This March break, 11 students and two faculty members are traveling to Berlin, Prague, and Krakow to explore the idea of monuments and memorials and their role in public memory, and learn more about the Holocaust and how Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Poland responded in the late 20th century and early 21st century to the study of Holocaust memory, public art, and their fusion in contemporary life. Please enjoy the blog post below from Aelahni ’28 and Gianluca ’27 where they share their visit to Dresden, admiring its rebuilt beauty, rich history, and the resilience of a city that rose from destruction.
We began the chilly Friday morning with an early start, waking up around 6:30 and eating breakfast by 7:00. It was time to say goodbye to Berlin, a big city full of big history, and say hello to Dresden. I had an amazing time in Berlin and was certainly sad to leave, but new adventures and experiences were just a two-hour drive away!
80 years ago, Dresden had been badly bombed. The entire city was destroyed and thousands of people lost their lives. The entire city had been rebuilt in under 80 years; I was curious to see what the city would be like in the present day. Our first stop was the Zwinger Museum. When the bus passed the Zwinger, my jaw practically hit the floor. It was this breathtaking, gigantic, baroque-styled structure that was undoubtedly picture-worthy. The architecture was one of my favorite things about Germany and seeing the Zwinger only made me more excited to see the rest of the city. Seeing the astonishing structure up close was even better; I felt like the size of a grain of rice compared to the towering building.
Inside the museum were seemingly endless amounts of artwork. From paintings to porcelain sculptures. There was even a section dedicated to old math and science instruments. Something that I gravitated towards was this collection of landscape paintings of Dresden before the bombing had occurred. Looking at the images of the Zwinger standing tall above the Elbe River made me realize how much teamwork and effort it must have taken to get it back to the way it once was. The paintings told me that when people come together, extraordinary things can happen.
The Zwinger wasn’t the only breathtaking structure we visited. Right after a wonderful experience in the museum we made our way towards The Frauenkirche, a beautiful baroque-styled church, which was only just finished building in around 2005! Even with the flashy exterior, the interior of the church stood out to me the most. The pink and gold, along with some blue and green, really brightened the room. It made the church feel warm and welcoming. Something else that made the church seem even more beautiful than it already was, was the fact the citizens of Dresden donated money to help rebuild the Frauenkirche because it was just that important to them. It can be a lot to learn about the deep history behind the holocaust and though I do find it interesting and very important, it was refreshing to learn about something different that was also important to German history.
To finish off our afternoon in Dresden, we stopped for lunch, where I got to try this sweet ginger ale-like drink called Almdudler and explore the rest of the city. I loved the old feel of a lot of the buildings as well as their colors. Dresden is quite an aesthetically pleasing place. Compared to Berlin, it was easier to navigate the streets of the foreign city. The city was calm and the people were friendly and my friends and I had a great time doing some shopping. Our final hours in Dresden consisted of a dinner filled with jokes, laughter, a delicious German dish called Flammkuchen, and some rest in a nice hotel before our early morning departure. Although it was only for a day, I had a good time in Dresden and would love to come back again someday. – Aelahni ’28
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Vaults of jewelry, gold, and porcelain lie in Dresden
Endless splendor and elegant carvings
Regal relics define the aristocratic riches
Golden grandeur beamed from each exhibit
Augustus the Strong belonged to an age untouched by later atrocities
Noble riches once built empires
Gadgets such as telescopes, scales and clocks were once innovative
Even as we left the Zwinger museum
Narrow streets continued to guide us through history
History weighed heavier beneath the rain
Empires rise and fall but no one expected to go from royalty to ruin
Innovation and art thrived in Dresden, but suffering had remained
Tyranny had measured on scales that never balanced correctly
Scales of justice never in full splendour under socialism
Bavarian meals at lunch warmed our stomachs
Enchanting was the word to describe the cobbled streets we wandered
Winding alleys led us through our free time in the city
Ashes once covered the ground, yet baroque buildings had returned
Like porcelain, Dresden was fragile but enduring
To stand in the beauty we saw is proof that even from fire and ruin, something new can rise
If this city can come back from bombing and destruction
Given time, so can a people rise from unimaginable suffering
Unlike the broken past, there is still hope for the future
Never again.
Germany remembers, but will it ever forgive itself
Vergangenheitsbewältigung (german) = dealing/coming to terms with the past (english)
– GianLuca ’27