Culture in Dresden - Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Dresden's heterogeneous cityspace strongly influences the lifestyle of the city. Dresden can change from very urban to very rural in just a short distance. Dresden is renowned for its many events and concerts.

The inner city is functionally split into a number of districts. The historic city centre serves as the most important tourist area and offers a variety of restaurants, bars, and pubs that are visited by tourists as well as the local inhabitants. The Seevorstadt, south of the historic town centre, is the most important shopping area in Dresden. It is crossed by the famous Prager Straße shopping street with large department stores and smaller shops. The intersection with the Altmarkt, which is the oldest market place in Dresden, extend this shopping area into the town centre. The Seevorstadt, with the main station and an important tram hub within a short distance, is also a very urban area of Dresden. The Neustadt is divided into the touristy Inner Neustadt and the Outer Neustadt. The Inner Neustadt offers a cornucopia of restaurants and retail shopping as well as important cultural institutions. The Outer Neustadt features importantly in Dresden night life. The Outer Neustadt is the centre of subcultural and youth culture in Dresden with many clubs, bars, small stages, and alternative culture institutions.

Dresden is awash with green during the spring and summer. The huge parks and the long Elbe meadows are used day and at night for sports, parties and cultural activities. Local recreation takes place in the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, in the Ore Mountains and in the countryside around Moritzburg, which are all close by. The cultural landscape of the Dresden Elbe Valley is a World Heritage Site but also part of the everyday life of many inhabitants. The site crosses the city and is passed through by commuter traffic, used in leisure time and libed in by tens of thousands of residents.

Dresden is a student city with its own infrastructure of event locations and cultural institutions. There are 16 student clubs in the Altstadt and Südvorstadt near the university.

Due to the Elbe river, rowing and canoeing are popular leisure activities in Dresden. Dresden is a chess centre and was the host city of the Chess Olympiad in 2008. Night inline skating events are held every week in the summer.

The style of housing can vary strongly within Dresden. In some cases old village cores are only a few minutes away from urban districts. The city centre is enormously different compared with the southern outskirts of the city. The Outer Neustadt, with the highest density of inhabitants, is just a kilometre away from the Dresdner Heide forest in the north. The large area in the south eastern corner and its outskirts are the most densely populated areas. Districts like Blasewitz or Striesen are covered with dotted housings and small garden areas around the houses. The Elbe slopes are covered with expensive villas. These contrast sharply with some areas such as the high-rise concrete blocks such as those in Gorbitz where living standards are low.

• Rural setting of Wachwitz along the Elbe river

• Dotted housings in Striesen

• Wilhelminian styled enclosed housing in Trachau

• Concrete blocks in Leuben