By the river

Stops

Brühl's Terrace

Brühl's Terrace (Brühlsche Terrasse) is a promenade on the Elbe side of Dresden's old town, standing on part of the city's old fortifications. The terrace is also known as the “Balkon Europas” (Balcony of Europe). The Saxon heritage office credits Alexander von Humboldt with the name. Parts of the Renaissance fortress survive beneath the terrace, among them the casemates and the Ziegeltor gate. On 30 November 2019 the fortress was reopened to visitors as the exhibition Festung Xperience.

Checked 11 October 2026 Festung Xperience is run by Staatliche Schlösser, Burgen und Gärten Sachsen (Schlösserland Sachsen), and a lift on the terrace leads down to it. Check the operator's own page before you go.

To the paddle steamers' berth: about 5 minutes on foot.

Elbe paddle steamers

The historic paddle steamers of the Sächsische Dampfschifffahrt, run by Weiße Flotte Sachsen GmbH, were built between 1879 and 1929. The steamers have had their berth on the Terrassenufer since 1910. Regular service began on 30 July 1837 with the paddle steamer Königin Maria.

Checked 11 October 2026 The fleet has nine historic paddle steamers and two modern saloon ships, August der Starke and Gräfin Cosel. The steamers sail on the Elbe between Seußlitz, near Meißen, and Bad Schandau. Trips from the Terrassenufer go past the three Elbe castles and the Blaues Wunder to Pillnitz. Check the operator's own page before you go.

To the Kunstakademie: about 5 minutes on foot.

Kunstakademie

The Kunstakademie building on Brühl's Terrace, designed by Constantin Lipsius and ready for use in 1894, is used today by the HfBK Dresden University of Fine Arts (Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden). A glass dome crowns the building. It is a visible part of the Altstadt skyline on the Elbe bank. The HfBK and the SKD both call it the “lemon squeezer” (Zitronenpresse).

Checked 11 October 2026 The HfBK shows exhibitions in the building: in the Oktogon gallery, the Brühlsche Terrasse Gallery and the Senate Hall. The SKD shows exhibitions in the Kunsthalle im Lipsiusbau. Check the operator's own page and the Kunsthalle's own page before you go.

The Blaues Wunder is a long walk from here, so this guide gives no walking time for it. The paddle steamers' page says trips from the Terrassenufer go past it.

Blaues Wunder

The Blaues Wunder, officially the Loschwitzer Brücke, is a steel bridge over the Elbe between Loschwitz and Blasewitz that opened in 1893. It is a riveted steel truss bridge of the kind called a stiffened suspension bridge, designed by the civil engineer Claus Köpcke. The bridge spans the river without piers in the water. The name refers to the bridge's blue colour and to the technical achievement of building it. The bridge was painted blue from the day it opened.

Checked 11 October 2026 The city is renovating the bridge in two halves, and the work is under way. The city's page on the renovation has the traffic details. Check the operator's own page before you go.

Checked 11 October 2026 · Walking times computed on routing.openstreetmap.de (OpenStreetMap data), rounded to 5 minutes.

← All guides