Saxony / Dresden (Reichenbach im Vogtland)
Saxony is in eastern Germany, bordering the Czech Republic and Poland, known for its elegant cities (Dresden, Leipzig), charming villages, and the forested Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), dotted with palaces and castles (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). It is the homeland of Jerry's maternal Fiedler / Graebner line. See Jerry's Family History (Ulcek / Fiedler).
Family connection
Paul Fiedler was born in Saxony and emigrated to the US at age 9 in 1881; his parents were Franz Herman Fiedler and Bertha Graebner (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf). Sibling records were used to localize the family to Reichenbach, Saxony — likely Reichenbach im Vogtland (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
What to see
- Göltzsch Viaduct — the landmark brick railway viaduct near Reichenbach im Vogtland (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
- Dresden — Baroque capital; the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski, a palace hotel beside the Zwinger, is suggested as a place to stay (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
- Görlitz, Leipzig, and the Zittau mountains (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
- Seiffen — Ore Mountains town devoted to wooden Christmas handicrafts year-round (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
- Christmas markets — Saxony is called Germany's "Christmas heartland"; the Dresden Striezelmarkt dates to 1434 (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
Bonus excursion in Christy's research
Christy's research pairs Saxony with a Saxon & Bohemian Switzerland excursion along the Germany–Czechia border — Königstein Fortress, the Bastei Bridge, Bad Schandau, and across into Czechia at Hřensko, the Pravčická Gate, and Jetřichovice — framed as a "bonus trip connection from Dresden to Czech[ia]" (source: Ulcek final PPT.pdf).
Trip fit
Planning note (not from the sources): Saxony is in far-eastern Germany, well off the Champagne–Alsace corridor — a substantial separate leg, relevant only if the trip extends deep into eastern Germany (where it would chain naturally with Freyburg & the Saale-Unstrut (Leißling / Naumburg) and the Bohemian Switzerland bonus).
Related pages
