Dresden was considered a charming, baroque city with a thriving arts scene, including opera, ballet, symphonies, theatre and fine art. The word “baroque” refers to a style of architecture common during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Augustus and his children left all of their jewels in Dresden; these jewels are housed for public view in one of his old residences in the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vaults). This a little foreshadowing for the jewel thieves part of my article!
In the year 1933, Hitler had just gained power in Germany. Like many German cities, Dresden held Nazi rallies. Some of these rallies took place in the large square between the Semper Oper (the opera house) and the Hofkirche (the centuries’ old catholic church), just blocks away from the synagogue. The synagogue was eventually destroyed and most Jews were sent to camps.
For most of World War II, Dresden remained relatively insulated from the destruction of war.
However, on February 13, 1945, Allied planes bombed the oldest part of the city. When the survivors emerged from their bunkers, they saw their once-beautiful city in ruins. Just months later, Germany surrendered.
One native Dresdner told me that it was mostly the women who cleared the rubble because many German men died in the war. The women were called Trümmerfrauen (rubble women). His mom was a Trümmerfrau. Even though it wasn’t glamorous work, he told me he was so proud of his mom for working hard to clean up her beloved city.
Now, let’s go to the year 1949. Since Dresden was on the eastern side of Germany, it belonged to the East German state, called the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
