Dresden, DDR, Dresden, Germany - East German Ossi Magnet

Dresden, DDR, Dresden, Germany. Dresden is the capital city of the German state of Saxony, and it is the second largest city by population after Leipzig. Dresden is the third most populous city in the former East Germany, after Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area includes the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Meissen, Coswig, Radeberg and Heidenau and counts nearly 800,000 residents. The Dresden metropolitan consists of 1.34 million inhabitants. Dresden became a major industrial center of East Germany, with a robust research infrastructure. The city was the center of Bezirk Dresden (Dresden District) between 1952 and 1990. Many of the Dresden's important historic buildings were reconstructed, including the Semper Opera House and the Zwinger Palace, although the city leaders chose to rebuild large areas of the city in a "socialist modern" style. This was done both for economic reasons and to pivot away from the city's past as the royal capital of Saxony and a bastion of the German bourgeoisie.