VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Dresden has been the capital of the federal state of Saxony since 1990 and ranks as fourth in city area after Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne. Planted land accounts for 63% of Saxony's territory, and its four nature parks make Dresden one of the greenest cities in Europe. There are four nature reserves in the city.
The population of Dresden, Germany's 15th most-populated city, is 489,000, including 18,800 expats.
The city was first mentioned in historical records in 1206. The settlement gained town status in 1403. In 1485, the Elector's residence was transferred from Meissen to Dresden, with new palaces and churches built by the best architects and technicians. Between 1806 and 1918, Dresden was the capital of the Kingdom of Saxony.
The most favourable historical period for Dresden was between 1694 and 1733, during the rule of the legendary August II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, after a union with Poland was concluded in early 18th century. Officially, the Polish Royal Crown belonged to the Saxonian Royal Court until World War II.
Three months before the end of WWII, on February 13-14, 1945, Dresden was heavily bombed by British and US aircraft. After the war, most of the destroyed historical buildings were eventually restored.
In 2006, Dresden celebrated its 800th anniversary, with the Petersburg Dialogue Russian-German forum being one of the key events. City authorities proclaimed 2006 to be The Year of Russia in Dresden.
Today, Dresden is one of the European centres for high technology, car manufacturing, science, culture, and tourism. The city is home to two AMD microprocessor plants, an Infineon Technologies microcircuit factory, and a Volkswagen car plant. The city also hosts tests of А-330, А-340, and А-380 wide-body aircraft.
Saxony's food, confectionary, pharmaceutical, chemical, furniture, engineering, polygraphic, publishing, and construction industries, as well as its photo camera production and service sector, are well developed.
Dresden hosts 30 colleges, the Technical University, Max Planck Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society, Rossendorf Research Centre, Dresden Technology Centre and the Consulting Association for Technology Transfer and Innovations Promotion.
Over 7 million tourists visit Dresden annually, attracted by the city's architecture, especially the historic buildings in its old part, and the numerous suburban palaces and castles.
The top places of interest in the Florence on the Elbe, as Dresden is sometimes called, are all confined to a rather small area in the old part of the city where the Dresden Palace and some of the treasury buildings, the Gruenes Gewoelbe and the Albertinum, are located, along with the New Masters Gallery, Palace Church, the Zwinger architectural complex, Semperoper opera house, the newly renovated Frauenkirche (Church of the Holy Lady), and the Bruel Terrace.
The world-famous Dresden Old Masters Gallery features artwork by Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and Liotard, as well as the masterpiece "Sistine Madonna" by Rafael.
The city has a total of 37 museums, 41 art galleries, 38 theatres, 91 libraries, and 28 culture centres.
East of Dresden up the Elbe River is the Saxon Switzerland nature reserve, featuring the famous sandrocks that overlook the Elbe River bend. Outside Dresden are the Pillnitz, Moritzburg, and Koenigsstein castles.
Dresden maintains partnerships with the following cities: Russia's St Petersburg (since 1961), Austria's Salzburg, Italy's Florence, France's Strasbourg, the Netherlands' Rotterdam, Poland's Wroclaw, and others.
