DRESDEN. 



731 



DRESDEN, one of the finest places of Germany, 

 the residence of the kings of Saxony, is situated in 

 the circle of Meissen, on the Elbe, which separates 

 Dresden Proper from the Neustadt (New Town). 

 Its population is above 55,000 inhabitants. It con- 

 sists of the Royal Residence or Dresden Proper, anc 

 the Neustadt (so called since 1732, and handsomely 

 built since the time of Augustus II., formerly Old 

 Dresden), and of Friedenclistadt (formerly Ostra, 

 laid out since 1670). Among the objects worthy ol 

 notice are, the stone bridge across the Elbe, 552 

 feet long, consisting of 16 arches, with a raised foot- 

 path of flag stones, round stone seats, and an iron 

 railing ; the equestrian statue of Augustus II., 

 erected in 1736, in the Neustadt, made of gilt bronze ; 

 the Catholic church for the court, and several pic- 

 tures ; among others, the Ascension of Christ, by 

 Mengs ; the famous gallery of pictures ; the royal 

 library, and the cabinet of antiques, together with a 

 collection of porcelain, and the first attempts of Bott- 

 cher ; the gallery of the casts of Mengs (besides the 

 antiques); the cabinet of natural history ; the arsenal, 

 and the cabinet of works of art ; the great garden ; the 

 garden of Bruhl, with a small collection of pictures. 

 In the vicinity of Dresden, the Plauensche Grund 

 (valley of Plauen) and the vale of Seifersdorf are 

 well known to the lovers of nature. Besides these, 

 may be mentioned the royal summer residence, 

 Pilnitz ; the fortress of Konigstein ; the Sonnenstein 

 (at present an insane hospital) ; the Saxon Switzer- 

 land ; and the heights of Kesselsdorf, rendered fa- 

 mous by a battle in the seven years' war. The city 

 suffered much in this war. In 1760, it was bom- 

 barded by Frederic the Great, nine days, and has 

 been frequently exposed to the devastations of war. 

 The importance of its situation occasioned the build- 

 ing of a fort, probably as early as the ninth century. 

 The Austrians occupied the city in 1809 without 

 injuring it. In the following years they commenced 

 pulling down the fortifications, but desisted from it 

 on the breaking out of the Russian war. Marshal 

 Davoust caused a pier and two arches of the bridge 

 to be blown up (March 19, 1813), which the Russian 

 government rebuilt in 1814. The campaign of 

 1813 was most ruinous for the city and its environs. 

 After nine years of war and suffering, on the 7th 

 of June, 1815, peace and industry returned to the 

 German Florence, as Herder calls Dresden. Since 

 that time, dwelling-houses, gardens, and parks, have 

 taken the place of the former fortifications. The 

 city is also distinguished for its excellent literary 

 institutions, among which are the surgical and medi- 

 cal academy, and a veterinary school, which is con- 

 nected with it ; the military academy ; the academy 

 for noblemen, established since 1725 ; the academy 

 of fine arts, with a school for architecture. The 

 last academy, enlarged since 1763, has a branch in 

 Leipsic, and an exhibition yearly (3d of August). 



We may here say a few words on the collections 

 of art. The gallery of pictures, one of the finest in 

 the world, was begun very early, but first became 

 of much importance under Augustus II., king of 

 Poland, and elector of Saxony. It owes its most 

 valuable treasures, however, to Augustus HI., a pro- 

 digal monarch, who exhausted his country by his 

 extravagances. He purchased the gallery of pic- 

 tures of Modena for 912,000 dollars, and many 

 single pictures ; among them Raphael's masterpiece, 

 the Madonna di Sisto. The gallery is rich in pic- 

 tures of the different schools, with the exception of 

 the old German. From the Dutch school there 

 are, among others, 30 Rubens, 18 Van Dykes, many 

 Rembrandts, Ostades, Gerard Dows, Tenniers, Wou- 

 vermanns, &c. Of the old German school, Hol- 

 bein's Madonna, a sublime work, is particularly dis- 



i tii.guished. Of the French school, there are many 

 Claude Lorraines, Poussins, Le Bruns, and others. 

 Of the Italian school, the gallery is rich in pictures 

 of Coreggio, including his famous Night; of Ra- 

 phael, the Madonna di Sisto, the Madonna della 

 Seggiola, and others. There are also works of 

 Leonardo da Vinci, Giulio Romano, Andrea del 

 Sarto Battoni, Titian (his famous Venus), Garo- 

 &lo, Paul Veronese, Guido Reni, Carracci, Carlo 

 Dolce, and every distinguished Italian painter. 

 There are 150 pieces in pastel. This collection 

 is liberally open every day to all visitors. Six 

 pieces of tapestry, from designs by Raphael, a 

 present from pope Leo X., which were lost, have 

 lately been found again. The gallery of pictures in 

 the garden of Bruhl is likewise valuable. The Ait- 

 gusteum, or collection of antiques, was commenced 

 as early as the 16th century. It contains some ex- 

 cellent statues, among which are distinguished three 

 female figures from Herculaneum. The cabinet of 

 engravings is one of the richest in the world. It 

 contains 200,000 pieces, and the rarest productions 

 of the art. The cabinet of casts contains copies of 

 all the most important antiques, made under the di- 

 rection of Raphael Mengs, in Italy. The collection 

 of porcelain is valued at several millions. Dresden 

 being thus rich in treasures of art, and favoured by 

 a beautiful natural situation, is the summer resort 

 of many foreigners, especially since the artificial 

 mineral waters have been prepared in the beautiful 

 garden of Struve. 



Dresden was the centre of operations in the contest of 1813, 

 when almost all the powers of Europe were arrayed against 

 Napoleon. Besides the political importance of Dresden as a 

 capital, the possession of the Elbe, by means of the fortresses 

 of Torgau, Wittenberg, and Magdeburg, was another motire 

 which induced Napoleon to place himself with his whole army 

 a cheval (that is, on both sides) of the river ; and the whole 

 neighbourhood resembled a great fortified camp, from which 

 he could pour out his columns, with equal ease, on Prague, 

 Breslau, or Berlin. The king of Saxony had left his capital, 

 Feb. 7, 1813. March 7, a division of French and Saxons, con- 

 sisting of only 3500 men, pursued on their retreat from Poland 

 by the Russian light troops, entered Dresden. The 12th, mar- 

 shal Davoust, with 12,000 men and 20 cannon, marched from 

 Meissen, where he had burnt the bridge, to Dresden. The 

 Cossacks kept up a continual skirmishing before the Neustadt. 

 The 19th, marshal Davoust left Dresden with his corps, with 

 the exception of a garrison of 3000 men, under general Durutte. 

 The Neustadt was surrendered on the 22d, to a division of Cos. 

 sacks. A few days after, several hundred Cossacks swam 

 across the Elbe, and Durutte left Dresden to the Russians, un- 

 der Winzingerode, who was followed by the army of Blucher, 

 which passed the Elbe, April 16th, at Dresden. The second 

 Russian army, under Miloradowitsch, followed, and, after the 

 entry of the emperor Alexander and the king of Prussia, 

 another division of 16,000 men. May 2d was fought the bloody 

 battle of Lutzen, after which the two sovereigns returned to 

 Dresden, and their troops crossed, without interruption, to 

 the right bank of the Elbe, by Meissen and Dresden. May 

 8th, the Russians occupied only the Neustadt, and the French 

 array under Napoleon, entered Dresden. On this and the fol- 

 lowing day, a violent firing was begun from the walls and 

 houses. On the morning of the 10th, the allies retreated to 

 Bautzen, closely followed by the French. The country was 

 devastated, and many villages burnt down. The king of Sax- 

 ony returned, May 12. The French were actively employed 

 in fortifying the Neustadt After the battles of Bautzen, 

 Wurschen, and Hochkirch (19th, 20th, and 21st of May), there 

 were more than 20,000 wounded men to be provided for in 

 Dresden : the slightly wounded, and many of the sick, were 

 distributed in the houses of the citizens. The distress of the 

 city was increased during the armistice of ten weeks, during 

 which nearly 30,000 soldiers had to be provided for. A forti- 

 5ed camp, connected, by two bridges, with the fortress of 

 Konigstein, and capable of containing 60,000 men, was laid out 

 at the foot of the I.iliensteiu. On the right bank, the works 

 rouud the Neustadt covered the mads to Berlin, Warsaw, and 

 Bautzen ; another extensive line of retrenchments surrounded 

 the suburbs of the old city, round which large bodies of troops 

 incamped on both banks. At this time, Metternich and Bubna 

 ami 1 tn Dresden, but the negotiations were broken off, and 

 ;he war was renewed the 17th of August Dresden was the 

 centre of operations of the French army. August 15th, Na- 

 >oleim passed through Bautzen to Silesia; and Vandamme, 

 .vith 40,000 men from the Lower Elbe, passed to the right 

 >auk of the Elbe, between the 17th and 19th, and moved, with 

 Poniatowski, towards Rumbnrg and Gabel on the frontiers of 

 Bohemia. But the grand army of the allies, under princo 

 Sen war/.enbe.rg, unexpectedly advanced, in four divisions, from 

 the passes of the Bohemian mountains, on the left bank of tha 



