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Revision as of 13:11, 3 February 2002 by 130.94.122.xxx (talk) (1945 link corrected)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Located on the river Elbe, Dresden is the capital city of the German state of Saxony, with a population of about 500,000.
A Slavic settlement on the right (northern) bank of the river was joined in 1206 by a German town on the left bank, the heart of today's Altstadt (old town). The seat from 1270 of the Wettin landgraves of Meissen and from 1485 of the dukes (from 1547 also electors) of Saxony, between 1806 and 1918 it was the capital of the kingdom of Saxony, a part from 1871 of the German Empire.
The city has suffered repeated damage: by fire in 1491, from bombardment in 1760 and during the suppression of a constitutionalist uprising in 1849. Renowned for its architecture, and as a center for elaborate porcelain manufacture (based at nearby Meissen from 1710), the city was largely destroyed by Allied bombing in February 1945 near the end of World War II. One of the major restorations in progress is that of the Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady.