Augustus Bridge over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

The morning breeze is off and gone

The winding factory streets are clean

Old ladies put the kettle on

And all-night lechers pause and lean

On grey shop windows, everywhere

A deeper hum is in the air

Hotel room, drifter leaves no clues

...

The salmon Season's here to stay

And etched into each shoulder-bone

The mark of Cain is on display

As stone above each measured stone

Old Dresden burns above the breeze

The traveller, he's on his knees

He's watching sledge-wings dip and play

So far above the holy throne

Dresden blues...

Lyrics of Dresden

by Cold Chisel

Augustus Bridge over the Elba River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

Wißt ihr es wohl, Terrasse, Kathedrale,
Daß auch mein Fuß euch einst vorüberging,
Daß an der Brücke Kreuz mein Auge hing,
An Fluß und Stadt, beglänzt vom Abendstrahle?

Do you know it well, terrace, cathedral, that my foot once passed you by, That my eye hung on the bridge cross, By river and city, gleamed by the evening rays?

Zur Erinnerung an Dresden

In a poem by Luise Hecker

Painting of the Augustus Bridge over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

"The World Heritage Committee decided to remove Germany's Dresden Valley from UNESCO's World Heritage List due to the building of a four-lane bridge in the heart of the cultural landscape which meant that the property failed to keep its "outstanding universal value as inscribed."

UNESCO Archive, 25 June 2009

Loschwitz Bridge over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

An der Elbe Strand
Liegt mein Heimatland,
Lieb's von ganzer Seele;
Aber meine Kehle
Ist zu Haus am Rhein,
Dürstet nur nach Wein

German song

Blaues Wunder (Blue Wonder) over the Elbe River in Dresden (Germany)

How many died? 
Who knows the count?; 
In your wounds one sees the ordeal; 
Of the nameless who in here were conflagrated;
In the hellfire made by hands of man

Memorial plaque about

the Bombing of Dresden 

Loschwitz Bridge or Blue Wonder over the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony (Germany)

According to local legend, the Blaues Wunder (blue wonder) is miraculous in many respects. Firstly, its original colour was green but then it changed to blue for no apparent reason. Secondly, it was due to be blown up by the Nazis in 1945 when two brave Dresdeners removed the ignition lines and saved it from destruction. Thirdly, as scientists found out in the 1990's, it should not have held the weight of the tram which had been running over the bridge for decades.

Legends about the Loschwitz Bridge