Last day in Dresden

Today was our last full day in Dresden.  We did a lot, and were satisfied.  Before we caught the tram into town, we found Knoopstrasse, named after Wilhelm Knoop.  Wilhelm Knoop was a partner in the bank, Robert Thode & Co, owned by our relative, Robert Thode.  My great-grandfather, Felix Thode, whom I mention in other blog posts, knew Wilhelm Knoop.  We have correspondence from Knoop to Felix who criticised Felix when he was staying in Namslau (Hotel Schwarzer Adler) as a young man.  Wilhelm Knoop said 'You shouldn't be staying in expensive hotels', and 'Why are you travelling in carriages - a young man like you should walk!'  Wilhelm Knoop later became the Chairman of the Dresdner Bank.  He'd also been honorary consul for the US and Mexico and was somewhat philanthropic in Loschwitz.

We also found the house of Wilhelm Knoop's daughter, Magda Knoop, which is below.

Our first tram stop was at the Pfunzmölkerei, a famous cafe, operating for about 100 years, whose interior walls are pricelessly decorated with tiles showing classical images, angels and other scenes that appear rather Roman.

At the Altmarkt, there was a gay pride celebration held, or 'Christopher Street Day'.  A couple of floats drove by, and its occupants threw sweets to the onlookers.  I picked one up.  More were thrown, and I grabbed another.  Instead of it being a sweet, I realised I'd picked up a condom!

We popped into the Altmarkt Gallerie, a massive shopping centre running the length of the Wilsdruffer Strasse.  Jean bought me a new German football shirt, 'Deutscher Fussball Bund'.  We browsed in a bookshop, and I found several German language books for refugees and asylum seekers, a sure indication of the recent Syria crisis, and Germany's absorption of nearly a million refugees.

Renate and I climbed to the top of the Frauenkirche.  In this photo, we are inside the dome, looking down on people sitting in the pews way below.

Sixty-seven metres above the ground.  The two spires are those of the Rathaus at left and the Kreuzkirche at right, where several members of my family in the 19th century were baptised.

This bare patch below shows the construction site where works are being carried out that may feature a combination of housing and a shopping mall, we were told.

Looking north along the Elbe.  In the middleground, the spire at left is Dresden's castle, built by August der Starke (August the Strong).

Looking upstream

You can see the long hill in the background slope down to 'ground' level from the left.  Loschwitz sits on that hill, left of the picture.  I was amazed to realise, to the right of the descending hill, in the far background, you can detect the distinct shapes of the Sächsische Schweiz.  

We followed the Brühlsche Terrasse round to its end near the Albertinum, where we listened to musicians for a while.

Here, we listened to musicians play classical music.