Written by Frank J. Peter

Glimpses of Dresden: Living Monument to Reconstruction and Reconciliation

A visual celebration of Dresden, Gemany: resurrected from the literal ashes of World War II… and home to the actual Slaughterhouse Five…

Table of Contents

About Frank’s Photography

(Click image to learn more)

back to… Table of Contents

Where is Dresden, Germany?

back to… Table of Contents

Special Note from Frank

As horrific and painful as the not that distant history of World War II has been, it’s quite remarkable and heartening that someone like me can freely travel to a place where I can now break bread and have a beer with human beings I’d have been ordered to destroy just three generations ago.

Dresden Hauptbahnhof

main platforms at the Dresden hauptbahnhof

exterior of the Dresden hauptbahnhof

back to… Table of Contents

The River Elbe & the City Skyline

the river Elbe and the Dresden skyline

back to… Table of Contents

Frauenkirche

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), destroyed during the Allied firebombing of Dresden towards the end of World War II, since rebuilt and serving as a symbol of reconciliation and monument to peace.

frauenkirche and Martin Luther statue

bubbles floating in the air with the Frauenkirche dome in the background

Frauenkirche peace academy poster
A heartening and encouraging sign of hope!

back to… Table of Contents

The Fürstenzug

The Fürstenzug (Procession of Princes) in Dresden, Germany, is a monumental mural depicting a mounted procession of the rulers of Saxony from 1127 to 1904.

Fürstenzug
A small sample of the 102 meter long porcelain mural.

back to… Table of Contents

Food & Drink

fruhstuck breakfast

beer garden

bratwurst and beer

apple strudel with ice cream

back to… Table of Contents

Street Scenes

pedestrians in Dresden

Dresden trams

man delivering kegs of beer

bicycle advertisement

poster for the Dresden Monarchs
Dresden Monarchs! American football in Deutschland!
young man talking to an older man wearing a communist cap and carrying a communist flag
A proud communist corrupting the youth!
front page of communist newspaper featuring a photo of Karl Marx

clock tower

young man playing a recorder

view of Frauenkirche

man from Romania drawing country flags on the sidewalk using colored chalk
A Romanian man doing what he can to survive here.
closeup view of two horses pulling a carriage

Dresden mailbox

Dresden sex shop

East German Soviet Mural
Remnant of Soviet East Germany.
people relaxing by the river Elbe

man playing the accordion

Hellerau theater poster

Dresden shopping mall

boys hanging out at the base of the Martin Luther statue

back to… Table of Contents

The Old Jewish Cemetery

old Jewish cemetery in Dresden

back to… Table of Contents

Dresden Pride

Dresden pride support love

Dresden pride peace

back to… Table of Contents

Zwinger Museum

Zwinger museum garden and fountains

Zwinger museum art collection

Zwinger museum painting of man getting his tooth pulled

Zwinger museum painting of flowers in a vase

Zwinger museum painting of old women looking straight at you

Zwinger museum old globe of the earth

Cyrillic inscription on outer wall of the Zwinger museum
Cyrillic inscription on the outer wall of the Zwinger, scratched by Soviet soldiers at the end of World War II, stating that the bombing/air strikes were over.

back to… Table of Contents

Dixieland Jazz Festival

It was beyond heartening to see this joyous celebration of music that transcends borders in a place that the allies firebombed in 1945…

dixieland jazz festival poster

dixieland jazz band
These cats could really swing!
Frank Peter and Dresdener named Bernd enjoying a beer together
A very special moment with a Dresdener named Bernd (to think that we’d have been ordered to kill each other only three generation ago).

back to… Table of Contents

Slaughterhouse Five (Schlachthof Fünf)

No trip to Dresden would be complete without going in search of Billy Pilgrim, the main character in the Kurt Vonnegut’s anti-war novel “Slaughterhouse Five” about Billy’s experiences as a prisoner of war and becoming “unstuck in time”.

Kurt Vonnegut was himself a POW during World War II and was imprisoned in the cellars of Slaughterhouse Five, where he survived the allied firebombing of Dresden (which killed 25,000 people) and experienced the horrific aftemath.

Doubly surprised to learn that “Schlachthof Fünf” stills exists and that it showed up on Google maps, off I went on foot from the city center to see what I might discover there. Along the way, I played with some sweet doggies and helped a delightful old German lady to safely cross the street… and there it was…

crossing the bridge that leads to slaughterhouse five
Slaughterhouse Five is the building in the center of the frame.
street sign that reads Schlachthofstrasse
Schlachthofstrasse (literally “slaughterhouse street”)
slaughterhouse five monument

slaughterhouse five monument inscription that reads "To the health of our beautiful city Dresden 1901 1910"
“To the health of our beautiful city Dresden 1901 1910”
main gate to slaughterhouse five

Andreas the guard and Frank Peter
After milling around and seeing no signs of life, I knocked on the gatehouse door and was greeted by Dresdener, security guard, and DJ named Andreas. In my very broken German I explained that I was there in search of Billy Pilgrim and to learn about the war. He was thrilled to hear about my interest and invited me in, where we had a lovely chat.
Frank Peter standing next to the sign that reads "Schlachthof 5" and "slaughterhouse five"
What I expected to be solely a heavy moment also turned out to be a moment of fellowship and hope for the world. (Photo taken by Andreas)

back to… Table of Contents

2 thoughts on “Glimpses of Dresden: Living Monument to Reconstruction and Reconciliation”

  1. Superb photography, Frank. I read Vonnegut’s book long ago, quite an indictment of what man can do to man. On a river tour I was able to get off the boat for a guided entry into the rebuilt opera house/concert hall. Beautifully done. Thanks for another grand tour.

    Reply

Leave a Reply