Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin: A Legendary Address

 

In the heart of Berlin, facing the Brandenburg Gate and only a few steps from the government district, is the legendary five-star luxury Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin. Founded by Lorenz Adlon in 1907, the legendary Hotel Adlon has always inspired and fascinated guests from near and far. Throughout the world, the name Adlon has become synonymous with graceful elegance and regal hospitality. Ideally located in the heart of the vibrant Berlin, this iconic property with stunning rooms and suites exudes the ultimate in opulence, style and sophistication. The Adlon’s true hallmark, however, is its unique and unsurpassable aura of tradition and modernity. The hotel provides travellers unmatched levels of comfort and service, some with views of Brandenburg Gate, including our gorgeous suite. 

The Berlin Adlon Kempinski Lobby Bar with Elephant fountain

View of the Brandenburg Gates from the Adlon Kempinski suite

Cocktail at the The Adlon Kempinski Lobby Bar

www.kempinski.com/en/hotel-adlon

Dreseden Semperoper: Romeo + Juliet

 

One of the greatest love stories in the canon of Western literature, must be the passion and dreadful fate of young Romeo and his Juliet, who cannot be together because of deep-seated hatred and ancient quarrels, only to be united in death. In opera, you know it never ends well. However, one of the benefits of travelling through Germany and Austria during the chilly holiday season, is the wealth of operas and concerts at our fingertips, which is we chose this season to explore the cultural landscape, such as this evening's opera performance of Romeo + Juliet in five acts with libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré and based on the play by William Shakespeare.

The sumptuous interior of Dresden's Semperoper, where we arrived for 

Romeo and Juliet

The beautiful ceiling of the Semperoper

Contemporary costumes leant an current day feel to the production

Juliet so happy to have met Romeo unaware that he's watching and listening
to her from behind the column of the town square

The fight breaks out on the main square, 2 deaths ensue and everything goes

'pear-shaped' from that point on

The beautiful Christmas Tree in the lobby of the Dresden Semproper, 

just one of the many glorious benefits of travelling during the holiday season

www.semperoper.de/en

 

Dresden: An Architectural Treasure on the Elbe

Before World War II, Dresden was called 'the Florence on the Elbe' and was considered to be one of the world’s most beautiful cities due to its architecture and art treasures. Brimming with museums, historical relics and world-famous buildings like the Zwinger palace and the Semperoper. During the war, however, Dresden was almost completely destroyed by massive bombing raids that took place on the night of February 13–14, 1945. The city was so badly damaged that it was suggested that the best approach might be to level the site, however after the war a compromise was reached to rebuild the Zwinger, the Saxon Royal Palace, and the Baroque buildings around the palace thus creating a new city in the area outside, with the aim of preserving the character of the old city. 

The heart of Dresden is still a cluster of Baroque churches including the Rococo-style Zwinger on the south bank of the Elbe, in the old city. The iconic Frauenkirche, built in 1726–43 and Germany’s largest Protestant church, was destroyed, however the ruins were kept as a memorial until the 1990s, when reconstruction began. In 2004 it was topped with a cross built by a British silversmith who was a son of one of the pilots who had dropped bombs on the city. Work was completed in 2005, and the Frauenkirche was subsequently opened to the public. Other historic buildings have also either been restored or reconstructed, including the Taschenbergpalais, which was been rebuilt as a hotel, and where we stayed during our glorious time in Dresden.

Baroque style architecture of old sky bridge that lies between Dresden Castle  

and the Cathedral in Old Town 

Dresden's iconic Frauenkirche on Neumarkt Square with statue of Martin Luther in front

Dresden Residenzschloss, also known as the Royal Palace,

just across from our Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski 

Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski 

The amazing view from our room at the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski with the Royal Palace

top the right and the Dresden Semperoper in the centre

The World Famous Zwinger Museum in Dresden

 

A masterpiece of European Baroque architecture and home to world-famous museums, Dresden's Zwinger was built as a synthesis of architecture, sculpture and painting between 1710 and 1728 according to plans by the architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. Originally serving as an orangery and the setting for magnificent festivities such as the wedding of the century of Augustus the Strong's son, Friedrich August II, to Maria Josepha of Austria in 1719, the name Zwinger goes back to the name used in the Middle Ages for a fortress section between the outer and inner city walls. 

Today, the Zwinger Museum complex houses the spectacular Gemäldegalerie Alter Meister with more than 700 Old Masters paintings, with highlights including a group of Italian Renaissance works by Raphael, Giorgione, and Titian and paintings by Dutch masters Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer, in addition to the breathtaking Dresden Porcelain Collection including Chinese, Japanese, and Meissen porcelain, and the inspiring Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments. One of the most important buildings of the late Baroque period in the Saxon state capital, the Zwinger and its Meissen porcelain collection was definitely a highlight of our stay in Dresden.

'Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window' c. 1657 by Johannes Vermeer

'Elector Johann der Beständige of Saxony' c 1576 by Lucas Cranach the Elder

'The New Market in Dresden' c 1748 by Canaletto

Inside one of the galleries of the Zwinger

Head of a Muse with Pine Garland, Rome 120AD

This 'Head of Dionysus' with his hand laying overtop caught my eye,
from Rome 2nd-century AD

The Zwinger Café  

Time for a slice of Plum Streusel Cake at the Zwinger Café mid morning

The Zwinger Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments

Geographical Table Clock shows time plus a skullcap-shaped surface that simulates day and night

in the Northern hemisphere, made in Prague in 1738

Ornate gold clock indicates time plus a celestial sphere indicating month

Geocentric Armillary Sphere, where earth is fixed in centre, with rings representing equator, elliptic

tropics and polar circles, made in Paris 1800

One of the many enormous celestial globes indicating how the heavens moved with signs of the zodiac and exhibiting the time of the year

Gregorian reflecting telescope, by Johann Gottlob Rudolph, Miltitz, c 1748 

Golden Globe from the Langgalerie featuring scientific instruments collected around 1560

by Elector August of Saxony for the Dresden Court

Timepiece from the Dresden Court features a tiny drummer who marks the hours of the day

On the hour, the little drummer performs to mark the hour

The lovely building houses the older treasured astronomic telescopes

Newtonian 7' Reflecting Telescope, by William Herschel in London, c.1785

with which he achieved great fame by discovering Uranus in 1781

The imposing Rococo Gregorian Reflecting Telescope was one of the first ones

made in Germany

The beautiful stone Brühl's Terrace wraps around the courtyard of the Zimmer museum complex,

as we walk ed from the Atronomical Wing and strolled to the Meissen galleries

The Kronentor, also known as the 'Crown Gate', is a magnificent architectural feature 

perched on Brühl's Terrace of the Zwinger Palace complex

View from Brühl's Terrace over Zwinger with spire of the clock tower 

The Meissen Porcelain Collection is located in this Baroque-style confection at the Zwinger Palace 

Chinese Meissen motif porcelain display

Seven of the famous 'Dragoon Vases'

Meissen-ware of Equestrian Statue of King Augustus III from 1753

Bust of the Court Jester Gottfried Schmiedel, Meissen 1739

The collection of Meissen Parrots was the highlight of the museum for me

The color and detail is astounding

Vibrant and animated Cockatiel

The Porcelain Collection continued through many halls

Meissen porcelain with Chinese and Japanese decoration including

Imari style tureen, plates and bowls

Tableware of the Swan Service of the Prime Minister of Saxony and Poland,

Count Heinrich von Bruehl (1700) and his wife Franziska Countess Kolowrat-Krakowsky

Centrepiece of the Meissen dinner service of General Marshall 

Count Burchard Christoph von Meunnich c.1738

www.der-dresdner-zwinger.de/en/the-dresden-zwinger