Last Updated on: 28th January 2023, 06:16 pm
The city of Dresden is famous for its architectural beauty, but the area known as Dresden Neustadt has gained a reputation as a great place for fans of street art to visit.
The best way to experience the pieces is to get out and explore the city, which you can do on your own or on an organized street art tour in Dresden,
Whichever way you choose to experience Dresden street art during your time here, make sure you bring your camera along, because I promise you’ll want to grab some pics.
My Favorite Travel Booking Sites for 2023
These are my favorite companies that I use on my own travels.
Protect Your Trip via Safety Wing
Find the best city tours, day tours, bus tours, & skip-the-line tickets on GetYourGuide and Viator.
Find the best deals on hotels & vacation rentals on Booking.com.
For English-speaking private airport transfers, book through Welcome Pickups.
For road trips and independent travel, rent a car through Discover Cars.
Find information and cruise reviews on Cruise Critic.
For packing and travel essentials order via Amazon.
Book an affordable family or romantic photography session on your trip through Flytographer (Use the code HISTORYFANGIRL for 10% off your first photoshoot).
For travel guidebooks to have with you during your trip, I always pick one or two from Rick Steves and Lonely Planet.
The Most Famous Pieces are the Art Installations in the Kunsthofpassage
Known as the “Singing Drainpipes,” this art installation inside one of the passages of Dresden Neustadt plays music whenever it rains.
This is only part of the “Courtyard of Elements,” so when you visit make sure to give yourself time to get lost and explore these passages.
This piece is also known as the Kunsthofpassage Funnel Wall:
The Neustadt Kunsthofpassage is an artistic neighborhood in Dresden, Germany. Designed by artists Annette Paul, Christoph Roßner and André Tempel, this wall all covered with funnels and gutters is one of the strangest and unusual attractions in Dresden’s student district in the new town. When the rain falls in Germany, this drain system turns into a beautiful musical instrument. It’s called “The Funnel Wall”. A beautiful way to celebrate nature.
But even Non-Famous Passages are Turned into Works of Art
Walking from the Japanese Palace down to Pfunds Molkieri in Neustadt, I kept having to stop to pop my head in to see the street art and graffiti covering the various passages and apartment buildings
This one was decorated in entirely yellow, white, and black paintings and had an overall anime-inspired vibe.
I love how the artwork here matches the yellow-and-black outfit of the mail carrier. This was actually one of several times when mail carriers were dressed perfectly to fit into my shot. It’s like it was meant to be.
A Passage too Scrumptuous Not to Notice
The murals in this passage were absolutely mouth-watering. Considering I hadn’t eaten yet, I was more than ready for lunch after photographing these delicious-looking cupcakes!
Nothing Lasts Forever
This impressive mural is covering up an older one. If I hadn’t been digging around through Google images, I never would have noticed the previous mural is on the same building.
It’s a great reminder that the time to admire street art is always now, as it’s a mercurial and ever-changing medium and not meant for posterity.
Political Street Art
I’ve mentioned before that Dresden that not all of the city’s dark politics lie in its past, and the street art doesn’t shy away from politics.
The Murals on this Restaurant Make Me Happy
I don’t know what it is about the mural set on the gates of this restaurant, but each one of them made me smile.
There were more of them than I’m sharing here, so if you love them too it’s definitely worth seeking them out. It really brightened my day.
I mean who doesn’t want to arm wrestle a friendly tiger who also happens to be a bartender with a badass sense of style?
Or be invited into the restaurant by a friendly sly fox, who looks suspiciously like Disney’s Robin Hood?
But it’s really this masculine horse striking a pose that puts me over the top in love with this mural set.
Stickers, Stencils, & Paste-Ups
I don’t know what this paste-up about, but I know it conjures up visions of Alice in Wonderland in my head. That’s always a good thing.
I’ll say that I wasn’t super impressed with Dresden’s sticker game, but I found a few I enjoyed here and there.
This sticker that says “Refugees Welcome” hits right against the issues facing Dresden today. I also love the stencil panda in a tuxedo on the right.
Train Cars
This graffiti on an old train car is close to the Slaughterhouse of Slaughterhouse-Five fame. I saw it walking back from my tour.
Out of Context
From far away, this fence looks like a 1980’s magazine come to life. Up close, you see the different layers of paint and images that fade from far away.
I Don’t Know What This Is
Seriously. If you know what “Regida” is let me know. I’m dying of curiosity.
Should You Go on a Dresden Street Art Tour?
While I didn’t go on a street art tour in Dresden (I opted for a few other Dresden tours during my visit) I can highly recommend it.
I did go on one in Berlin, and I went on a different tour with the same guide who runs the street art tour in Dresden, the tour of the Slaughterhouse, and the Dresden Neustadt Pub Crawl.
Danilo is an amazing guide. His tours are reasonably priced, and I loved that my money went to support a local solo entrepreneur who spends his time thinking about how to make the world more peaceful. Two thumbs up!
5 Things to Pack for the Trip to Dresden
The Lonely Planet Germany guidebook for your trip. I’ve been looking for a hard copy here since I don’t like getting stuff delivered to me in Bulgaria, and I can’t find one.
Definitely get your guidebook ahead of time.
Slaughterhouse-Five Kurt Vonnegut wrote this novel about his experiences in Dresden during the war.
You can get a paperback, Kindle, or Audible copy. I’ve been listening to it on Audible while I walk around the city.
Dresden Welcome Card If you’re going to explore the city’s sites for more than a day, this two-day city card will save you money by giving you free admission to many of the city’s major sites and discounts to many others.
A Camera since Dresden Neustadt is super photogenic. I used a mix of my Nikon D810 and my Samsung8 smartphone.
More about Traveling to Dresden
27 Pictures of Dresden to Inspire Your German Wanderlust
13 Quirky & Enchanting Things to Do in Dresden Neustadt
17 of the Most Instagrammable Places in Dresden
How to Get from Berlin to Dresden
How to Get from Dresden to Berlin
21 Things to Know Before Traveling to Germany: Tips & Advice
10 Reasons to Travel to Germany in Autumn
The 50 Most Beautiful Castles in the World
Have you explored Dresden street art? Are you researching for an upcoming trip to Germany? Leave your best Dresden travel tips and any questions you have below!
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Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (German: Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes), abbreviated Pegida, is a German nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement.
So, that’s also a political one:-)