Brühl's Terrace
Stretching for half a kilometre high above the river Elbe, this elevated promenade is famous across the continent as the 'Balcony of Europe.' From its parapet you look out over the water, the bridges and the wide Baroque sky that made Dresden a place of pilgrimage for poets and painters.
About this place
Brühl's Terrace rises on the old rampart of Dresden's riverside fortifications, a raised walkway running roughly five hundred metres between the Augustus Bridge and the Carola Bridge. In the eighteenth century this stretch of the city wall was handed to Count Heinrich von Brühl, the immensely powerful minister of Elector Frederick Augustus II, who crowned it with a palace, a gallery, a library and ornamental gardens for his private pleasure. Opened to the public in 1814, the terrace became a fashionable place to promenade, and travellers who compared its sweeping outlook to a great balcony opening onto Europe gave it the nickname that has endured ever since. A monumental open staircase climbs from Schlossplatz to the promenade, guarded by bronze allegories, and along the walkway stand the Academy of Fine Arts with its glass dome, the Albertinum museum and shaded café terraces. Destroyed in the firestorm of February 1945 and patiently rebuilt, the terrace today offers what may be the finest single view in the city.
Key facts
- 500 metres — The raised promenade runs above the Elbe between the Augustus Bridge and the Carola Bridge
- 1814 year — A Russian governor opened the count's private garden to the ordinary public
- 4 sculptures — Bronze allegories of the 'Four Times of the Day' crown the grand staircase
📍 Brühlsche Terrasse, 01067, Dresden