Cycling in Germany #8 : Dresden Neustadt – Kunsthof Passage, Pfund’s Molkerei, a broom shop &  trompe l’oeil

We’re up early due to the lack of shutters – it’s light at 5 am at the moment – so we have breakfast, pack up and cross the bridge to Neustadt or New Town as opposed to Altstadt or Old Town where we’re been staying. On the way, we see a wonderful trompe l’œil building. The Germans love painting their façades but I haven’t seen anything this sophisticated before.

Trompe l’oeil house along the Elb on the Altstadt side of Dresden

After reading Anda’s post about the singing drain pipes in Travel Notes and Beyond, I am eager to see Kunsthof Passage in the student district. We are not disappointed.

The entrance to Kunsthofpassage

To quote Anda, “Kunsthofpassage is one of Dresden’s best kept secrets. The passage is actually a series of five small courtyards  – not visible from the street – that were turned into an art experiment, called the Ginkgo project. A group of artists – sculptors and designers – took a bunch of old buildings and redesigned their façades, giving each building and courtyard specific motif and a theme of its own. The project was completed in 2001.”  I shall let you read Anda’s post for more details and just provide a few photos.

The Courtyard of the Light decorated with metal mirrors

The Singing Drainpipes that make music wwhen it rains

The Courtyard of Metamorphoses

We walk through the passage and out onto the other side, then turn left twice. On the way, we see lots of other fun street art. We are reminded of Budapest in particular.

The façade of Louise’s which appears to be a kindergarten

More artwork in Neustadt

A wonderful way to decorate a blind wall

Our next destination is Pfund’s Molkerei, founded in 1880 and said to be the world’s most beautiful dairy shop. Its hand-painted tiles and enamelled sculptures are all handmade by Villeroy & Boch. You can buy wine, cheese and other dairy products and eat in the upstairs café restaurant. It is, indeed, very beautiful.

Inside Pfund’s Molkerai dairy shop

But next door is more fun – a brush and broom store. I could buy half the shop. Germany is a very clean country and I can see why. There is a broom for every household task! We settle for some wooden clothes pegs, a nail brush and a sort of mini-rake to clean Velcro. The saleswoman is very enthusiastic about all her products and gives us several demonstrations.

Inside the broom shop

We go back to the car park further along the street where there is another exceptional example of trompe d’oeil. It seems wasted on a parking lot!

Trompe l’oeil all in the parking lot on Bautznerstrasse

As we drive towards Meissen, we see a very impressive mosque which is surprising because I haven’t seen any women in veils or other signs of Muslims, but then, we haven’t ventured any further than Altstadt, Neustadt and Renault! I learn later from Anda that Yenidze is a former cigarette factory that functions now as an office building. “Yenidze” was the name of a tobacco company that imported tobacco from Yenidze, in Greece. So there you go!

Yenidze, once a cigarette factory and now an office building