The Baroque Era then and now.....

The city of Dresden was founded on the site of a fishing village.  However from the 15th century onwards was the residence of the Saxon dukes, electoral princes and later kings.  The city has experienced both splendid eras and times of tragedy. It was above all during the 18th century a magnificent centre of European politics, culture and economic development, only to become a synonym for apocalyptic destruction just two centuries later.This statement is from the Dresden.de home page which provides a tremendousness amount of information into the history of the city.  http://www.dresden.de/en/02/07/c_01.php  But today I am going to talk about the Baroque era which is said to have begun when August the Strong gained the Polish crown.  The city of Dresden was made the home to a royal court........the city center was transformed into a center for the Arts of all kind.  Many of the buildings commissioned by the court of August the Strong are now museums visited by the tourist  of today.  Some of the buildings were destroyed during the 1945 bombing and have since been rebuilt............. here is a before and after.......

Note the fallen statue of Martin Luther

Note the Martin Luther statue in this picture.....

 The Baroque Era...it is said to have been inspired by the court of Louis XIV of France;  The Age of Elegance beginning around 1600 and continuing till 1750.  Believe it or not it was encourage by the Catholic Church.  It should also be noted for the first time in history there was a middle class that had money to spend.  Art was characterized to be less complex, more realistic while music was highly ornate, lavishly textural and intense.  Some composers of this era include....George Frederic Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach......  The dress was elegant and thoughtful.....but remember "Dressing gracefully begins with developing inner beauty, which consists primarily of a gentle and quiet spirit. A woman of noble character exudes natural beauty that cannot be captured by merely donning a fancy gown." from....http://www.erasofelegance.com/fashion.html

......in historical Neumart Square there is a place called called Kurfurstenschanke, a historical coffee House....they offer visitors the opportunity to "Dine like August the Strong"  In the name of research I decide to have lunch at this lovely restored example of Baroque architecture...  

 both outside and inside is lovely......

The menu boosts a wide variety of Saxon and Bohemian dishes......
I choose a dish under the cold offerings named Gebreatene Garnelen. in weiBweinrahn.......roasted shrimp white white wine cream, cherry tomatoes spring onions and garlic and is served with a baguette of bread....... it looked a like this:
 and was super yummy.  For the sake of research I had dessert from the seasonal offering menu....Lauwarmer Milchres.....warm rice pudding with chocolate sorbet and saute saskatoon berries, again yum!


This lunch was considerably more than the 6 euros I spent in the food court but is was lovely.........and I am reminded of a quote from St Augustine "The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

Remember you don't have to travel far and wide.. or to distant lands.  I just traveled about 10 tram stops and found two very different but both very enjoyable lunches.....remember to do this in your own town......the same is good sometimes but don't be afraid to "travel" across town and try something different.

All my best,
Jill