3 nights in Dresden or Leipzig

What is AfD ?

Just figured it out . My political and social views are directly opposed to AfD and am spending ten days in Dresden and Leipzig this September . As a visitor , it is unlikely that it will have any impact on your stay , You may find impressionist art in short supply there , but The Albertinum in Dresden has a stunning collection , including a fine section of Neue Sachlichkeit painting . In Leipzig you will find The Museum of Fine Arts , home to Max Klinger's Beethoven statue , centerpiece of the 1902 Secession show in Vienna . As throughout Europe at that time of year , the opera companies are essentially on summer hiatus , the performers and musicians playing in various summer festivals .

It's worth to mention that it was Dresden where the PEGIDA(Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) movement started.

You could see if they have a demo when you're there(not much chance, but who knows) and talk to some poeple, I'm sure many will be keen to share their view with you.

Interesting fact that Putin spent some of his young years in Dresden when he worked for the KGB. He still speaks German well.

Vladimir Putin's formative German years: https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32066222

I recommend you to see the secret prison of the STASI, now a museum.

https://www.bautzner-strasse-dresden.de/

Dresden is probably better than Leipzig as far as art is concerned. The AfD are probably not an issue unless you are non-white, or are prone to expressing left-wing politics in your clothing/conversation.

Ideally, you ought to spend 3 nights in each. A tough call here but given your specific interests, I would pick Dresden. If you have time, see the museum/house of Beethoven's contemporary, Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden-Holsterwitz...accessible by public transport too.

Back in the early 1990s when a wave of anti-foreign, anti-immigrant, and ethnic violence swept Germany mostly in the east (eg, Hoyerswerda, Eberswalde, Rostock, the most notorious examples) carried out by the skinheads and their ilk,

I know this Chinese-American in Calif who was asked by his company if he wanted to take up this assignment in Dresden, he was in 40 then. and that he would be going there solo.

He went, stayed a while in Dresden, don't know exactly how long he was assigned there, a week, a month or longer. Certainly, he wasn't going to be put off or deterred by this sort behaviour.

Two days in either Dresden or Leipzig isn't much. Leipzig is young, urban, busy and vibrant, Dresden is conservative, cultured and elegant. Dresden was and is Saxonys capital, Leipzig was always a trading town. There are more first class sights in Dresden, but Leipzig suffered less in WW2.

Regarding the AfD: this party is probably less conservative than most Republicans in the USofA. In many countries of Europe, including Italy, France and Poland, similar parties are much stronger, but this didn't stop tourists from visiting these countries.

PS: if you are looking for something more romantic, and since you travel by car: you could also stay in Upper Lusatia, a historic region between the German/Polish border and Dresden. This is a wonderful rural area with two beautiful towns, Görlitz and Bautzen, very cute villages with houses you can only see in this region (called Upper Lusatian Houses), and picturesque mountains in the south with one of Germanys most beautiful castle ruins.

Gorlitz is , indeed , an eyeful . The 2014 Wes Anderson film " The Grand Budapest Hotel " was largely shot there , and with over 4,000 architecturally significant listed buildings , it is worth seeing .

Thanks for the response. We are retired English/Australians and tour Europe every year, usually staying for 2 weeks in places we have discovered and love. We will be be half-way thru our 4 month stint in Central and Western Europe and at the tail-end of a 9 week drive thru Europe; spending 2 weeks basically wending our way from Hvar, Croatia to Calais via Vienna & Krakow, Poland. We are taking 3 nights (3+ days) breaks along the way. We were stunned by the difference between Dresden and the other 'Hapsburg Pearl Cities' (Prague and Vienna) the last time, and are interested in how it has changed since then. We're also somewhat interested in how this part of Germany is managing the social change as a result of the war in Syria. We need to do the Autobahn dash to Brugge (for another 3 night break (8-)) when we leave and although the idea of a rural stop is appealing, it will have to wait until next year. I'm now booked a Dresden stay and would appreciate advice on Restaurants.

If we avoided countries or places were the politics was not to our desire, we would never have visited China, Russia, Turkey or for that matter some cites in my own country.

Politics should not be a factor in whether or not you visit a country or city.

You seem to have a pretty booked itinerary already,

True, the border area between Poland and Germany is very interesting, (You're on the Oder River ! )

Görlitz is a blatant example of that thanks to the movie. I've yet to go there, only visited Frankfurt an der Oder and Küstrin-Kietz an der Oder and the Polish side, but pertaining to Görlitz the movie most definitely provides me with additional incentive to see that town, plus the museum on Silesia is there too, (Das Schlesien Museum zu Görlitz)

I saw the museum on Upper Silesia in Ratingen (near Essen) in 2007....very enlightening

Geovagriffith. We're neither attracted to or avoiding a country because of the politics. We are going to the UK which is tearing itself apart over Brexit because we have family there, Provence where Marseilles is the home of the extreme right in France because we really like holidaying there, and to St Petersburg in Russia later in the holiday to visit the Hermitage again! Appreciating the regional politics adds another layer to understanding a culture. There is a strong anti-fascist movement around Dresden/Leipzig as well as an emerging extreme right-wing coalition but Dresden is also a city that was fire-bombed and has been rebuilt. We're not looking to get involved, but we think that understanding the political situation can lead to a better appreciation of the place.

I remember when I was visiting Toulon in the summer of 1999, came across a FN sticker on the back of a street sign or something like that when I was out and about.

Then it dawned on me it was a Front Nationale sticker, Le Pen's party and that Toulon was their neck of the woods. I had forgotten that Toulon had voted in Front Nationale mayor....not that this would have made any difference in my decision to revisit Toulon that year.

While you clearly have the time at hand to spend moving between places, it's hard for me to relish a 9-hour drive from Dresden to Bruges. Even American car-lovers who post here don't often plan such a jump. But why would you repeat Bruges if you have not (?) been to (just picking examples along the way ... ) Quedlinburg, Weimar, Erfurt, Eisenach, Gotha, Aschaffenberg, Idstein, Aachen, Monschau, Tongeren, Bokrijk, Diest? While I'm not crazy about Brussels, it seems likely that most of the Impressionist paintings on view in Belgium are there. (Should be more in Kröller-Müller Museum, but that's not on your route.)

Although it is not next-door, you might want to consider UNESCO WHS Dessau-Wörlitz while in Dresden. While it doesn't have as many museums as Dresden, Leipzig has at least one large, excellent art museum. If you like democracy, you might want to follow the path of recent German reunification through Leipzig. We went for Bach and Goethe:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/leipzig-iron-curtain

Hi Tim,
Thx for the comments, I appreciate them.
I lived in Northern Germany for 5 years when I was much younger and am gradually introducing my wife to the great smaller German towns, your suggestions are on the list for next year!
Doing a 10-12 hour drive to get somewhere isn't that big a deal here in Oz and again, when I was much younger, I used to be a bus driver! It's a bit of a slog (9hrs) up from Split to Zagreb, but the German autobahns are really easy driving as long as there are no accidents. We take it fairly easy and luckily will be in a brand new leased Renault.
The idea of "Why Brugge?" is interesting and the answer is rather pragmatic. We are handing the car back on Aug, 6 in Calais, and have a Eurostar train to St Pancras, London to catch that day - over the years I've learnt not to try to do too much on the last day. Brugge is close and one of the best Hotels there, (Hotel Heritage) is doing a 'Stay 3 pay 2 deal'. Thought we'd enjoy a bit of luxury b4 heading back to the 'Ólde Dart' (8-)). We only skimmed Brugge the last time we were there - I fancy a day on the canals this time, and we'll probably fit in a day in Brussells - another gr8 city!

We were stunned by the difference between Dresden and the other
'Hapsburg Pearl Cities' (Prague and Vienna)

BTW: Dresden was never part of the Habsburg empire. The Habsburg Pearls are Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Dresden is Saxonys capital, and Saxony is historically related to Thuringia (the region around Erfurt) and parts of Saxony-Anhalt (like Wittenberg), but not to Bohemia or Austria. Upper Lusatia however, today the eastern part of Saxony, was historically a land of the Bohemian crown, and therefore ruled by the Habsburgs.

@ Frodo...Where in North Germany? Was it in a small town or a large city? My first trip to Europe and Germany in 1971 focused on visiting North Germany., spent five weeks there on that trip.

Martin. That's interesting about the three pearl cities. I definitely remember being told that architecturally Vienna, Prague and Dresden were peas in a pod and I'm sure they were referred to as the three pearls - which is why I was interested in visiting Dresden after trips to Prague became possible. What you say makes sense, given the importance of Budapest to the Austro-Hungarians, but from pictures of Dresden b4 WW2 it looked VERY similar to the other two and Budapest felt a lot different?? Hmm

Hi Fred,
I was in the British Army of the Rhine and, in the late 60's and early 70's spent three years in Detmold and 2 years in Moenchengladbach. As a single male in my late teens, I had access to Duty Free ciggies, booze and petrol! Who could ask for more(8-))

Frodo,

I haven't been to Leipzig but would highly recommend Dresden. There seems to be a lot of "renewal" happening there, so there are lots of nice areas to visit. The city has a lot of history and (IMO), the Dresden Frauenkirche is a must see. There's also the Bundeswehr Military History Museum which I found very interesting.

@ Frodo.. Thanks for information. .You were part of BAOR back then.

On my 1984 trip I went to Detmold to see the Hermannsdenkmal and Externsteine (sp?)

You must have been stationed / stayed in that English "village" in Mönchengladbach. I saw that in 1989 when I went to Kleve to see the Reichswald Military Cemetery. You probably visited that poignant site too.

Yes, there are lots of lovely small towns in North Germany. How about Soest/Westf, Minden, Celle, Münster/Westf. ? For a really small place, Höxten to see the Schloss.