A Welcome to President Obama - Gerhard Wistuba

Welcome to Saxony
June 2009 Section D I
Contents
Watches II
Handmade masterpieces that
stand the test of time: Watches
from Glashütte – a hard-fought
success story from Saxony.
Education II
Germany’s Saxon Tiger: The
Free State is Germany's number
one federal state when it comes
to education.
Cars III
From Trabi to Phaeton: This is
where the GDR’s “cardboard
car” originated. Today, Saxony
is home to VW’s luxury cars.
Innovation III
Where the spirit of invention
resides: In 1892 the beer coaster
was invented in Saxony – today
the world’s most modern microprocessors
come from Dresden.
Centerfold IV
10 Reasons to Love Saxony:
The state offers many attractions
– take a look and see what
Saxony’s good for!
Culture VI
Art to see, hear, experience and
stroll along to: Event-culture has
been a Saxon specialty since the
days of the Baroque.
Porcelain VI
White gold from Meissen: The
Saxon porcelain manufacturer
has been producing the finest
tableware for 300 years.
Sports VII
The best thing about sport is
winning: Saxons enjoy their
sport, as proven by their homegrown
Olympic and World
champions.
Welcome to Saxony
A special newspaper
to mark U.S. President
Obama’s visit to the
Free State of Saxony,
June 2009
Editor | Publisher:
Times Media GmbH
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24
10963 Berlin, Germany
Phone +49 30-2150-5400
Fax +49 30-2150-5447
www.times-media.de
Responsible:
Detlef W. Prinz
Concept:
Dr. Rainer Bieling
rainer.bieling@times-media.de
Layout:
Gordon Martin, Berlin
Text:
Simone Guski, Anneliese Heberger, Susanne Schroeder,
Karl-Heinz Twele, Gerhard Wistuba
Welcome to Saxony is a Supplement to the following
papers of Times Media published in June 2009:
The Atlantic Times, Printed in the USA by Gannett Offset,
Springfield, Virginia. The German Times, Printed in
Germany by Dogan Media International, Mörfelden
© Times Media GmbH 2009
The Frauenkirche (“Church of Our Lady”) in Dresden is topped by
one of the largest sandstone domes in Europe and is, alongside
Strasburg cathedral, the largest sandstone building in the world.
Destroyed by British bombing in 1945, it was restored between
1994 and 2005, using 3,539 blocks from the original facade,
following donations totaling more than E100 million ($140
million) from all over the world, including the British Dresden
Trust. Today it is a symbol of the reconciliation between former
enemies and the peacemaking strength of the European Union.
Stanislaw Tillich is minister-president of the Free State
of Saxony. He has been a minister in the government of
Saxony since 1999. From 2007, Tillich was Saxon
state minister of finance. The Landtag, or
federal parliament of Saxony elected him
minister-president on May 28, 2008.
Stanislaw Tillich is of Sorbian ethnicity and lives
in Panschwitz-Kuckau (Pancicy-Kukow), some
22 miles northeast of Dresden nearby Kamenz.
A Welcome to
President Obama
The strong economic ties between
the U.S. and Saxony have greatly
contributed to the resurgence of
Saxony | By Stanislaw Tillich
After twenty years of
a sustained recovery
effort, Saxony is more
beautiful and successful
than ever. The essence –
and motto – of Saxony
today is 'high-tech and
Baroque'.
Mr. President, welcome
to the Free
State of Saxony!
It is a great honor
for me and the Saxon people
that you visit our capital city.
There are many reasons to come
to Dresden. But most prominent
is the story of freedom in our
country which we will tell to
those who care to listen.
Twenty years ago, hundreds
of thousands of Saxons poured
into the streets to protest
against the ruling Communist
party. They demanded freedom,
chanting a slogan slightly
adapted from the U.S. constitution:
“We are the people.”
Our call for freedom proved
irresistible. We brought down the
Berlin Wall, thus ending the Cold
War and paving the
way for German
reunification.
Ever since then,
we treasure our
hard-won freedom
and
put it
to the
best use.
We have
thoroughly
rebuilt our
e c o n -
One of these is from Saxony!
Nowhere else in Germany the economy is growing as rapidly
as in Saxony. A unique research environment, a modern infra-
structure, and exceptionally well educated professionals
provide a climate in which good ideas ripen and mature and
entrepreneurial success stories thrive and prosper. Whether
it be the automobile industry or microelectronics/IT, whether
ISTOCKPHOTO/FREDER
WWW.SACHSEN.DE
PICTURE ALLIANCE /LANDOV
President Obama will visit Dresden on June 5, 2009.
omy, after more than four
decades of communist mismanagement.
Saxony has become
a success story worth telling,
especially to you, Mr. President,
because we partly owe our success
to a long and dedicated
American commitment.
Since reunification in 1990,
more than 100 U.S. enterprises
have set up business in Saxony
or acquired promising Saxon
companies. Between them,
they employ more than 11,000
people in Saxony. Global players
such as AMD, Motorola,
IBM, Dow Chemical or Amazon
are here to stay. They benefit
from skilled labor, an excellent
infrastructure, leading R&D
as well as the vicinity of the
dynamic markets in Eastern
Europe. Small wonder, then,
that the U.S. is Saxony’s biggest
trading partner. Since 1990, our
America-bound exports have
increased more than fifty-fold.
The strong economic ties
between the U.S. and Saxony
have greatly contributed to the
resurgence of Saxony. After 20
years of a sustained recovery
effort, Saxony is more beautiful
and successful than ever.
Today, Saxony is the most
important location in the European
semiconductor industry,
proudly calling itself “Silicon
Saxony.” Saxon manufacturers
ship microchips, luxury cars,
precision watches, PV cells
and trains to destinations all
over the world. Saxony is passionate
about innovation. Our
scientists and engineers make
machines, cars and computers
it be machine construction or life sciences: In Saxony, investments
in all branches fall on fertile ground and bear fruit
quicker than anywhere else.
Bertolt-Brecht-Allee 22, D-01309 Dresden
Tel. +49-351-2138 0, info@wfs.saxony.com
Develop your full growth potential as well.
We’ll show you the best possible location. www.invest-in-saxony.com
more energy-efficient. They tap
new energy sources like biofuels
and help improve energy storage,
enabling the e-car.
We have got the brains to
bring about an era of clean
energy because we care about
top education, higher learning
and research. Our schools have
been certified to have the best
students in Germany. Every
fourth college graduate has a
degree in engineering. The Max
Planck Institute of Cell Biology
and Genetics at Dresden ranks
as the top workplace for postdocs
outside the U.S.
Of course, there is more to
that than just an excellent education
and research infrastructure.
The essence – and motto
– of Saxony today is 'high-tech
and Baroque'. Our rich heritage
as well as a vibrant cultural life
make Saxony so enticing for
bright minds.
Saxony harbors some of the
most amazing art treasures in
the world. Lovers of Baroque
architecture, Renaissance paintings,
classical opera, expressionist
art and contemporary ballet
feel at home here. In short, a
spirit of creativity pervades our
country. It inspires millions of
tourists every year, as well as so
many scientists who come here
for groundbreaking research.
And, perhaps, you as well, Mr.
President.
Freedom loving and forwardlooking,
we are ready to tackle
the great challenges ahead of us.
And just like the Americans, we
are confident that we will succeed.
Just remember 1989. n
wfs_anz_invest 290x130.indd 1 29.05.2009 15:57:22 Uhr
© www.vor-dresden.de

II June 2009
NOMOS GLASHÜTTE
Form and quality have won many accolades:
More than any other watch from “Nomos Glashütte,”
the “Tangente” with its mechanical movement is a
design classic. Since 1992 this model in Bauhaus style
embodies watch manufacturing in Glashütte.
Through entrepreneurial
courage and the
persuasive power of
pure luxury, the Saxon
watch-making industry
has achieved an
impressive comeback
over the last 20 years.
Glashütte lies in the
enchanting Müglitz
Valley, an idyllic setting
in the eastern
Erz (Ore) Mountains, halfway
between Dresden and the Czech
border. With its historic town
center and the old St. Wolfgang’s
church it could be, like many
small towns of its ilk, a place for
tourists to kick back and relax.
But Glashütte is different. Its
products are to be found in the
best jewelry stores from Dresden
to Dubai, because Glashütte is a
watch-making center – and has
been, with the occasional ups
and downs, for over 160 years.
Watches from Glashütte encompass
everything from grandfather’s
pocket watches via standard
“Made in GDR” timepieces
to the excitedly awaited (and
not only by watch lovers) latest
product, the “Lange Zeitwerk,”
which was unveiled at the beginning
of May and will be on sale
from September.
The love affair between
Glashütte and horology began in
1845, when, in a time of economic
hardship, the watch maker Ferdinand
Adolph Lange, equipped
with a 7,000 thaler start-up loan
from the Royal Saxon government,
established a workshop. He
was soon joined by other watchmakers.
From 1868 onwards
Lange’s company carried
the name of “A.
Lange & Söhne,”
and watches from
Glashütte acquired a
worldwide reputation.
The wheel of time
turned in Glashütte, too
DPA/HIRSCHBERGER
But then came World War II,
the division of Germany, and in
1948 the watch-making industry
in Glashütte was nationalized.
Walter Lange, greatgrandson
of Ferdinand
Adolph, was
forced to leave
Glashütte and
East Germany.
The now publicly
owned
“ G l a s h ü t -
ter Uhrenb
e t r i e b e ”
(GUB) spent
the next 40
years producing
solid but
simple quartz
watches for the
citizens of the
GDR and the countries
of the Eastern
bloc (they were even
delivered to West Germany
for little money).
Then came the fall of the
Berlin Wall. Walter Lange
returned to Glashütte and
founded “A. Lange & Söhne”
On the trail of timekeeping: In its approximately
1,000 m 2 of exhibition space,
the German Clock Museum displays
more than 400 exhibits on the
history of watch and clock
manufacturing in Glashütte.
Handmade Masterpieces
that Stand
the Test of Time
Watches from Glashütte –
a hard-fought success story
from Saxony
Watch “Senator Chronometer“ from
“Glashütte Original“: The term chronometer
was used for the most accurate mechanical
clocks for exact timing while navigating ships.
Saxony’s school students
are the best
in Germany. That’s
what the PISA study
says, which measures
the performance of
15-year-olds in the
majority of OECD
nations.
PISA, or Programme for
International Student
Assessment, is a moniker
that triggered a lively discussion
in Germany. The study,
coordinated by the Organization
for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD)
and carried out in some 30
countries that feel obligated
to the principles of democracy
and free market economy, gave
Germany as a whole an only
average grade. Not so for the
Free State of Saxony.
Internationally, in reading
Saxony lies behind Korea, Fin-
Germany’s Saxon Tiger
Saxony is Germany’s number one federal state in education
and training and is ahead of the economic growth curve
land, Canada and Australia in
5th place, in math it’s behind
Finland, Korea, the Netherlands,
Switzerland and Canada
in 6th place and in the natural
sciences it comes in behind
Finland, in 2nd place. Germany
as a whole can’t keep up.
The reason is a very well-
functioning education system
in Saxony. It consists of four
years basic education, eight
years of high school (graduating
with a diploma, qualifying
for university admission)
and five or six years of junior
high school (graduating with a
lower form of diploma, which
usually precludes university
admission). This dual education
system offers students
looking for a more work-oriented
education the possibility
to choose from more than 360
recognized training paths in
theory and practice.
In Saxony the individual
support and promotion of students
play an important role.
GLASHÜTTE
over again – on Dec. 7,
1990, the very day on
which 145 years ago
his great-grandfather
founded the original
company. And, as back
then, competitors were also soon
lining up. The GUB became the
Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH,
today part of the Swatch Group.
Under the name “Glashütte Original”
it sells its top-end watches,
including the successful “Senator”
line, throughout the world. The
“Nomos Glashütte” company is
the third well-known luxury
brand from Glashütte, with,
among others, its “Tangente”
model, a modern
classic with a mechanical
movement in the
Bauhaus style.
Returning
to reliable,
hand-made
luxury
Today the
mass production of
the socialist interlude
is long since gone. Only
a few tens of thousands of
watches carrying the moniker
“Glashütte” or “Glashütte
I/SA” (for IN SAXONY) on their
dials are made each year – at “A.
Lange & Söhne” that’s around
5,000 timepieces for people
around the world who appreciate
luxury that can be relied on.
Around 6 percent of Saxony’s
junior students stand out in
math, the natural sciences, languages,
music or sport. Specially
trained teachers teach in
the state’s current 37 project
grade-schools. In addition, 22
of Saxony’s high schools offer a
deeper curriculum. The Saxon
State St. Afra High, founded
in 1543 in Meissen, specializes
in educating the highly gifted.
Even older is Leipzig University,
founded in 1409, at
which later luminaries such as
Johann W. von Goethe, Gotthold
E. Lessing and Friedrich
Nietzsche studied. Today
some 110,000 students occupy
Saxony’s 25 universities and
colleges. The extra-faculty
research bodies, such as the 14
institutes of the Frauenhofer-
Gesellschaft, are considered
Saxony’s brain factories. That
has positive effects on the
state’s economic dynamic.
In no other German federal
state has the economy devel-
A.LANGE & SÖHNE
A watch face
like the cockpit
of a racing car – a
“time bridge” gives
the “Lange Zeitwerk”
its unmistakable imprint.
The classic principles of its
mechanism combine here with
a new kind of indicator that leaps forth
instantaneously. It immediately makes it clear:
Time is constantly moving on. And it has its price –
in gold $54,500 / E42,500, in platinum $75,900 / E58,500.
Glashütte’s business biography
is, as is so often the case with
the vagaries of history, in many
ways typically German. But
when it comes to watches it has,
however, proven to be atypical.
Because in Glashütte something
has been achieved that has failed
in many other places: to make a
highly successful company from
the remains of a former stateowned
outfit.
And it continues. “A. Lange &
Söhne” – now part of the Swiss
luxury goods concern Richemont
– initiated a technology and
development center in 2003, and
a total of 27 different mechanical
movements have been designed
since the comeback. They are
still hand-made – and the fascination
for a mechanical watch
is perhaps stronger today than
ever before.
In 1994 the “Lange 1” was
launched – then a milestone,
today a design icon. And now
comes the “Lange Zeitwerk”.
This is a watch of surprising
appearance: two hands and two
windows forming a cross, a “time
bridge” spreads its wings across
the dial and connects the hours
and minutes, which are displayed
numerically in the windows. The
minute is advanced step by step,
and on each full hour all three
displays (one for the hours, two
for the minutes) are synchronized
once again. This is a watch you
want to own in order to treasure
it for posterity.
The built-in longevity is a quality
that today every watch from
Glashütte owns. And you don’t
have to go to Dubai to get them;
they’re all from Glashütte – in
Saxony. n
oped so favorably between
2002 and 2007 than in the
Saxon metropolis, Dresden,
according to the City
Ranking 2008 study by
the Initiative Neue Soziale
Markt-wirtschaft, an initiative
for a new social market
economy.
Dresden is Germany’s
most dynamic city, still just
ahead of Leipzig. At the
same time the federal state
capital has a higher education
level than the cities at
the tail-end of the rankings:
20.1 percent of people in
employment have graduated
from a university or
university of applied sciences.
Good professional
and educational opportunities
as well as the high quality
of life are attracting many
people to the state. In the
last five years Saxony has
grown by an above-average
5.7 percent. Let’s hear that
roar, Saxon tiger! n
June 2009 Welcome to Saxony III
Some 3.1 million, two-stroke engined Trabants
were built in Zwickau until 1991. But with the end
of the GDR nobody wanted the “cardboard car”
anymore. They have now become a nostalgic
cult object.
Carmaking goes back
over 100 years in Saxony.
These days they build
modern cars here – and
also think about environmental
protection.
German reunification
was the start of an
exemplary success
story for Saxony’s auto
industry. There might not have
been any future for the Trabant
(more than three million “Trabis,”
as they were nicknamed, had
been built by the VEB Sachsenring
Zwickau in GDR times), but
Saxony still had a great many qualified
car workers. VW, Porsche
and BMW didn’t hesitate for long
and decided to set up production
facilities in the new federal state.
VW located itself in Zwickau
and Chemnitz – and created in
Dresden, at a cost of E365 million
($512 million), the “Gläserne
Manufaktur” (“Transparent Fac-
TV-YESTERDAY
tory”) in which the flagship Phaeton
has been built since 2002.
The word built meaning, here in
Dresden, the careful assembly of
pre-manufactured parts, predominantly
by hand. Of course, this
includes the relevant quality control
for every single component
and every complete car.
What comes out the other end
is not only top-end luxury – it is
also an example of how the Saxon
art of engineering is capable of
producing also large, comfortable
and powerful cars that don’t
harm the environment either.
Since April 2009 the Phaeton is
the first car in its class to meet
the European Union’s Emission
Standard 5, which takes effect
from September.
Zwickau is also VW’s production
location for the Passat
and Golf. 6,200 people work at
the plants. 1,000 workers build
VW engines in Chemnitz – constructed
to meet climate protection
requirements.
Modern tourist buses “Made in Saxony”: The MAN subsidiary
Neoplan has been building buses in Plauen for almost 20 years.
Saxons are known
for their special
smarts. No wonder:
more research is
being done here
than in any other
German federal
state.
Whether AMD or the
Fraunhofer Institute
– the names
resound as much today
as those of Horch or DKW
(see above report on this
page) 100 years ago. The
Saxon Federal Government
is deliberately targeting
and promoting innovative,
modern industries to make
the Free State of Saxony's
future crisis-proof. And the
results are clearly visible.
In the year 2000, the U.S.
company Advanced Micro
Devices, Inc. (AMD) began
its chip production in Dresden;
2,500 people work here
MAN
In total, Saxony’s auto industry
employs some 23,600 people
in 73 companies. It’s not only
VW that manufactures here. The
Porsche Cayenne SUV originates
from Leipzig, has created jobs for
800 people, and it’s recently been
joined by the four-door luxury
Porsche Panamera. BMW builds
gas-saving vehicles of the One
and Three series in Leipzig, securing
the jobs of 4,200 employees.
This would be very much to the
liking of Dresden’s present official
A Porsche from the new federal
states? Yes, from Saxony of course.
The sports car manufacturer is
producing its four-wheel
drive SUV, the Cayenne,
in a new plant
in Leipzig.
visitor: President Barack Obama
has just instructed U.S. automobile
manufacturers to finally kiss
goodbye to the giant gas-guzzlers
and embrace, in their stead, fuelsaving,
climate-friendly models.
Something that’s easy to overlook:
a bus, too, is, in the widest
meaning of the word, also a car.
The MAN subsidiary, Neoplan,
which produces modern tourist
buses, built a new production
facility in 1989, at Plauen in
Saxony, with jobs for 400.
Car Country
Saxony:
from Trabi
to Phaeton
This is where the GDR’s
“cardboard car” originated.
Today, Saxony is home to VW’s luxury vehicle
Alongside the actual automobile
manufacturers, this important
economic sector has again
developed into a key industry in
the new Saxony as well, through
the creation of a great many jobs
in the component sector.
Car country Saxony – another
example of how the past can be
expanded successfully: that the
new federal states also have a lot
to offer for Germany’s future and,
at the same time, offer themselves
as an industrial location with a
future. This is because highly
qualified workers in the automobile
sector have existed
here long before
GDR times, in
The body for VW’s top model, the Phaeton, is made in Zwickau. In the “Gläserne Manufaktur” (“Transparent
Factory”) in Dresden the cars are assembled, to a large extent by hand, for demanding customers.
Where the Spirit of Invention Resides
In 1892 the beer coaster was invented here –
today the world’s most modern microprocessors come from Dresden
for AMD, a good E5 billion ($7
billion) having been invested.
In the “Dresden Design
Center” and two chip factories,
the company is not only
building microprocessors, it
is also developing them. Thus,
the first Dual-Core processors
came from Dresden.
AMD, called ”Globalfoundries“
in Saxony
since the start of the
cooperation with
Arabian investors
three months ago laid
the foundation for the
region’s reputation as
“Silicon Saxony,” taking
its name from the
famous Silicon Valley
in California. Numerous
smaller chip manufacturers,
medium-sized
IT companies, as well as
seven research facilities of
the academic society Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
are
located in Saxony
today.
There’s a tradition of invention
here: In 1908, housewife
Melitta Bentz of Dresden came
up with the famous paper
coffee-filter. Professor August
Karolus developed the first picture
telegraph in 1927.
The first small format picture
camera also came from Dresden.
Just as did the first single
lens reflex camera, invented by
Zeiss-Ikon in 1932.
Alongside the IT sector,
biotechnology is among the
most important areas of future
growth.
A 200-Millimeter-Wafer:
produced at AMD in
Dresden for the
global market.
DDP/MILLAUER
The Saxony state government
has, through its promotion
policy, ensured that
the free state’s reputation as
a biotech cluster has spread
far beyond Germany’s borders
– and attracted appropriate
companies.
The focus of numerous
medium-sized companies,
research bodies and institutes
lies in the medical application
of biotechnology:
regenerative medicine
and molecular bioengineering.
Here, bioscience,
medicine,
technology and
engineering play
just as significant
PORSCHE
DPA/HIEKEL
fact for more than 100 years.
With his self-built car, mechanical
engineer Emil Hermann Nacke
laid the foundation for Saxony’s
automobile tradition as far back
as 1900, in the village of Kötitz
(today part of the small town of
Coswig, northwest of Dresden).
After that it was pedal to the
metal for Saxon cars: 1902,
August Horch founded a car
plant in Zwickau, two years later
DKW and Wanderer moved to
Chemnitz. And in 1909, August
Horch had an idea that is still
running today: he translated his
name into Latin and established
a second brand in Zwickau, one
which has since won worldwide
acclaim – Audi.
With VW now active in the
luxury segment, the circle has
closed in Saxony – because Audi
is now a subsidiary of Volkswagen.
And Saxony is showing the
rest of Germany that here, too,
it can easily keep pace with the
old AZ federal FAZ Obama:Layout states when it 1 comes 27.05.2009
to cars. n
Mr. Obama
was already
here. And
what about
you?
Visit Dresden. The capital of
the Free State of Saxony and
one of the most famous and
beautiful cities in Germany.
Invest in Dresden. And find an
excellent business environment
in Germany’s most dynamic
city with highly qualified labor
and affordable real estate.
We would like to assist you with your
company’s investment in Saxony!
For more information, please contact us:
Dr. Edith Grether
c/o TLG IMMOBILIEN GmbH
Budapester Str. 3, D-01069 Dresden
Phone +49-351-4913 470
Email edith.grether@tlg.de
www.wirtschaftswunderland-sachsen.de
ADVERTISEMENT
a role as new materials,
nanotechnology or stem
cell research and tissue
engineering.
With the development of
modern high technology,
Saxony, through the state
government, has achieved a
success that is by no means
a given everywhere else:
cooperative instead of competitive
thinking between
companies, universities and
other research bodies.
And the eastwards expansion
of the European Union
has also born fruit here: The
decision by the internationally
active Polish software
concern ComArch for Dresden
shows that eastern
European companies find
in Saxony what they need
for successful business
development: a functioning
infrastructure, highly
qualified workers and a
high performance research
environment. n

IV June 2009 Welcome To Saxony V
STEPHAN FLOSS | FOTOLIA/ANDREAS F. | FOTOLIA.DE/JERUSHA
Saxony is good for Christmas: Wooden Christmas decorations from the Erzgebirge have, like
porcelain from Meissen or Plauen lace from the Vogtland, a tradition in Saxony dating back centuries.
Come the festive season, living rooms and windows are decorated with candle arches, pyramids, nut
crackers and “smoke men” (little carved figures with an incense stick inside), which create a homely
atmosphere. Together with the impressive Christmas markets, they all play their part in giving the
Erzgebirge its nickname of “Christmasland.” The carved and whittled figures of beech wood are a
favorite souvenir for tourists from near and far.
Saxony is good for wine’n’dine: Here, in Auerbachs Keller in Leipzig, is where Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe took a glass or more of wine during his time as a student. Even in his days, two old wooden
paintings from 1625 could be seen hanging there. They depict scenes from the life of the astrologist,
Dr. Faustus, who is said to have ridden from the place, with the devil’s help, on a wine barrel.
The paintings inspired Goethe, who immortalized the original wine cellar in his literary masterpiece,
“Faust I.” Two groups of sculptures with Faust, Mephistopheles and the spellbound revelers show
visitors the way to the Mädler retail passage, where the entrance to the cellar is located.
Saxony is good for Hollywood: With almost 4,000 historical buildings dating from 500 years of
European history, Görlitz has an old town that’s unique in Germany. The city experienced its
golden age in the late medieval period as a trading and cultural center. Germany’s easternmost
town survived the war almost undamaged. Hollywood therefore loves Görlitz:
Quentin Tarantino recently shot scenes for his “Inglourious Basterds”
at the Untermarkt (photo). Before that, Kate Winslet
came here for “The Reader”.
AUERBACHS KELLER
FOTOLIA.DE/KRÖGER
Saxony is good for fans of the
medieval: The Albrechtsburg in
Meissen is known as the “Cradle
of Saxony” (right). It dates back
to a defensive fortification from
the year 929, which was erected
on a rocky plateau over the
Elbe. In the 15th century, the
architect Arnold von Westfalen
converted it into a late Gothic
castle, the first in Germany.
He stamped his mark on the
building with such majestic
constructions as the ornate
arched windows, cellar vault
and famous staircase tower.
By order of August the Strong,
Europe’s first porcelain factory
was established here in 1710.
Together with the cathedral,
bishop’s residence and
Kornhaus (for grain storage),
Albrechtsburg Castle is the
emblem of Meissen.
10 Reasons to Love Saxony
It’s not just the renowned beauty of the local women you’ll fall in love with.
Saxony has a large variety of other attractions too.
Take a look and see what Saxony’s good for!
Saxony is good for deer hunters: Augustus the Strong had the architect of the Dresden Zwinger build
Schloss Moritzburg (above), in the middle of a lake, as a hunting residence and representative lodge
for royal revelry. The Prince-Electors’ hunting trophies were presented in the
castle in one of the largest antler collections in Europe. Also unique is
the collection of Baroque leather wallpaper, which received
its characteristic surface by being completely silvered and
then embellished with gold varnish and paint. Schloss
Moritzburg, one of Saxony’s most important Baroque
buildings, is surrounded by artificial ponds in which
carp for the Prince-Elector’s table were bred.
FOTOLIA.DE/DI CAMPO
ISTOCKPHOTO/REST
Saxony is good for snowboarding: Snowboarders, downhill and cross-country skiers find ideal
conditions in the Erzgebirge mountains. The central mountain chain, which runs along the border
between Germany and the Czech Republic, has many skiing areas. The most popular is the health
resort of Oberwiesenthal, which can claim three superlatives of its own: at 3,000 feet, Germany’s
highest town has the country’s oldest
Free State
of Saxony
FOTOLIA.DE/DIGI DRESDEN
aerial cableway, which leads to the top of
the Fichtelberg, Saxony’s highest peak
(3,982 feet). Anyone who would
rather get to know the Erzgebirge in
other seasons can travel the Saxon
Silver Road. The route follows that
of the mountain people who,
since the 12th century, mined the
numerous silver deposits and so
laid the foundation for the region’s
economic development.
VISUM/DOERING
VARIO/IMAGEBROKER
Saxony is good for wine lovers: Saxony’s pretty girls were made proverbially famous through the old
German rhyme which translates as “That’s why I went to Saxony, where the beautiful maids grow
on trees.” They might not do that any more, but alongside their good looks they’re also known for
their assiduity and smarts. Thanks to these qualities, for example, Marleen Herr is now the reigning
Saxon Wine Queen (photo). She represents Germany’s smallest wine-growing region and the most
northeasterly in Europe. That makes wine from Saxony a highly prized rarity, and a variety such as
the Goldriesling can be drunk only here.
Saxony is good for traditionalists:
In the Lausitz area, bilingual road
and place signs announce it as
the home of one of Germany’s
recognized ethnic minorities,
the Sorbs (or Wends). Suppressed
by the Nazis, supported during
the GDR, some 60,000 members
of this Slavic tribe still live in
Brandenburg and Saxony today.
They are descendents of the
southern Elbe Slavs who, during the
Migration period, settled the region
between the Saale river in the west
and the Oder river in the east.
The Sorbs maintain and cultivate
their own language intensively, for
example with their own newspapers,
as well as customs such as the Sorbian
Easter Ride (photo). Their interests
are represented by the Domowina
(“Homeland”), an umbrella organization
for all Sorbian societies, which was
founded in 1912. Saxony’s state premier,
Stanislaw Tillich, is himself a Sorb.
ADVERTISEMENT
Saxony is good for free climbing:
Bizarre rock formations with towers and needles,
mesas and deep ravines – lying to the southeast
of Dresden, along the Elbe river, the Saxon
Switzerland area is one of Germany’s
most fascinating landscapes. To this
very day the sandstone mountains,
constantly changing through erosion,
offer outstanding hiking experiences
with long-distance views over the
canyon-like Elbe valley, for
example from the Bastei
lookout-point (photo).
Moreover, this is the birthplace
of free climbing. More than
1,000 summits make it the
Holy Grail for those who
want to get to the top!
DPA/HIRSCHBERGER
ISTOCKPHOTO/FROMER
Saxony is good for coffee
drinkers: The passion for candy,
cakes and cookies, such as the
Dresden Eierschecke or the
famous “Dresdner Stollen“ is
something all Saxons share.
They were the first people
in Germany to unite coffee
with cake. Saxony played an
important role in the development
of German coffee culture,
through the invention of
European porcelain for the
coffee table, the custom of
afternoon coffee and coffee
houses. One of Europe’s oldest
coffee houses is still going in
Leipzig today; the “Coffe Baum,”
first mentioned in 1556. Among
its guests were August the
Strong, Robert Schumann and
Johann Sebastian Bach, who
humorously set the Saxons’
enthusiastic love of the hot drink
to music in his “Kaffeekantate.”
STAR-MEDIA/KUBE

VI June 2009
Art, music and dance
have been at home in
Saxony for centuries.
Impressive architecture
provided the background
for music and dancing
from the baroque period
via the classical age to
the present.
Imposing buildings, in fact
entire collections of buildings
as a setting for events
and festivities, that’s what
the Saxon Prince-Elector and King
of Poland, Augustus the Strong,
wanted from the day he took office
in 1694. Dresden, Saxony’s capital
even in those days, is still the
embodiment of a culture that is
not at all foreign to us: an eventculture,
which aims to astonish
and distract the audience. Boredom
is banned and curiosity continually
finds new nourishment.
Rococo sculptures of antique gods
in the court garden of the Zwinger
Palace, between the old and new
city wall, enabled a journey back
into time. The exotic plants still
growing there give visitors, as they
did way back when, the feeling of
being in far off southern lands. In
the Zwinger, the oldest museum
in Europe with its masterpieces
by Raphael, Titian, Cranach,
Holbein and Dürer, August the
Strong wanted to create in a single
cosmos all the wonders produced
by nature and man, and nor did
his successors want him to have
the last word.
The valuables in the Grüne
Gewölbe (Green Vault), the treasure
depository in the residence,
are evidence of the same passion.
The Saxon Prince-Electors used
the exotic to give flight to their
imaginations. The “Moor with
Emerald Plate,” who – while
black, is not actually a Moor, as
his adornment of feathers shows –
is the centerpiece of the jewelry
It’s a good thing
U.S. President
Obama is visiting
Saxony because
there’s something
here he can’t get in
Washington, even
though it belongs
on the White House
dining table: Meissen
porcelain.
On their next flying
visit to their hometown
Chicago, the
President and First Lady
could of course drop by
Tabula Tua Inc., 105 West
Armitage Ave, the finest
address for tableware in the
city. At this elegant store the
best that Saxony has conjured
up for beautifully laid
tables in the world: finest
tableware from Meissen –
manufactured in Saxony for
a pretty good 300 years.
Augustus the Strong
didn’t do things by halves
collection. In what is the Dresden
district of Pillnitz today, a whole
castle and garden area built in the
Asian style was erected.
Brühl’s Terrace is also called
Europe’s Balcony. The Elbe wall
of the city fortifications was given
a civil role by Graf Heinrich von
Brühl in the middle of the 18th
century. Like a stage setting of
horticulture and architecture,
once the exclusive preserve of aristocratic
society, Brühl’s Terrace
today is a place where anybody
can take a stroll.
A quadriga drawn by four tame and harnessed panthers full of strength and spirit races once again above
the entrance of the restored Semper opera house in Dresden.
in his day. The Prince-Elector
of Saxony (he was King of
Poland at the same time) had
the apothecary Johann Friedrich
Böttger, who had just fled
Berlin, summarily arrested
in Dresden. Böttger had
boasted he could make
gold. In 1705, Augustus
banished him to
Albrechtsburg castle
in Meissen, where he
should experiment as
a gold maker. But to
no avail. On the other
hand, the Saxon ruler
had spent a fortune
on Chinese porcelain –
the white gold from the
Middle Kingdom. That gave
him a new idea: He provided
Böttger with a physicist and an
experienced senior mining
engineer, and ordered
him to discover the
recipe for making
porcelain.
In 1708 Böttger managed
to make the first
shards from white clay.
In 1710 Böttger’s place of
JOSE GIRIBAS
Art to See, Hear,
Experience and
Stroll along to
Event-culture has been a Saxon specialty
since the days of the Baroque
The vaulted galleries of the world’s oldest museum, the Dresden Zwinger (above right), are open-air backdrops, now as in the past.
Festivities and artistic performances are being held once more in its baroque court garden. In the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) –
the Dresden treasure house of superlatives – the “Moor with Emerald Plate” (above left) is one of the most precious exhibits.
Leipzig’s Gewandhaus orchestra is Germany’s oldest civic –
that is to say non-royal – concert orchestra. It has carried its
present name since 1781, and since 1981 has had its own venue
(interior, below) at Leipzig’s Augustusplatz – the only new
construction of a purpose-built concert hall in the GDR,
thanks to its former director of music, Kurt Masur.
LOOK-FOTO/ZIELSKE
White Gold from Meissen
The Semperoper (Semper
opera house) built by Gottfried
Semper and his son Manfred in
the second half of the 19th century
in Dresden, severely damaged
by bombing and rebuilt, is
decorated on the outside with festive
forms. Inside, however, the
design is clearly along the classical
lines. It became the prototype
for theatres around the world.
Almost every day for more than
460 years, the Semperoper has
hosted, as it still does, concerts
by the Saxon State Orchestra.
A Saxon porcelain manufacturer has been producing the finest tableware for 300 years
internment, Meissen’s Albrechtsburg,
became the first production
site of the “Royal-Polish
and Electoral-Saxon Porcelain
Manufacture.” Böttger, now a
free citizen and man of rank,
was made head of manufacturing
of the later to become world
famous Meissen porcelain.
Soon the company, today
known as “Meissen Manufaktur”,
produced the finest
coffee-, tee- and tableware
with landscapes and scenes
with figures, following the
Stamped even more by German
classicism and its music is Leipzig,
founded in 1015. The St. Thomas
Church, home of the world famous
Thomanerchor (St. Thomas Choir
of Leipzig), was erected in 1212.
It was the workplace of Johann
Sebastian Bach from 1723 – and
it was the destination of the first
protest march in the peaceful revolution
of 1989, as is documented
by the permanent exhibition in
the Zeitgeschichtliches Forum
(Forum of Contemporary History)
in Leipzig city center.
In the old town you will find
Auerbachs Keller where Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe enjoyed
a drink or two during his student
days, before he went on to
write Germany’s most famous
drama, “Faust.” In one scene,
“Auerbachs Cellar in Leipzig,” he
immortalized the establishment,
as literature lovers know – for
whom Leipzig, with its book fair
in March, is the literary capital.
The Gewandhaus (garment
house), so named because the first
concert house was in the former
building of the Leipzig cloth merchants’
fair, has become, together
with its orchestra, the epitome
of German music culture. Works
by composers from Ludwig van
Beethoven to Johannes Brahms
were premiered here. Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy was director of
music here in the mid 19th century,
Kurt Masur at the end of the 20th.
Modern festivity and art can
be experienced in the garden city
of Hellerau, today a suburb of
Dresden, where living, working,
culture and learning were to find
a new unity in the Gründerzeit
(period of promoterism) of the
19th century. The German-Jewish-Hungarian
Gret de Palucca
made it a center of expressive
dance until 1939. Now, here in the
European Center for the Arts, the
Forsythe Company of New York
choreographer William Forsythe
has established a new venue. n
Beneath the ribbed vaulted ceiling of St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, protestant reformer Martin Luther held
his sermons, Johann Sebastian Bach devised his compositions and the peaceful revolution of 1989 began.
MEISSEN MANUFAKTUR
GEWANDHAUS LEIPZIG
DPA/CHROMEORANGE
Elegant tableware for
high-end finger food:
Lobster Deluxe Dinner
Plate, Lobster Deluxe
Sauce Dishes and Lobster
Deluxe Lemon Water Bowl
by Meissen – to clean your
fingers while eating lobster.
Chinese example. Not long
after, European designs were
added: pastoral scenes, paintings
of plants and insects, or
hunting and heroic imagery.
Russia’s tsarina Catherine
the Great placed her largest
orders in Saxony, as did Prussia’s
King Frederick the Great.
Collectors of Art Deco today
are very keen on pieces by artists
such as the painter Henry
van de Velde. ”The Sleeping
Tramp“ by the expressionist
sculptor Ernst Barlach also
went into series production.
An overview of Meissen’s
productivity throughout the
last three hundred years can
be observed at leisure in the
company’s museum in Meissen.
Items from today’s product
range can be bought and
ordered all over the world,
for example in Chicago. But
delivery may take a while. It’s
much faster, on site, in Saxony
or on your next visit to the
capital – in Berlin’s Meissen
stores at Gendarmenmarkt
and Unter den Linden. n
VISUM/PFLAUM
June 2009 Welcome to Saxony VII
Three hours sports a
week in school, best
preconditions for mass
sports, awards, events
and promoting young
talent all make Saxony
Germany’s most successful
sporting federal state.
It’s 1988: Katarina Witt takes
Olympic gold in Calgary,
becomes world champion
in Budapest and European
champion in Prague. The figure
skater is one of the world’s most
successful sportswomen, one
who learned her profession in
Saxony; a German dream “Made
in Saxony.” After 10 years of
showbiz in events like “Holiday
On Ice” or “Stars On
Ice,” in 1999 she was
voted Sportswoman of
the Year in the U.S.
The former “most
beautiful face of socialism”
(Time Magazine, 1988) became
the most popular face in America,
the American Dream made real.
Another sport, another time:
In 1976, Michael Ballack is born
in Germany’s easternmost town,
Görlitz. Later to become a worldfamous
soccer player, he is also a
Saxon. Ballack starts, aged seven,
at the BSG Motor “Fritz Heckert”
Karl-Marx-Stadt soccer
club, now Chemnitz FC. Then
it was onwards and upwards
through all the great German
teams. He played with FC Kaiserslautern,
Bayer Leverkusen and
Bayern Munich, became German
Champion, several times Footballer
of the Year in Germany,
Vice World and Vice European
Champion. Today he plays in
the English Premier League, for
Chelsea F.C., and is captain of
the German national team.
Two Saxon success stories
have attracted worldwide recognition.
But they are not oneoff’s.
Saxon sportsmen and
sportswomen have also been
triumphing elsewhere.
Foto: Karsten Irlenborn - Fotolia.com
The Best Thing in
Sport is Winning
Saxons enjoy their sport. And they love winning, as proven
by their homegrown Olympic and World champions
Ice princess Katarina Witt,
trained in Chemnitz: The worldfamous
figure skater gained the
basis for her success in Saxony,
at a former sports school for
children and
adolescents in
the former
GDR.
DPA/SCHMIDT
Jens Weissflog was a multiple
Olympic gold medal winner in ski
jumping, Lars Riedel an Olympic
gold winner and five-times
world champion in discus,
Ricco Gross an Olympic
and world champion in the
biathlon and Sylke Otto a
multiple Olympic winner
and world champion in
sledding. They all trained
in one of Saxony’s sports
schools. Michael Hübner
(cycle racing), Jan Hempel
(water ski jumping) as well as
Aljona Savchenko and Robin
Szolkowy (figure skating pairs) are
other successful Saxon sportsmen
and women at the Olympics as
well as other World and European
championships.
The promotion of sport is even
written in the Free State of Saxony’s
constitution. It says: “Participation
in sport is to be made
possible for the entire people.”
School sports are often the first
opportunity to get kids keen on
regular movement. Saxony is
one of the few German states
that have decreed three hours
of sports education a week for
almost all school children. On
top of that, every year more
than 150,000 school kids
take the opportunity to
participate in interschool
competitions
– especially the
Federal Schools
Competition
www.sachsen.de
The USA and Saxony –
Just a click away.
Discover Saxony’s most
beautiful sites:
www.sachsen.de
The Free State of Saxony is honored to welcome Barack Obama:
We wish you a pleasant stay Mr. President!
“Jugend trainiert für Olympia”,
or “Youth trains for Olympia”.
Young talents are given specially
targeted training in around 30
different kinds of sport in a total
of 12 sport-oriented schools in
Dresden, Leipzig, Altenberg,
Chemnitz, Klingenthal and Oberwiesenthal.
But those Saxons a long way
from the leagues also don’t just
sit on the couch and watch the
world stars. Saxons like moving,
are fit and do sports. An exact
total of 20,814 Saxons got their
proficiency badge in 2008, more
than ever before. The German
Sporting Proficiency Badge is a
popular national award outside
competitive sports. It tests a person’s
general fitness in various
sporting disciplines and is graded
by age group.
Motor sport is hugely popular
in Saxony. The races at
the “Sachsenring” track, near
Chemnitz, have taken on a real
carnival atmosphere in recent
years. The many sidebar events
at the International German
Motorbike Championship (the
IDM) in June, the Motorbike
Grand Prix Germany in July or
the ADAC car race in September
draw mass crowds to Saxony.
There’s a unique atmosphere
trackside and at the nearby
camping grounds. Racing idol
Michael Schumacher is
expected at the IDM.
He might not be
a Saxon, but he’s
a winner the way
sports-mad Saxons
like ’em! n
Soccer player
Michael Ballack,
born in Görlitz:
discovered
aged seven by
BSG Motor, today’s
FC Chemnitz.
He’s among the
world’s best and plays
now for Chelsea F. C.
in London.
CITY-PRESS/RENNER

W e l c o m e t o t h e l a n d
o f o p p o r t u n i t y.
Dear Mr. President! Welcome to what’s probably
Germany’s most multifaceted state, Saxony. It’s
renowned for its cultural and historical highlights
as well as its idyllic landscapes, but it
has a whole lot more to offer too – including
its traditional Saxon flair for business and
innovation. There are lots of reasons why it’s one
of the leading technological hubs in the heart of
Europe, such as its modern infrastructure.
And who’s to say it’s not one of the reasons
we’re the first German state to have the honor
of receiving a visit from the new President of
the United States? If you would like more
information, please visit www.visitsaxony.com
27139_TMGS_01_006_09_Obama_V2.indd 1 29.05.2009 14:51:12 Uhr