Sunday, August 12, 2012

Great Train Journey - Dresden: Part 4 (9 pics)

Like all of the European cities I have visited so far, you seemingly can't walk more than a few blocks before you come across another church or cathedral.  So in this post I'll show a few pictures from 2 more churches in Dresden, the Kreuzkirche and the Hofkirche. 

The Kruezkirche (or Church of the Cross) was dedicated in 1388, and is currently part of the Evangelical Church in Germany.  Since 1491 it has burned down 5 times, and was re-opened in its current form in 1955.

Unfortunately, it is now surrounded by buildings that are pretty close on all sides.  So I was not able to get a good shot of the exterior.  The church is far larger than this exterior shot indicates, and hopefully the interior shots that follow will give a better idea of its size.

 



As you can see from this picture, the interior is quite large.  And compared to the Frauenkirche, quite plain.


Another shot of the interior, this time one of the back corners.  As you can see, there are at least 4 different levels inside the church.



 And at the very back of the church is this massive organ.  It doesn't look very big in this picture, but it's probably at least 30 feet tall.



Another of the churches I visited was the Hofkirche.  This Catholic church was built by August the Strong in the 1700's when he converted to Catholicism in order to be elected as King of Poland and Lithuania.  And it is where the crypt containing his remains and those of other members of the royal family remain.



The Hofkirche stands between the Frauenkirche and the Kruezkirche when it comes to decoration.  Not nearly as plain as the Kruezkirche.  And despite being the royal church, not nearly as ornate as the Frauenkirche.




The alter is the center of decoration and is the splash of color in the mostly white interior.




A wider shot looking up at the painting over the alter area.




There are also a some statues attached to walls towards the back of the church.  I really liked this one because as a fan of fantasy books, it could just as easily be a statue of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings as it could be a statue of a senior Catholic priest or saint.




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