleon's time,
when he proposed an arrangement to permit to the King and all other
Catholics the public celebration of their religion, which proposition was
acceded to with universal approbation on the part of the Protestants, and
now the Host is frequently displayed in the streets. There are however but
few Catholics in Dresden among the natives. So great is the respect for
usages and customs in Germany, that the Electors of Saxony, on going over
to Catholicism, never thought even of requesting the indulgence of
exercising their religion publicly, and the granting it has produced no
evil consequence, liberalism and the most unreserved toleration in matters
of religion being the order of the day.
The Royal Palace is a very fine and extensive building and the interior is
well worth seeing, particularly the superb Riesen-Saal where Augustus II
used to give his magnificent fetes. One of the last and most brilliant
fetes given here was that given by the King of Saxony to the Emperor
Napoleon just before the Russian campaign, at which the Emperor and Empress
of Austria and most of the Sovereigns of Germany assisted, to do hommage to
the great Conqueror.
The Schloss-gasse or Castle Street leads from the Palace into the Markt
Platz where the markets and fairs are held. In this place, in the
Schloss-gasse and in another street parallel to it, that leads from the
porcelain Manufactory to the Grosser Platz (Grande Place), are the
finest shops and greatest display of wealth. On the Grosser Platz stands
the Frauen-Kirche, a superb Protestant church, and which may be
considered as the cathedral church of Dresden. The Platz is large. There
is great cleanliness in all the streets of Dresden, and the houses are well
built and uniform; but there are few other very prominent edifices except
those I have mentioned. On going outside the town by the gate of Pirna
stands, almost immediately on the right, on turning down a road, the
Gardens and Palace of Prince Anthony. Leaving this on your right and
proceeding along the chaussee or high road which is nearly parallel to
the river, at the distance of three-quarters mile from the Gate, stands the
Palace and Gardens called Der Grosse Garten (grand garden), which you
leave on your right, if you continue your route on the chaussee towards
Pirna. I have not yet visited the Grosse Garten. There is likewise a fine
promenade on the banks of the Elbe, but quite in an opposite direction to
the Pirna gate, for to arrive at it from this gate, you must traverse the
Pirna street and Grosser Platz; and on arrival near the bridge direct
your course to the left, which will lead you out of one of the gates into
an immensely long avenue of elm trees parallel to the river which forms the
promenade.
DRESDEN, Oct. 10th.
I have been to see the Palace and grounds of the Grosser Garten. The
garden and park, for it unites both, is of great extent, and beautifully
laid out; but a number of fine trees have been knocked down and mutilated
by cannon shot during the battle of Dresden in 1818, when this garden was
occupied by the Allied troops and exposed to a heavy fire of fifty pieces
of cannon, from a battery erected by Napoleon on the opposite side of the
river, which completely commanded and enfiladed the whole range of the
garden.
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