Welcome to Dresden

Dresden is the capital of the state of Saxony and has a population of 490.000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Elbe and can be considered as one of the greenest cities in Europe, with parks and recreation areas covering 63 per cent of its area. Due to its beautiful architecture and surrounding landscape, Dresden is often called "the Florence on the Elbe", an expression revealing the charm of the city. The 800 years old Baroque town and its surrounding is offering a wide variety of different sights e.g. Zwinger, the Dresden Cathedral, the Semper Opera House, the castles of Moritzburg, Meißen and Pillnitz, the Porcelain Manufactury in Meißen or the beautiful landscape Sächsische Schweiz.

Dresden was from the 15th century onwards residence of the Saxon dukes, electoral princes and later kings. Dresden's most glorious period, both in art and in architectural innovation, occurred from 1697 to 1763. Today it is a city of art and culture with magnificent buildings, many museums of world class as well as venues and ensembles with a rich tradition of theatrical and musical history.

Especially Materials Science has a long tradition in Dresden. Today there are about 20 research institutes located in the larger Dresden area working in the field of materials science and physics. Dresden is also known as Silicon Saxony. 1200 businesses of the entire value creation chain with more than 43.500 employees constitute Europe's largest microelectronics location.

The 800 years old Baroque town and its surrounding is offering a wide varity of different sights e.g.
the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady)
the Zwinger
the Dresden Cathedral
the Semper Opera House
or the castles of Moritzburg, Meißen and Pillnitz
the Porcelain Manufactury in Meißen or
the beautiful landscape Sächsische Schweiz.

For more detailed information see also www.dresden.de.