Welcome to Dresden

Basics

Dresden is the capital of the state of Saxony and has a population of 490.000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Elbe and can be considered as one of the greenest cities in Europe, with parks and recreation areas covering 63 per cent of its area. Due to its beautiful architecture and surrounding landscape, Dresden is often called "the Florence on the Elbe", an expression revealing the charm of the city.

The 800 years old Baroque town and its surrounding is offering a wide variety of different sights e.g. Zwinger, the Dresden Cathedral, the Semper Opera House, the castles of Moritzburg, Meißen and Pillnitz, the Porcelain Manufactury in Meißen or the beautiful landscape Sächsische Schweiz.

Dresden was from the 15th century onwards residence of the Saxon dukes, electoral princes and later kings. Dresden's most glorious period, both in art and in architectural innovation, occurred from 1697 to 1763. Today it is a city of science, art and culture with magnificent buildings, many museums of world class as well as venues and ensembles with a rich tradition of theatrical and musical history.

Science

Dresden has a 175 year old university tradition. In 2012, the TU Dresden has been assigned excellence-status, and in physics research it is one of the strongest universities in Germany. The following research focuses and institutes are represented: physics of condensed matter, theoretical physis, the Institute of Nuclear and Particle physics (organizing the conference), biophysics, didactic of physics.

In the framework of DRESDEN-concept, a large number of extra-university institutions are connected with the TU Dresden in a unique environment; this includes numerous institutes like Fraunhofer-, Leibniz-, Max-Planck- und Helmholtz-Institute and the Helmholtz-Center Dresden-Rossendorf.

Sights

the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady)
the Zwinger
the Dresden Cathedral
the Semper Opera House
or the castles of Moritzburg, Meißen and Pillnitz
the Porcelain Manufactury in Meißen or
the beautiful landscape Sächsische Schweiz.

For more detailed information see also www.dresden.de.