Brühl's Terrace

The Bruehl Terrace runs for about 500 metres along the Elbe in Dresden's old town and has been known as the Balcony of Europe since the writer Johann Gottfried Herder coined the phrase. It originated as part of the city's fortifications and was transformed from 1737 by Count Heinrich von Bruehl, the all-powerful minister of Augustus III, into a private garden with a pleasure pavilion and picture gallery. In 1814 Russian governor Repnin opened the terrace to the public after the victory over Napoleon. Today the Albertinum, the Academy of Fine Arts with its lemon-squeezer dome, the Staendehaus and the Sekundogenitur line the elevated walk; the staircase with Schilling's allegorical figures of Morning, Noon, Evening and Night descends to Schlossplatz. The view stretches across the Augustus Bridge to the Neustadt riverside.