Germany Guide
Saxony
The Grosser Garten
Dresden's largest park, the Grosser Garten, rolls out a carpet of greenery southeast from the Altstadt. Its origins are as a pleasure garden of the ruling House of Wettin – a place for such idle pursuits as games, theatre or hunting – and was laid out accordingly in formal Baroque style until the switch to the current naturalistic parkland in vogue in the late eighteenth century. The 40m glass-skinned tower on Lennéstrasse on its northwestern fringes is Volkswagen's Gläserne Manufaktur (daily 8am–8pm; free), a "transparent factory" unveiled by the motor giant in 2001 as a miniature of its celebrated centre in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. At full tilt, 150 luxury-class motors roll out daily from a factory that is visible through the glass facade. Multimedia information terminals in the foyer – no small piece of architecture itself – guide you through the production process, or you can tour the assembly line (€4; reservation required 01805/89 62 68, www.glaesernemanufaktur.de).
Ruler-straight avenues of trees channel you directly east to the Palais (April– Oct Wed– Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 11am–6pm; Nov– March Sat & Sun 11am–6pm; €3) at the park's centre, a residence that pioneered Baroque in Dresden and led to an entire cityscape. It houses a display of tatty sculpture, including fifty original Zwinger works by Balthasar Permoser. South of here lies a boating lake – rental is available at its west end. A student-run miniature steam train, the Dresdener Parkeisenbahn, runs a circuit of the park (every 20min; March & Oct Mon– Fri 1–5pm, Sat & Sun 10am–5pm; April– Sept daily 10am–6pm; €1.50–4). You can embark at any of five stations – there's one by the VW factory, another behind the palace (Palaisteich) and another at the east end of the lake. One stop is at the above-average zoo (daily 8.30am–6.30pm, till 4.30pm winter; €7) in the south of the park.