DRESDEN, the capital of the kingdom of Saxony, situated in a charming valley ou both sides of the Elbe, in lat. 51° 3' 16' n., and long. 13° 44' east. It is 116 m. e. of Berlin, and 72 m. e. s.e of Leipsic. It is composed of the Altstadt (Old Town), on the left bank of the Elbe; and of the Neustadt (New Town), on the right or northern bank. D. is a pleasant, though not exactly a beautiful town. It contains several open squares both in Old and the New towns. Pop. '75, 197,295. On account of its architecture and splendid collections in art, it has been justly called the " German Florence." Of the churches, the finest are the Frauenkirche, with a tower 335 ft. in height; the Roman Catholic church (1737-56), with a celebrated organ by Silbermann, and numerous statues and pictures; the Sophienkirche; and the Kreuzkirche, with an altar-piece by SchCmau. The synagogue of the Jews, built in the oriental style by Semper, is also worthy of mention. Among the other important buildings may be mentioned the royal palace, a shapeless edifice, begun by duke George, 1534, and completed by Augustus II.; the prince's palace, erected by Augustus II. in 1718; the zwinger, only the vestibule of a palace in the almost too elaborate old French style of architecture, but containing many valuable antiquarian and scientific collections; the theater, the academy, the Bruhl palace, etc. The Old and New towns are connected by two bridges, both chefs-d'oeuvre of architecture.
D. possesses many excellent educational and charitable institutions. The academy of art opened in 1764. to which a school of architecture was added in 1819. This celebrated institution and the musical choir render D. of no small importance to the progress of art in the present day.
The most important branches of industry are gold and silver manufactures, machinery, straw-plait, paper-hangings, excellent painters' canvas, colors, artificial flowers, chocolate, pgreelain, etc. An impulse was given to the corn-trade by the opening of the corn exchange in 1850.—The environs of D. are ddlightful.
The most important of the D. collections are 1. The royal public library in the Japan palace, amounting to nearly 350,000 volumes. It contains many curiosities, and is particularly complete in the departments of literary history and classical antiquity, as well as in histories of France and Germany. 2. The cabinet of coins, likewise in the Japan palace. 3. The museum of natural history in the Zwinger, particularly complete in f he mineralogical department. 4. The historical museum, formed in 1833. 5. The
collection of mathematical and physical instruments, likewise in the Zwinger. 6. The renowned picture-gallery, containing upwards of 1500 paintings, mainly by Italian and Flemish masters. Among the former, those especially worthy of notice are the pictures of Raphael (" The Sistine Madonna"); of Correggio (" La Notte," and the " Madonna of St. Sebastian"); of Titian (" The Tribute-money," and "The Venus"); of Andrea del Sarto (" Abraham's Sacrifice"); of Francia; of Paul Veronese; of Giulio Romano (" The Virgin with the Pitcher"); of Leonardo da Vinci ("Francesco Sforza"); of Garofalo, Bellino, Pietro Perugino, Annibale Caracci, Guido Reni, Carlo Dolci, Cignani, etc. Of the Flemish school, the collection boasts 41 pictures by Rubens, 21 many by Rembrandt, admirable specimens of Snyders, Johann Breughel, Ruysdael, Wouvermann, Gerard Dow, Teniers, etc. Of works of the German school, the gem of the collection is Hans Holbein's Madonna. Of the French school, several pictures by Nicolas Poussin, and some admirable landscapes by Claude Lorraine, are the most remarkable. 7. The cabinet of engravings in the Zwinger is arranged in twelve classes, marking; distinct periods in the history of art. 8. The collection of antiques in the Japan palace, including several admirable sculptures. 9. The "green vault" in the royal palace, a valuable collection of precious stones, pearls, and articles wrought in gold, silver, and ivory. 10. The collection of porcelain in the Japan palace.
D. is known in history as far back as the year 1206. It is officially mentioned as a town in 1216. Henry the illustrious selected it for his capital in 1270. From the close of the 15th c., its prosperity gradually increased. Several successive sovereigns con tributed to its embellishment, particularly Augustus I. and Augustus II. It suffered severely, however, during the seven years' war; and again in 1813, when Napoleon selected it as the central point of his operations. During the revolution of 1849, also, immense damage was inflicted upon the town, but it is again rapidly improving. D. was occupied by the Prussians in 1866 during the Austro-Prussian war. Since that year the city has been enlarged and made more delightful. New streets have been opened; old irregular buildings have given way to handsome and imposing edifices. The foundation stone of the magnificent new Court theater was laid in 1871.