GERMANY - Europe by Eurail 2015: Touring Europe by Train - page 227

Ask about the DresdenCard (€29.90; valid for 48 hours), which provides for free
transportation on all tram and bus lines plus ferries on the Elbe, free entrance to
many museums, and discounts on city tours. In typical German fashion, the city's
Rathaus (town hall) has a Ratskeller (restaurant) in its cellar, where you may en-
joy a cold draft and a sample of Saxon food before setting out to see Dresden.
One of the many magnificent edifices vying for your attention during your Dres-
den visit is the Zwinger. It is known as the most important Late Baroque building
in Germany. The name “Zwinger” is a term used in the construction of fortresses
and defines the space between the outer and inner ramparts. Heavily damaged in
1945, the Zwinger reconstruction was said to have begun “instantaneously” des-
pite communist objections. It was restored to its current condition by 1963.
If you cross the Elbe, be sure to use Dresden's famous
Loschwitzer-Blasewitzer Bridge. Opened in 1893, it was the only bridge to re-
main intact by 1945. The complex WWII German political and military organization
known as the SS had the bridge set for destruction, but two Dresdeners, each un-
aware of the other's action, cut the wire to the explosives. The grateful populace of
Dresden now refers to the bridge as the “Blue Miracle.”
Day Excursion to
Leipzig
Bach and Mendelssohn Memories
Depart from Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Distance by Train: 113 miles (182 km)
Average Train Time: 2 hours
City Dialing Code: 341
Tourist Information Office: Katharinenstrasse 8, D-04109 Leipzig
Tel: [phone]; Fax: [phone]
www.leipzig.de
E-mail: [e-mail]
Hours: 0930-1800 Monday-Friday (1000-1800 November-February),
0930-1600 Saturday, 0930-1500 Sunday
Notes: The tourist office is 2 blocks out the front of the train station, directly across
from the Art Museum—a five-minute walk.