Dresden

“ Dresden? Can Madeleine be in Dresden?" returned Bertha. "Ah, uncle, can we not go there at once? We shall certainly find her. Yes,—we must go. I am tired of Paris,—let us start to-morrow."
"Dresden, my dear!" cried her uncle, in a tone of unmitigated disgust. "Why, the barbarians would feed us upon sour kraut, and give us pudding before meat! Go to Dresden? Impossible! Not to be thought of! Paris was a wise move,—we have enjoyed the living amazingly; but trust ourselves to those tasteless German cooks? We should be poisoned in a couple of days. ”

“ After having pass'd the Elbe, over a wooden Bridge, going out of Meissen, I came in less than three Hours to Dresden, the Capital of the Electorate of Saxony. The City is pretty large, fortify'd with Art and Regularity; and very lightsome. Its Houses are high and substantial, the Streets broad, strait, well pav'd, neat, and in the Night-time well lighted. There are great Squares in it; and the whole City is so well laid out, that Dresden may be rank'd among the finest in the World. ”

“ Its unrivalled elegance and neatness, a general air of cheerfulness combined with a certain dignity and tranquillity, the purity and elasticity of the atmosphere, the brilliant shops, the well-dressed women, and the lively looks and good-humoured alertness of the people, who, like the Florentines, are more remarkable for their tact and acuteness than for their personal attractions;—all these advantages render Dresden, though certainly one of the smallest, and by no means one of the richest capitals in Europe, one of the most delightful residences on the continent. ”

“ The scenery on the banks of the Elbe, until within a few miles of Dresden, is of the most enchanting character. Dresden has a population of seventy thousand. It is delightfully situated on the bank of the river, and ranks high among European cities for its attractions, and the number and objects calculated to gratify the intelligent traveller. It is the residence of the king, and has consequently all the accompaniments of a national capital. Its picture gallery has the finest collection of paintings to be found north of the Alps. ”

“ I am a new man since I have been here, both from the ruddy hues of health which mantle on my back, and from the influence of this live city on my spirits. Dresden was a place in which it always seemed afternoon ”

“ I consider the gardens and terraces and pleasure-grounds that adorn Dresden more beautiful than those of almost any other capital. The fault is ours, not theirs. The pleasure-grounds of a city ought to be, and in this case are, adapted to the seasons during which the inhabitants make use of them. But in the height of summer, Nature only in her free fresh beauty can afford enjoyment. We have no business to come here now in search of wood and stream and field, which alone can content our souls, athirst and wearied by the heat. ”

“ The town is deserted, the fortifications are in ruins; there are only old men and some women and children to be met with—and not many of those. Finally we reached Dresden by a very narrow road skirting the Elbe at a great height, the river flowing through a broad valley. The very day after my arrival I visited the famous Dresden gallery, unexcelled in the world. Its masterpieces are so well known that I render no special account. I will only observe that here, as everywhere else, one recognises how far Raphael stands above all other painters. ”

“ I arrived in Dresden, having been twenty hours performing the journey.
'I saw all that was worth seeing in Dresden, and well worth the journey it was, if it had only been to look at the face of the Madonna di San Sisto, which I think surpasses anything I have seen in nature. It has left a deep remembrance on my mind, the copy here conveys only an idea of the original. It lives and breathes, the eyes look as if moving, and it is perfectly true that I was riveted to the spot with wonder at the performance of the beyond all famous master. ”

“ The dome of the cathedral is the first spot which a stranger should visit, as it is the only place which spreads everything before him, as on a map, and all in their just proportions and distances. The city of Dresden is by no means extensive, even when including the old and new town; but the surrounding and distant country presents scenery of great variety and beauty. The southern views take in Saxon Switzerland—the northern, the fertile plains and vales that stretch away towards Leipzig and Berlin. ”

“ Europe at large, as Friedrich had done, sees "the sky all on fire about Dresden." The fierce big battles done against this man have, one and all of them, become big defeats. The strenuous machinations, high-built plans cunningly devised,—the utmost sum-total of what the Imperial and Royal Potencies can, for the life of them, do: behold, it has all tumbled down here, in loud crash; the final peal of it at Kesselsdorf; and the consummation is flame and smoke, conspicuous over all the Nations. ”

“ In Dresden, in 1813, he was eye-witness of several small skirmishes and one battle; he walked over a battlefield, lived through a famine and a species of plague which followed in the train of the war—in short, his imagination was fertilised by all the horrors of the period, the first result being, characteristically enough, merely a set of funny caricatures of the French.
When still quite a young man, he had married a beautiful Polish lady, who made him a devoted and patient wife ”

“ It is an independent state, except that its army is under the control of the King of Prussia in time of war. Its royal house is one of the oldest in Europe, and in the tenth century gave an Emperor to Germany. The population of Dresden is one hundred and fifty-six thousand. It is in a healthy and pleasant region, and has many attractions, so that it has long been regarded as a desirable residence by Americans. ”

“ By the time we reached Dresden we were as happy a couple as any in Europe, and when some hours later we stepped out of the carriage on to the platform at Berlin, we were as unlike the pair who had left the hotel at Prague as the proverbial chalk is like cheese. Even then, however, we were determined to run no risk. Every mile that separated us from Pharos meant greater security, and it was for this reason I had made up my mind to reach the German capital, if possible, instead of remaining at Dresden, as had been our original intention. ”

“ Those were pleasant days at Dresden, filled up with the society of bright and warm-hearted people, varied by royal boar hunts, stiff ceremonies at the little court, tableaux, and private theatricals, yet tinged with a certain melancholy, partly constitutional, that appears in most of his letters. His mind was too unsettled for much composition. He had little self-confidence, and was easily put out by a breath of adverse criticism. At intervals he would come to the Fosters to read a manuscript of his own. ”

“ The chief pleasure-ground of Dresden is the Grosser Garten, in which there are a summer theatre, the Reitschel museum, and a château containing a museum of antiquities. The latter is composed chiefly of objects removed from the churches in consequence of the Reformation. Near the château is the zoological garden, formed in 1860, and excellently arranged. A little to the south of Dresden, on the left bank of the Elbe, is the village Räcknitz, in which is Moreau’s monument, erected on the spot where he was mortally wounded in 1813. ”

“ And the local German council would provide those waters with zinc pipes and wooden troughs, and a corkscrew staircase, and show them how to come down sensibly, in the German manner.
It is a tidy land is Germany.
We reached Dresden on the Wednesday evening, and stayed there over the Sunday.
Taking one consideration with another, Dresden, perhaps, is the most attractive town in Germany; but it is a place to be lived in for a while rather than visited. ”

“ The streets of the Alstadt are mostly narrow and somewhat gloomy, those of the Neustadt more spacious and regular.
On account of its delightful situation and the many objects of interest it contains, Dresden is often called “German Florence,” a name first applied to it by the poet Herder. The richness of its art treasures, the educational advantages it offers, and its attractive surroundings render it a favourite resort of people with private means. ”

“ In this Part there is also a Number of stately Buildings, which render Old Dresden a very agreeable Place. The Streets are broad, most of them regular and well pav’d, and great Care is taken to keep up good Government in it.
This Quarter communicates with the new Town by a very beautiful Stone-Bridge: The first thing one meets with entring into New Dresden is a House that belongs to the King, and is call’d The Palace of Holland, because all the China Ware or Furniture, with which ’tis adorn’d, came from that Country: The Gardens of this House are very pleasant ”

“ Dresden is a city where works of art are most cunningly copied. You can order, if you like, copies of any but the most intricate of the treasures of the Green Vaults, and you will not be disappointed with the results. You can order copies of any of the most famous pictures in the Dresden galleries, and have them executed with like exquisite skill. Nor is there any city in all Europe where it is so satisfactory to buy a souvenir of a town, which you will not want to throw away when you get home and try to find a place for it. ”

“ Leipsic was our real starting-point for the tramp, and our first haven the Saxon capital Dresden. We took the road through Altenburg, thus diverging considerably from the common route, in order to visit the silver mines of Freiberg, and ramble through the romantic scenery of the Plaunischen Grund. We passed through Saxon Altenburg, Zwickau, Lichtenstein, Chemnitz, Oderan, Freiberg, Tharant, and Wildsruf, and arrived in the evening of the fifth day at Dresden. ”

“ The Dresden authorities were surprised when I found myself obliged to beg an advance of income from them in order to conclude this brilliant undertaking in Berlin.
As I was travelling with my wife in the most horrible weather through the deserted country on my way home, I fell into a mood of the blackest despair, which I thought I might perhaps survive once in a lifetime but never again. ”

“ I like Dresden best of all the places we've been in. And I would like to go through the Green vaults—but why they are called so, I cannot conceive—about once every month. I would never get tired."
"So you would like to settle in Dresden?" said Lawrence. "I don't think it would be safe to let you go through the Green vaults often, Mrs. Copley; you would certainly be tempted too much for your principles. Miss Dolly, we had better get her away. When do we go, by the by?" ”

“ Having remained two days in London, and having participated, as far as those two days would allow him, in the general horror occasioned by the wickedness and success of Mr. Daubeny, he started for Dresden.
He found Lord Brentford living in a spacious house, with a huge garden round it, close upon the northern confines of the town. Dresden, taken altogether, is a clean cheerful city, and strikes the stranger on his first entrance as a place in which men are gregarious, busy, full of merriment, and pre-eminently social. ”

“ There are three cities which I should be glad to describe in detail—Hamburg, Dresden, and Prague. Hamburg, to which we came from Amsterdam, perhaps appears more beautiful from the contrast, and remains in our memory as the fairest city of the North. Dresden, the capital of Saxony, is also a beautiful city, and attracts a great number of English and American residents by its excellent opportunities of education, and from its treasures of art, in which it is richer than any other city in Germany. ”

“ Then a fortnight's unspeakable journey to Salzburg, Ischl, Linz, Vienna, Prague, and finally Dresden, which is our last resting-place before returning to Richmond, where we hope to be at the beginning of September. Dresden is a proper climax; for all other art seems only a preparation for feeling the superiority of the Madonna di San Sisto the more. We go three days a week to the gallery, and every day—after looking at other pictures—we go to take a parting draught of delight at Titian's Zinsgroschen and the Einzige Madonna. ”

“ The joy of Dresden homely life contrasted with the Paris mode of living, acted like a charm on him. His spirits were at their best, his health good, and the kindly greetings he met everywhere worked together to make him thoroughly enjoy life. His sister Rosalie, the actress, was dead, so that all that was really known of him when he came to Dresden was that he was born at Leipzic, had been educated at the Dresden Schule, and had wholly written and composed two operas, and was the brother of the late Rosalie Wagner. ”

“ At Dresden on the Elbe, that handsome city,
Where straw hats, verses, and cigars are made,
They’ve built (it well may make us feel afraid)
A music-club and music warehouse pretty.{22}
There meet the gentlemen and ladies witty,
Herr Kuhn, [5] Miss Nostitz [5a] —adepts at the trade,—
Spout verses, calling action to their aid. ”

“ Dresden, July 11, 1840.—I left Königsbruck this morning, and was glad to see once more the pretty suburbs of Dresden. I am now about to dress and to start for Pillnitz.
Dresden, July 12, 1840.—The castle of Pillnitz is neither very beautiful nor curious. The gardens are only moderately good, but the situation on the banks of the Elbe is charming; the country is delightful and fertile. The whole royal family of Saxony were assembled there yesterday. ”