Today after class I visited the "villa quarter" outside Dresden -- the 19th-century eastern suburbs of Loschwitz and Blasewitz, which were largely undamaged in the war. They are connected by a picturesque blue iron bridge called the Blaues Wunder, which was built in 1891 and is one of the earliest of its kind. Loschwitz also features two historic "Bergbahns": a Standsteilbahn (funicular railway) and a Schwebebahn (hanging railway), that ascend the steep slope for access to the villas higher up. I went up on both of them, which pass silently mere feet from spectacular pre-war mansions and terrace gardens. The prosperous, comfortable feel of the area is such that it's hard to imagine in the context of the former East Germany.
Afterwards I headed further east to the suburb of Hosterwitz to visit the Carl Maria von Weber museum. I was the only visitor to the small summer villa near the bank of the Elbe where Weber composed the bulk of Der Freischutz as well as Euryanthe and Oberon. The lady who showed me around only spoke German, but she did so slowly and the context provided by the exhibits allowed me to understand most of what she said. I was shocked to learn that Weber often walked from the villa to Dresden, quite a feat given the distance (today a 40 minute journey via tram and bus). Most of the items museum are facsimiles; many of the originals were in Dresden in 1945 and incinerated in the bombings. The surviving originals are now archived at the International Carl Maria von Weber Society in Berlin.
Further east, near Schloß Pillnitz, there is a Richard Wagner Museum, but it was getting late so I reluctantly passed on it.
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