Home>Interview > Interview with City Members > >Content
Cultural City and Green City
Dresden with 540.000 inhabitants is one of the important cultural cities in Central Europe and like this a cross point of different European Cultures, Traditions and Fashions in many ways. It has an important impact on the European history of music with composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Wagner, Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Richard Strauss living and working or performing here. Its artworks reflect a global curiosity of the former Saxon Court and are among the most important in the world. The cultural live in music, arts and theatre is comparable to much bigger metropolises.
Tourists who attend this rich cultural life become part of this and have the chance to get in contact with locals or during the performance or afterwards having a glass of wine or beer in the many restaurants, pubs or bars in the vibrant parts of the city.
Dresden is also a green city, surrounded by the beautiful Elbland. This combination of city and countryside with small towns, romantic castles, natural woods and beautiful landscapes makes Dresden an ideal destination.
Rebirth From the Ruins
In the 19th and early 20th century Dresden already was a popular tourist destination especially for German, Russian, Scandinavian and British visitors. After its destruction in 1945, Dresden firstly was rebuilt as a Socialist model city. Until 1989 due to the political division of Germany Dresden was only destination for domestic tourism with the neighboring countries. The first 5 star hotel was opened only in 1985 with the reopening of the Semperoper.
After 1990 Dresden had to reinvent itself. In the last 25 years a complete new touristic infrastructure had to be created - using the cultural roots of the preceding centuries and integrating the heritage of the Socialist time. Even more challenging was the development of Dresden as a touristic brand. After 1945 for more 45 years Dresden was the symbol of the destructions of WW II - attracting some