The economy of Dresden and the Dresden agglomeration is one of the most dynamic[ citation needed ] in Germany, and includes high-tech and applied research.
The economy of Dresden and the Dresden agglomeration is one of the most dynamic[ citation needed ] in Germany, and includes high-tech and applied research.
Many of the industries that made Dresden rich before the Second World War [ which? ] and disappeared under communism have resettled in the city including the optical industry and the high quality foodstuffs industries. An international famous example is the Dresdner Bank that left in the 1950s to avoid, like many other enterprises, its nationalization. Other branches like the microelectronics and aircraft construction came up in the 1960s. Dresden became a centre in the allocation of the former socialist combines that were centrally planned on the one side and had disposal of regional subunits of nationally-owned enterprises.
Dresden is connected in the InterCityExpress and EuroCity train network. Direct lines are running to Berlin, Prague, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Budapest and Vienna. CityNightLine trains are also running to Zürich and Amsterdam among other cities while a EuroNight train serves the Berlin-Dresden-Budapest line.
Dresden has an international airport (Dresden Airport) in the north of the city. The airport is connected by a commuter train line. Scheduled flights are offered to Frankfurt, Munich, Düsseldorf, Vienna and Moscow. Furthermore, there are a lot of touristic flights especially to the Mediterranean Regions.
There is a larger inner harbour in Dresden. The river Elbe waterway connects Dresden with the Hamburg Harbour and Prague. The Midland Canal offers an indirect connection to the Duisport (Duisburg harbour).
Dresden is connected by some longer Bundesautobahns: The A 4 to Frankfurt and Cologne, the A 14 is running to Leipzig and Hannover, the A 13 is running to Berlin and the A 17 is running to Prague.
The socialist enterprises had been inefficient already before German reunification and were not competitive in the German social market economy. This collapse of economy caused an unemployment rate of about 18 to 19% in the early 1990s. The rate was lowered to 13 to 15% until 2010 but is still relatively high today. In May 2012 the unemployment rate reached a new record low of 8.9%. Nevertheless, Dresden is the city that has developed the most effectively in all of East Germany and has raised its GDP per capita to 31,100 Euro, which is equal to the GDP per capita of some poor West German communities (the average of the 50 biggest cities is around 35,000 Euro). [1] In the discussion of alternatives in the policy of promoting the weak states of the former GDR, Dresden is often cited as an example of successfully subsidising the better-developed centres and regions.[ citation needed ]
With about 20% of its employees having a university degree [2] and the city being the home of many research institutes, the economy differs from the low-priced subcontracting that is often criticized in East Germany. Nevertheless, Dresden's economy involves extensive public funding. The rate of highly qualified staff is also high because lower-qualified employable people are often unemployed. Due to its dynamism, among other factors, the economy of Dresden is ranked among the best ten cities in Germany to live in. [2]
Three major sectors can be seen as dominating the Dresden economy:
The semiconductor industry was built up in 1969 around the Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden, which is a joint stock company named ZMDI today. The labour force's knowledge and education in technology, as well as intensive subsidies, has drawn other enterprises and global players such as AMD, Infineon Technologies (now partly owned by Qimonda), and Toppan Photomasks to site some of their production capability in Dresden. Their factories attract many suppliers of material and cleanroom technology enterprises to Dresden.
The pharmaceutical sector came up at the end of the 19th century. GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals Dresden (former Sächsisches Serumwerk Dresden), is a world leader in vaccine production. Another traditional pharmacy producer is the Arzneimittelwerke Dresden (Pharmaceutical Works, Dresden).
A third (traditional) branch is that of mechanical and electrical engineering. Volkswagen is currently manufacturing its Phaeton car model and the Bentley "flying spur" model at the Transparent Factory. A subsidiary of EADS, the Elbe Flugzeugwerke (Elbe Aircraft Works) is the leading company for rebuilding Airbus passenger aircraft to become freight aircraft.
Formed from the merger of Dresdner Volksbank Raiffeisenbank eG and Volksbank Bautzen eG in August 2017, the Volksbank Dresden-Bautzen is the largest cooperative bank in Saxony and the largest in the east outside of Berlin in 2018. [3] [4] [5] [6]
The most important newspaper published in Dresden is the Sächsische Zeitung which has a circulation of around 300,000. The second main newspaper, Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, is a newspaper with a circulation of about 50,000. The Sächsische Zeitung was established in 1946 and became the press media of the socialist party SED in the district of Dresden until 1990. It is now a much more independent newspaper with a small influence by the social-democratic party.
The Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten has even older origins. It first came out in 1893 and ran until 1943 when its offices were closed down by the Nazis. During GDR times, the same offices produced the newspapers Die Union (the regional press organ of the Christian Democratic Union), the Sächsisches Tageblatt (the regional press organ of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany) and the Sächsische Neueste Nachrichten (the press organ of the National Democratic Party of Germany). All these newspapers were controlled by Socialist censorship between 1949 and 1990. Die Union was the first newspaper in the GDR that reported about the Monday demonstrations in GDR realistically and freely. In 1990 the newspapers joined back together again and took back on the name Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten; the newspaper celebrated its 110-year anniversary in 2003.
Dresden is the home of the Saxon Broadcasting Center which is a subunit of the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk and hosts the regional studios. Dresden Fernsehen is a television channel broadcast in Dresden while there are a number of private radio stations broadcasting throughout Saxony.
Another sobriquet of Dresden is connected with the media: Because citizens of Dresden were not able to receive (uncensored) television programmes broadcast in the former western states during Socialist times, Dresden gained the name "Tal der Ahnungslosen" which means "Valley of the Clueless". The television channel ARD was known as "Außer Raum Dresden" ("except the Dresden area").
Dresden is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area, and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants.
The Dresdner Philharmonie is a German symphony orchestra based in Dresden. Its principal concert venue is the Kulturpalast. The orchestra also performs at the Kreuzkirche, the Hochschule für Musik Dresden, and the Schloss Albrechtsberg. It receives financial support from the city of Dresden. The choral ensembles affiliated with the orchestra are the Dresden Philharmonic Choir and Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Choir.
Dresden Hauptbahnhof is the largest passenger station in the Saxon capital of Dresden. In 1898, it replaced the Böhmischen Bahnhof of the former Saxon-Bohemian State Railway, and was designed with its formal layout as the central station of the city. The combination of a station building on an island between the tracks and a terminal station on two different levels is unique. The building is notable for its train-sheds, which are roofed with Teflon-coated glass fibre membranes. This translucent roof design, installed during the comprehensive restoration of the station at the beginning of the 21st century, allows more daylight to reach the concourses than was previously possible.
Dresden is a major German city and capital of Saxony. It is a road, train and air transport hub in eastern Germany. Local and commuter transport services grant accessibility in the Dresden agglomeration. The city has a dense network of tram and bus lines. Dresden has two major train stations, an international airport and an inner harbour on the Elbe river waterway. Autobahns grant access to all cardinal directions. Dresden is the junction of two class-A European routes.
Michael Sanderling is a German conductor and violoncellist.
The Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe is a transport association run by public transport providers in the Saxon Elbeland area of the German state of Saxony. The VVO area comprises the city of Dresden, together with the districts of Meißen and Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, and the north-western part of the district of Bautzen.
Sächsische Zeitung is a regional German daily newspaper. The paper is published in Dresden. Its circulation is around 227.940, a fall of around 40% since 1998. Around 93% of copies sold are delivered to subscribers. Despite the name, the paper is mainly distributed in east Saxony. The paper's circulation is around ten times that of its main competitor, the Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, which is part-owned by one of the owners of the Sächsische Zeitung itself. The company which owns the paper, Dresdner Druck- & Verlagshaus GmbH & Co. is itself majority owned by Gruner + Jahr. The remaining 40% is owned by Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, which is wholly owned by the Social Democratic Party of Germany. It is published in Rhenish format.
Dresden Mitte (centre) station is a regional station in central Dresden. The station, which was opened in 1897 as Wettiner Straße, is located on the connecting line between Dresden Hauptbahnhof and Dresden-Neustadt station. It has been proposed as the location of a new Dresden central train station several times. Train services are operated by DB Regio Nordost, DB Regio Südost, and Vogtlandbahn.
Roderich Kreile is a Lutheran church musician, choir director and university teacher. Since 1997, he has been the director of the Dresdner Kreuzchor at the Kreuzkirche, Dresden, as the 28th Kreuzkantor since the Reformation.
Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten (DNN) is a regional newspaper that appears in the city of Dresden and its surroundings. It is the third largest newspaper in the region after the Sächsische Zeitung and the Dresdner Morgenpost. The sold circulation amounts to 20,432 copies, a decrease of 48,1 per cent since 1998. The newspaper celebrated its 110-year anniversary in 2003.
Enrico Scotta is an Italian painter and sculptor. He has worked and exhibited in Italy, Germany, and Brazil.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Dresden:
The Eric Clapton World Tour 2019 is a concert tour by British rock and blues guitarist and singer Eric Clapton, which started on 13 April 2019 through 20 April 2019 at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. As of 22 April 2019, a total of seventeen live performances in Japan, in the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany and in the United States were announced. The concert tour ended on 21 September 2019 in Dallas, United States.
Dresden-Strehlen is a railway station located in the district of Strehlen in Dresden. Opening in 1903, the station serves Dresden S-Bahn and DB Regio Südost trains along with public transport from Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB).
The Kulturpalast Dresden is a modernist building built by Wolfgang Hänsch during the era of the German Democratic Republic. It was the largest multi-purpose hall in Dresden when it opened in 1969, and was used for concerts, dances, conferences and other events. The building underwent several years of reconstruction beginning in 2012 and opened with a new concert hall in April 2017.
Annette Jahns was a German operatic mezzo-soprano and contralto, and opera director, based at the Semperoper in Dresden. She appeared at international opera houses and festivals, with a focus on contemporary music including world premieres. She taught at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden.
Eva Ander, married name Ander-Dunckel, was a German pianist and music educator.
Ingeborg Finke-Siegmund, born Siegmund, was a German pianist and piano teacher.
Rudolf Dittrich was a German Kammersänger.
Helmut Heinze is a German sculptor. From 1979 to 1997 Heinze was professor for plastic arts at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts.