Dresden New Town Walk (Self Guided), Dresden

The Neustadt (New Town) of Dresden is a central district located on the north bank of the Elbe. Despite the name, this part of the city is not at all new and has been inhabited for as long as the Old Town on the opposite side of the river. Its “novelty” derives from "Neue Königliche Stadt" (New Royal Town), which is the title given to the area, formerly the district of Altendresden, after its Baroque-style reconstruction, following a fire, in 1732.

The latter produced a wealth of elegant architecture, much of which, luckily, had survived the wartime destruction of the 1940s. A good number of Dresden's historical buildings are found around Königstrasse (King's Street), which is a part of the so-called Innere Neustadt (Inner New Town).

A prelude to the Innere Neustadt is the Neustädter Markt – redesigned during GDR times in style of a “socialist” city center of the 1970s – dominated by the equestrian statue of king August the Strong (known locally as the "Golden Horseman"). Beyond the statue starts Hauptstrasse, the main street of the historical quarter.

There are four bridges crossing the Elbe within the Neustadt, including the historic Augustusbrücke (Augustus' Bridge). The streets leading towards them converge at Albertplatz, the central square and traffic junction of the New Town. Lining the river banks here are the government buildings of the so-called “government quarter” and the Japanisches Palais (Japanese Palace), home to the State Museum of Ethnology. Also here is the Dreikönigskirche (Three Kings' Church), destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout its history – the former seat of the Saxon parliament, from 1990 to 1993.

If you wish to connect with Dresden’s New Town and be mesmerized by its cultural attractions, take this self-guided walking tour.