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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Dresden</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05156b.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="The capital of the Kingdom of Saxony and the residence of the royal family, is situated on both sides of the Elbe"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="05156b.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/d.htm">D</a> > Dresden</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Dresden</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>The capital of the Kingdom of Saxony and the residence of the royal family, is situated on both sides of the Elbe, which is here crossed by five bridges, and is surrounded by pleasing heights. Including the suburbs which now form a part of it, the city contained (1 December, 1905) 516,996 inhabitants, of whom 462,108 were <a href="../cathen/09438b.htm">Evangelical Lutherans</a>, 2885 Evangelical Reformed, 44,079 <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>, 3514 <a href="../cathen/08399a.htm">Jews</a>, etc. Dresden is the residence of the <a href="../cathen/15401b.htm">vicar Apostolic</a> for Saxony and is the seat of the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> consistory and of the vicarial court. In 1907 there were in Dresden 24 <a href="../cathen/04049b.htm">ecclesiastics</a>, including the <a href="../cathen/15401b.htm">vicar Apostolic</a>, who is a <a href="../cathen/08025a.htm">titular</a> <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a>, 7 rectors, 4 court preachers, and 1 military <a href="../cathen/03579b.htm">chaplain</a>. Dresden has 6 <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/11499b.htm">parish</a> churches, of which 2 are only <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapels</a>, 1 garrison church, which is also used for <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> worship, the church attached to St. Joseph's Institute, built in 1746, and 6 <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapels</a>. The most important of these edifices is the court church, one of the finest <a href="../cathen/03298b.htm">Rococo</a> structures of <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>. It was built by the Italian master-builder, Gaetano Chiaveri, in the years 1739-51, for Frederick Augustus II (1733-63). The church has a finely <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">painted</a> ceiling, a <a href="../cathen/07346b.htm">high altar</a> with altar-painting by <a href="../cathen/10189a.htm">Raphael Mengs</a>, and valuable silver ornamentation; since 1823 the members of the royal family have been buried in the <a href="../cathen/04558a.htm">crypt</a>. Among the other churches should be mentioned, the <a href="../cathen/11499b.htm">parish</a> church of Dresden-Neustadt, built, 1852-53, in Romanesque style and containing finely <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">painted</a> windows, and the <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapel</a> in the royal palace.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>The <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">schools</a> of Dresden consist of a pro-gymnasium with 4 <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">ecclesiastical</a> teachers and about 70 scholars, 1 middle-class <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a> with nearly 300 scholars, and 5 district <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">schools</a> with 3300 pupils. For girls there are also St. Joseph's Institute, founded in 1746 by Maria Josepha, wife of King Augustus III, to give poor <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> girls food, clothing and instruction, and the institution for noble young ladies, founded in 1761 by Freiherr von Burkersroda, in which <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> young <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">women</a> of noble birth receive a home and an <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">education</a>. As houses of male orders are forbidden throughout Saxony, Dresden has only <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">convents</a> of <a href="../cathen/15687b.htm">female</a> congregations; these are: 2 houses of Grey Sisters who have charge of a <a href="../cathen/07480a.htm">hospital</a>; St. Joseph's Institute, a home for servants, 2 kitchens for the <a href="../cathen/12327a.htm">poor</a>, etc.; 1 <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">convent</a> of the <a href="../cathen/10201a.htm">Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo</a> who conduct the Amalia home and a boarding home for working-women. Among the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/14074a.htm">societies</a> of Dresden should be mentioned: the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> Press Association, the Teachers' Association, 2 workingmen's <a href="../cathen/14074a.htm">societies</a>, the People's Association (Volksverein) of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, the journeymen's <a href="../cathen/14074a.htm">society</a> (Gesellenverein) which carries on a boarding home, the Merchants' Association, 3 associations for youths, 2 <a href="../cathen/02688c.htm">societies of St. Charles Borromeo</a>, the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> Casino, and 20 religious <a href="../cathen/14074a.htm">societies</a> and brotherhoods. The only <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> daily newspaper for Dresden and Saxony is the "Saechsische Volkszeitung."</p> <p>Dresden was originally a village of the Sorbs, who in the sixth century settled on both sides of the Elbe. In the tenth century the territory was conquered by the <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germans</a>, and the <a href="../cathen/10148b.htm">Diocese of Meissen</a> was erected in 968 for the conversion of the <a href="../cathen/11388a.htm">pagan</a> Sorbs. The first church of Dresden, the church of Our Lady, was built about 1080. Towards the end of the twelfth century the <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germans</a> made a settlement, not far from the Sorbs, which is first mentioned in a deed of 1206 and is spoken of as a city as early as 1216. This new settlement, which gradually absorbed the other, received many privileges and <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> from Margrave Heinrich the Illustrious (1230-88). The edifices still existing, which were founded in the time of this ruler, are: the St. Maternus infirmary, the St. Bartholomaeus infirmary, the <a href="../cathen/06217a.htm">Franciscan</a> <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a>, the church of which forms part of the present <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> <a href="../cathen/03041a.htm">church</a> of St. Sophia, and the church of the Holy Cross, which in 1234 received a piece of the <a href="../cathen/04529a.htm">True Cross</a> and consequently became a great resort for <a href="../cathen/12085a.htm">pilgrims</a>. After the death of Heinrich, besides the Margrave of <a href="../cathen/10148b.htm">Meissen</a>, both the <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of <a href="../cathen/10148b.htm">Meissen</a> and the <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> of <a href="../cathen/07296c.htm">Hersfeld</a> laid claim to Dresden; in 1319 the city finally came into the possession of the margraves. Margrave Wilhelm I made Dresden his place of residence; he enlarged the castle, granted the <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a> of a city to the old settlement called Alt-Dresden (Old Dresden) on the right bank of the Elbe, and founded there in 1404 a <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monastery</a> of <a href="../cathen/07281a.htm">Hermits of St. Augustine</a>. The intention of this ruler to establish a <a href="../cathen/03438a.htm">cathedral</a> chapter in Dresden was not, however, carried out. In 1449 the city was besieged by the <a href="../cathen/07585a.htm">Hussites</a> and badly damaged. Among the most remarkable events of the following period was the presence at Dresden of St. John Capistran, who in 1452 preached repentance here with great success.</p> <p>When the lands of the House of Wettin were divided in 1485 between the two brothers, Albrecht and Ernst, Dresden was included in the possessions of Albrecht, to whose successors it has ever since belonged. Soon after this, in 1491, a great fire laid waste the city, burning to the ground the church of the Holy Cross and 270 houses, but the town recovered quickly. The city developed rapidly under Duke George the Bearded (1500-39), who was a strong opponent of the religious innovations of <a href="../cathen/09438b.htm">Luther</a>. Soon after his death, however, his brother Heinrich introduced the <a href="../cathen/12700b.htm">Reformation</a> into Dresden (1539). The <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a> of the <a href="../cathen/06217a.htm">Franciscans</a> and Augustinians were suppressed; twenty-seven altars of the church of the Holy Cross were destroyed and the <a href="../cathen/11395a.htm">paintings</a> were removed; the vessels of gold and silver were taken from the churches by the council, and the holding of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> church services was soon after this entirely forbidden.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>During the reign of Duke Maurice, who attained the electoral dignity, the two towns were consolidated in 1550; in the time of Maurice and his successors Dresden became one of the most beautiful cities of <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>. After the sufferings of the <a href="../cathen/14648b.htm">Thirty Years War</a> Dresden was adorned by its rulers, Johann Georg, Augustus the Strong, and Frederick Augustus II, with fine edifices and numerous treasures of art, so that it competed with <a href="../cathen/11480c.htm">Paris</a> in its attractions. The Seven Years War brought intense misery to the city, the population of which fell from 63,000 to the fourth part of this number. Scarcely had the place recovered when the Napoleonic Wars with their enormous burdens, to which hunger and disease were added, again brought the greatest suffering on the city. After the Wars of Liberation the development of the city steadily progressed until it was interrupted again by the Revolution of 1849 which led to the erection of barricades and to bloody strife. Since then there has been a constant and rapid growth of the city, which rivals the other great centres of the <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">German Empire</a> in elegance and beauty and in the activity of its industries and commerce.</p> <p>After the introduction of the <a href="../cathen/12700b.htm">Reformation</a> into Dresden <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholicism</a> could not exist openly. <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> were forbidden to settle in it even as late as 1680; the few <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> who lived there could only hear Mass in the <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapel</a> of the imperial embassy. This oppressed condition of the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> was not much improved when Augustus the Strong in 1697 became a convert; he gave the <a href="../cathen/03574b.htm">chapel</a> of the hunting castle Moritzburg for <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> worship, and in 1708 the court church of the <a href="../cathen/15047a.htm">Holy Trinity</a> was <a href="../cathen/04276a.htm">consecrated</a>; but public church services were still forbidden to <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>. It was not until the Peace of Posen, 11 December, 1806, that the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a> of Saxony were granted the same freedom of worship as the <a href="../cathen/09438b.htm">Lutherans</a> and that the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> and <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> subjects of the king received the same civil and political <a href="../cathen/13055c.htm">rights</a>. Since this date the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> in Dresden has increased, though slowly, as Saxony, notwithstanding the <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholicism</a> of the reigning <a href="../cathen/05782a.htm">family</a>, is strongly <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> and has little toleration for the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a>; thus, for example, the founding of <a href="../cathen/04340c.htm">monasteries</a> is forbidden by the Constitution of 1831. The losses of the <a href="../cathen/03744a.htm">Church</a> in Dresden annually exceed the conversions more than tenfold.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="cenotes"><h2>Sources</h2><p class="cenotes">J.E. Richter, Litteratur der Landes- und Volkskunde des Koenigreichs Sachsen, which contains a full bibliography (1889); V Supplements (1892-1905); Reformationsgesch. der Residenzstadt Dresden (Meissen, 1827); Urkundenbuch der Staedte Dresden und Pirna in Codex diplomaticus Saxoniae regiae, Pt. II, Vol. V (Leipzig, 1875); DIBELIUS, Die Einfuehrung der Reformation in Dresden, (Dresden, 1889); O. RICHTER, Verfassungs- und Verwaltungsgesch. der Stadt Dresden (Dresden, 1885-91); IDEM, Atlas zur Gesch. Dresdens (Dresden, 1898); IDEM, Gesch. der Stadt Dresden (Dresden, 1900), I; IDEM, Gesch. der Stadt Dresden, 1871-1902 (Dresden, 1903); GURLITT, Beschreibende Darstellung der Bau- und Kunstdenkmaeler Sachsens (Dresden, 1900-03), Pts. XXI-XXIII; IDEM, Dresden (Dresden, 1907); Handbuch der Wohltaetigkeit und Wohlfahrtspflege in Dresden (Dresden, 1906). Periodicals.  Mitteilungen des Vereins fuer Gesch. Dresdens (Dresden) XX Pts. to 1908; Dresdener Geschichtsblaetter (Dresden), XVI vols. to 1908; St. Benno-Kalender (Dresden), LVII vols. to 1908.</p></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Lins, J.</span> <span id="apayear">(1909).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Dresden.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05156b.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Lins, Joseph.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Dresden."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 5.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1909.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05156b.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by John Fobian.</span> <span id="dedication">In memory of George and Edith Fobian.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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