German Memories

e of my youth, Dresden is engraved on my heart and, unlike Caesar, I would rather be nobody there where I have spent some of the happiest days of my life than somebody in Rome without any associations. Many are the cities I have seen, but to Dresden I must give the palm as regards those points which, I think, constitute the attraction and charm of a city for a stranger! The delightful situation on the banks of the Elbe, its wooded surroundings, leading up stream through Loschwitz, Pilnitz, to Saxon Switzerland and the mountain fortress of Koenigstein: the endless variety and amenities to be enjoyed within a short railway journey, in these respects Dresden can scarcely be surpassed in the centre of Europe except, perhaps, by the incomparable town of Salzburg. But where are we to match the Bruehlsche Terrasse with its Belvedere, and its excellent concerts every evening all the year round ? The Grosse Garten, with its beautiful ornamental grounds, its shady groves and avenues adorned by stately marble groups, its Royal Palace of the seventeenth century in front of the lake, all still breathe the air of the rococo. Each of these features may perhaps be excelled elsewhere, but nowhere have I seen such a harmonious blending of the spirit of that particular period as in Dresden. The opera house I have already referred to; the Royal Palace, the Zwinger, the Green vaults, with their priceless collections; Gottfried Semper's beautiful museum building, containing the pic...