My husband's best friend sent a card from NY. He is there with his lovely family to see relatives. Also my husband was there 19 years ago. And we also received a card from Dresden, Saxony. The generous man is a sculpture from the treasury of August the Strong. An African is offering a bowl of emeralds. He is richly adorned with gold and jewels, yet in a serving position, decorated not in order to show his dignity, but decorated as part of the king's property. -- From the Green Vaults, exhibition rooms, newly renovated and exposing the treasures from the 18th century.
We went to Dresden in 2004. The town is not beautiful, the destroyed parts were replaced by optimistic socialist reconstructions which look completely different from what was there before the bombing. But it is worth visiting.
Picture below: Approaching the town by boat on the river Elbe (yes, the same on which Hamburg lies)
1 comment:
I read a book about the man who discovered the German equivalent of the Chinese kaolin clay, which becomes crystalline when fired which is why porcelain is translucent. The King, I think it was Frederick, had him locked up because he was running around saying he could turn lead to gold. Then he said he could make Chinese "white gold" (porcelain). He spent 15 years imprisoned until he eventually got the right load of dirt from somewhere in Germany. Then the king continued to keep him locked up while he worked on glazes. Anyway, a warning about bragging too much. This is where the famous Dresden porcelain originated.
Post a Comment