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DRESDEN 261 Freiberg railways, having their stations on the southern outskirts of the See-Vorstadt. A new bridge above the Altbrucke has been pro- jected, and in 1871 the city authorities appro- priated 300,000 thalers to its completion. Three small bridges across the Weisseritz con- nect the Friedrichstadt with the Altstadt. Dresden is in appearance rather a pleasing and attractive than a striking or imposing city; yet it abounds in buildings of great architec- tural beauty, and its principal streets and promenades are laid out with much taste and skill. The principal public buildings of interest surround the Theaterplatz, which is thus, as well as by its situation near the river and the Altbrucke, made the centre of attraction in the old town. On that side of the square furthest from the Elbe is the Zwinger, an im- mense structure in the most elaborate rococo style of architecture, begun in 1711, and at first designed to form only a portion of a still larger palace. For more than a century it oc- cupied three sides of a square, the fourth, toward the Theaterplatz, remaining open ; but in 1846 the so-called new museum was built across this space. The royal palace, an ex- tensive, irregular building, was begun in 1534 by Duke George the Rich, but greatly enlarged and changed by his successors, so that it can hardly be said to follow any one system of construction. Its most conspicuous feature is a tower 370 ft. high. Near it is the smaller palace of the crown prince. A little to the north is the Catholic church, finished in 1756 ; its altarpiece is a painting by Raphael Mengs, " The Ascension," one of the most celebrated pictures in Dresden. The funeral vaults of the royal family of Saxony are underneath the sacristy. Near the northern end of the Thea- terplatz, giving it its name, stood the royal Dresden, from the right bank of the Elbe. theatre till Sept. 21, 1869, when it was entirely destroyed by fire. It was built under the su- perintendence of the architect Semper in 1838-'41, thoroughly renovated in 1864, and was justly celebrated as one of the most beau- tiful theatres of Germany. A new building a little north of the former site is now (1874) in course of construction by the same architect. Besides those in the Theaterplatz, the Altstadt contains a considerable number of other prom- inent buildings. The Brilhl palace, built in 1737 by the minister whose name it bears, and only separated by a garden in its rear from the Briihl terrace, a beautiful and well kept pub- lic promenade on the bank of the Elbe, served as the headquarters of the provisional govern- ment established in Dresden in 1813, as the meeting place of the Dresden conferences of 1850-'51, and more recently as the residence of the queen dowager of Saxony. It is an im- posing building, but without great architectural beauty. Near it is the academy of fine arts (Kunstalcademie). Further east, and near the Briihl garden at the end of the terrace, is the Zeughaus or arsenal, of which the most an- cient part was built in 1559-'65, the addition in 1740. The post office and the polytechnic school are large and well arranged modern structures, at opposite ends of the Antonsplatz. The town hall, in the Altmarkt, is another conspicuous public building, but is without es- pecially interesting architectural features. In the suburbs the chief buildings worthy of remark are the orangery, in the Wilsdrufier- Vorstadt, a massive structure with elaborate ornamentation; the large hospital in the Frei- bergerstrasse ; and the great railway station in the Wienerstrasse (See-Vorstadt). In the Neustadt, the Japanese palace, built by Au- gustus I. as a summer residence, but now used