We bid a fond farewell to Prague and started our journey to our final destination: Berlin. Our tour guide Kamila noted that Vienna is like a princess, regal and aloof, Budapest like a gypsy, enticing and mysterious and Prague was like a lovely maiden touching the spirit and the soul. As we left the city this morning she told us once one has visited one never says goodbye, but is always anticipating and planning ones return. One cannot leave for long.
We all certainly understood as we left this charming and beautiful city.
We drove north through the city and through the countryside as we made our way to the German border and on to Dresden.
Dresden, of course, was destroyed by allied incendiary bombing in one night 12 weeks before the end of the war. 35,000 lost their lives and 85% of the city was destroyed. The bombing was clearly retribution for the bombing of London as Dresden had no military significance. But it sent a message to the Germans that clearly helped bring about the end of the war.
But that is not the end of the story as the Russians who controlled Dresden aft the was, saw it's destruction as an opportunity to rebuild the city according to it's ideology. It was only with a good deal of persuasion and deception that the people of Dresden were able to keep the remains of their historical sites in place ... That they might eventually be rebuilt.
That rebuilding did not begin until after 1989 ... Which makes the current condition of. Dresden that much more remarkable. The town center has been carefully rebuilt to resemble the pre-war times. It is reconstruction that, understandably, continues today. One thing that was not rebuilt was the original synagogue. That is a completely new structure. This brand new modern structure was a conscious decision of the Dresden community, we were told, to make the statement that they are not looking backward to what was but forward to a new and better relationship with the Jewish community. Our non-Jewish guide noted more than once the responsibility that the Germans have taken for what happened.
We took a quick tour of the royal palace replete with unbelievable treasures: ornate gold coffee sets, intricately carved glass crystal and ivory. Following lunch we quickly toured the Hall of the Masters where our guide showed us just three of the hundreds and hundreds of amazing works of art to be found there ... All also part of the royal collection. Luckily the foresight of the director of the museum saved these treasures by Rembrandt, Vermeer and so many more, when in 1939, anticipating what was to be he had the entire collection carefully stored in a nearby mine for the duration of the war.
By late afternoon we were back on the bus for the two hour drive to Berlin, where we sadly bid a fond farewell to our wonderful Czech guide Kamila. We checked into our final hotel and were off for a free evening to explore Berlin
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