Brühl's Terrace
Encyclopedia
Brühl's Terrace is a historic architectural ensemble in Dresden
, Germany
. Nicknamed "The Balcony of Europe", the terrace stretches high above the shore of the river Elbe
in a city which is quite large as measured by area relative to its half a million inhabitants. Located north of the recently rebuilt Neumarkt
Square and the Frauenkirche
, is one of the favourite inner-city places of both locals and tourists for walking, people watching
, and having a coffee.
at the behest of Elector Maurice of Saxony
and his successors Augustus
and Christian
. The name Brühl's Terrace is a reference to Count Heinrich von Brühl
, Minister of Elector Frederick Augustus II
, who from 1737 had a city palace with a gallery, a library and adjacent gardens built on the location. In 1747 the whole terrace was given to him by the Saxon elector as a gift for the innovative introduction of a betterment tax.
After the Saxon defeat at the Battle of Leipzig
and the occupation by Russian
troops, military governor Prince Nikolai Grigorjevich Repnin-Wolkonski ordered the opening to the public in 1814. He charged the architect Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer
with the building of a flight of stairs at the western end to reach the terrace from Castle
Square and Augustus Bridge. The Brühl Palace was demolished in the course of the building of the Saxon Ständehaus in 1900.
The ensemble was totally destroyed in February 1945 when the city centre was heavily hit by the Allied Bombing of Dresden during the end phase of World War II
. Today, it has been rebuilt; the precise amount restored is difficult to say as a percentage, but in general one can say the emsemble looks very much the same today as it did in the past.
Today, Bruehl's Terrace is again one of the main city landmarks besides the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), Dresden Castle
, the Hofkirche
and buildings on Theatre Square such as the Zwinger
and the Semperoper
, which are all located in the vicinity. At the Bärenzwinger students' club near the monument for Johann Friedrich Böttger
, one can see a fingermark in a guardrail of the terrace garden. This dactylogram is said to be proof of the strength of August the Strong, who is said to have left the mark - but is only one of many myths surrounding August, such as the legend that he fathered 365 children.
's Supreme Court
a staircase with four sculptures (The Four Times of Day) leads from the Schlossplatz (Castle Square) up to Brühl's Terrace. One of the next buildings to the right is the Academy of Fine Arts. There is an ensemble of important buildings, such as the Albertinum
.
The name "Balcony of Dresden", on the other hand, is more regionally used for a tower six kilometers further to the East on a slope by the Elbe
in Loschwitz
, an area known for expensive living.
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Nicknamed "The Balcony of Europe", the terrace stretches high above the shore of the river Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
in a city which is quite large as measured by area relative to its half a million inhabitants. Located north of the recently rebuilt Neumarkt
Neumarkt (Dresden)
The Neumarkt in Dresden is a central and culturally significant section of the Dresden inner city. The historic area was almost completely wiped out during the Allied bomb attack during the Second World War...
Square and the Frauenkirche
Dresden Frauenkirche
The Dresden Frauenkirche is a Lutheran church in Dresden, eastern Germany.Built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. It has been reconstructed as a landmark symbol of reconciliation between former warring enemies...
, is one of the favourite inner-city places of both locals and tourists for walking, people watching
People watching
People watching or crowd watching is the act of observing people and their interactions, usually without their knowledge. This differs from voyeurism in that it does not relate to sex or sexual gratification...
, and having a coffee.
History and character
The present-day terrace was part of the city's fortifications, rebuilt upon the 1546/47 Schmalkaldic WarSchmalkaldic War
The Schmalkaldic War refers to the short period of violence from 1546 until 1547 between the forces of Emperor Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Roman Empire, commanded by Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, and the Lutheran Schmalkaldic League within the domains of the Holy Roman...
at the behest of Elector Maurice of Saxony
Maurice, Elector of Saxony
Maurice was Duke and later Elector of Saxony. His clever manipulation of alliances and disputes gained the Albertine branch of the Wettin dynasty extensive lands and the electoral dignity....
and his successors Augustus
Augustus, Elector of Saxony
Augustus was Elector of Saxony from 1553 to 1586.-First years:Augustus was born in Freiberg, the youngest child and third son of Henry IV, Duke of Saxony, and Catherine of Mecklenburg. He consequently belonged to the Albertine branch of the Wettin family...
and Christian
Christian I, Elector of Saxony
Christian I of Saxony was Elector of Saxony from 1586 to 1591.He was the sixth but second surviving son of Elector Augustus of Saxony and Anna of Denmark...
. The name Brühl's Terrace is a reference to Count Heinrich von Brühl
Heinrich von Brühl
Heinrich, count von Brühl , was a German statesman at the court of Saxony and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, Minister of Elector Frederick Augustus II
Augustus III of Poland
Augustus III, known as the Saxon ; ; also Prince-elector Friedrich August II was the Elector of Saxony in 1733-1763, as Frederick Augustus II , King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1734-1763.-Biography:Augustus was the only legitimate son of Augustus II the Strong, Imperial Prince-Elector...
, who from 1737 had a city palace with a gallery, a library and adjacent gardens built on the location. In 1747 the whole terrace was given to him by the Saxon elector as a gift for the innovative introduction of a betterment tax.
After the Saxon defeat at the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
and the occupation by Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
troops, military governor Prince Nikolai Grigorjevich Repnin-Wolkonski ordered the opening to the public in 1814. He charged the architect Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer
Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer
Gottlob Friedrich Thormeyer was a German representative of neoclassical architecture.- Education and early work:...
with the building of a flight of stairs at the western end to reach the terrace from Castle
Dresden castle
Dresden Castle is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden. For almost 400 years, it has been the residence of the electors and kings of Saxony...
Square and Augustus Bridge. The Brühl Palace was demolished in the course of the building of the Saxon Ständehaus in 1900.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Today, it has been rebuilt; the precise amount restored is difficult to say as a percentage, but in general one can say the emsemble looks very much the same today as it did in the past.
Today, Bruehl's Terrace is again one of the main city landmarks besides the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), Dresden Castle
Dresden castle
Dresden Castle is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden. For almost 400 years, it has been the residence of the electors and kings of Saxony...
, the Hofkirche
Katholische Hofkirche
The Katholische Hofkirche is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, located in the 'Altstadt' in the heart of Dresden, in Germany. Previously the most important Catholic parish church of the city, it was elevated to cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dresden-Meissen in 1964.-Overview:The Hofkirche...
and buildings on Theatre Square such as the Zwinger
Zwinger
The Zwinger is a palace in Dresden, eastern Germany, built in Baroque style. It served as the orangery, exhibition gallery and festival arena of the Dresden Court....
and the Semperoper
Semperoper
The Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden . It is located near the Elbe River in the historic center of Dresden, Germany.The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841...
, which are all located in the vicinity. At the Bärenzwinger students' club near the monument for Johann Friedrich Böttger
Johann Friedrich Böttger
Johann Friedrich Böttger was a Germanalchemist.He was generally acknowledged as the inventor of European porcelain although more recent sources ascribe this to Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus...
, one can see a fingermark in a guardrail of the terrace garden. This dactylogram is said to be proof of the strength of August the Strong, who is said to have left the mark - but is only one of many myths surrounding August, such as the legend that he fathered 365 children.
Architectural parts of the terrace
Most people enter the terrace from the Schlossplatz (Castle Square) on the west end of the terrace. Besides SaxonySaxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
's Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
a staircase with four sculptures (The Four Times of Day) leads from the Schlossplatz (Castle Square) up to Brühl's Terrace. One of the next buildings to the right is the Academy of Fine Arts. There is an ensemble of important buildings, such as the Albertinum
Albertinum
The Albertinum is a famous fine art museum in Dresden, Germany, close to Brühl's Terrace and the Zwinger.- History :The Albertinum, named after Saxon king Albert, was built between 1884 and 1887 by Carl Adolf Canzler on the site of a former armoury to serve as a public museum and archive...
.
- Sächsisches Ständehaus by Paul WallotPaul WallotPaul Wallot was a German architect of Huguenot descent, best known for designing the Reichstag building in Berlin, erected between 1884 and 1894...
- Rietschelmonument by Johannes SchillingJohannes SchillingJohannes Schilling was a German sculptor. His pupils included Hans Hartmann-MacLean....
- Sekundogenitur
- Academy of Fine Arts
- Semperdenkmal, monument for Gottfried SemperGottfried SemperGottfried Semper was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture, who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in Dresden and was put on the government's wanted list. Semper fled first to Zürich and later...
by Johannes SchillingJohannes SchillingJohannes Schilling was a German sculptor. His pupils included Hans Hartmann-MacLean.... - Jungfernbastei (Belvederehügel)
- Moritzmonument
- Bärenzwinger basement vault
- Hofgärtnerhaus
- AlbertinumAlbertinumThe Albertinum is a famous fine art museum in Dresden, Germany, close to Brühl's Terrace and the Zwinger.- History :The Albertinum, named after Saxon king Albert, was built between 1884 and 1887 by Carl Adolf Canzler on the site of a former armoury to serve as a public museum and archive...
- Delphinbrunnen
- Monument for Johann Friedrich BöttgerJohann Friedrich BöttgerJohann Friedrich Böttger was a Germanalchemist.He was generally acknowledged as the inventor of European porcelain although more recent sources ascribe this to Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus...
- Staircase by Gottlob Friedrich ThormeyerGottlob Friedrich ThormeyerGottlob Friedrich Thormeyer was a German representative of neoclassical architecture.- Education and early work:...
- By the staircase, the "Four Times of the Day" group (Vier Tageszeiten) by Johannes SchillingJohannes SchillingJohannes Schilling was a German sculptor. His pupils included Hans Hartmann-MacLean....
The balconies of Europe and of Dresden
Brühl's Terrace is known as the "Balcony of Europe", a name which was first thought up and used at the beginning of the 19th century and which since then has been used in all kinds of literature.The name "Balcony of Dresden", on the other hand, is more regionally used for a tower six kilometers further to the East on a slope by the Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
in Loschwitz
Loschwitz
Loschwitz is a borough of Dresden, Germany, incorporated in 1921. It consists of ten quarters :Loschwitz is a villa quarter located at the slopes north of the Elbe river...
, an area known for expensive living.