Beyond a doubt, 41 years of communism left their mark on Dresden. But the deeper scars, both to the city’s fabric and to its psyche, were inflicted in the space of just 48 hours.

From Feb. 13–15, 1945, British and American airplanes droned overhead, thousands of bombs rained down, and one of Europe’s most beautiful cities was reduced to rubble and ash.

The scars remain raw. On the fringes of Neumarkt, the cobbled square at the heart of the Old Town, excavations have exposed the soot-blackened ruins of the private cellars in which terrified citizens sheltered during the attack.

At least 30,000 people died in the maelstrom, and a city once known as “Florence on the Elbe” assumed a new mantle: Ever since, for people in Germany and beyond, the word “Dresden” has had a ring as mournful and tragic as a funeral bell.

When Germany split in two after the war, it was Dresden’s geographic fate to languish in the communist East. The authorities had neither the inclination nor the money to restore fully the bomb-shattered Old Town. It remained largely in ruins, providing propagandists with an enduring symbol of the supposed threat posed by the capitalist West.

Outlying areas were leveled and rebuilt as a socialist showcase of apartment blocks and paved boulevards. In place of the destroyed palaces and churches, the Old Town gained a new focal point: the modernist Kulturpalast (Culture Palace) adorned with a mural featuring heroic workers.

The socialist experiment ended in 1990. Amid the euphoria of German reunification, ambitious plans were drawn up to return old Dresden to its former glory. The centerpiece would be the city’s spectacular domed church, the Frauenkirche, which survived the worst of the bombing only to collapse the day after the bombs stopped falling.

The modern restorers painstakingly sifted through the overgrown remnants, salvaging 3,634 original limestone blocks to incorporate into the $250-million reconstruction. Work began in 1994 and was completed in 2005.

The result is remarkable. About 45 percent of the stonework is original, burnished black by the cataclysmic firestorm that raged through the city more than 60 years ago. The original segments of the building, as well as the dozens of isolated blackened blocks that dapple the exterior, seem to hang in suspension, bolstered by pristine new stonework. The dreadful moment of destruction appears to have been frozen in time.

Step through the doors and you enter Dresden’s golden age. Soaring columns and curved balconies, all painted in pastel hues, recapture the exuberance of the original Baroque interior. This is no musty relic of history. It is like stepping back in time to the 1730s to experience the nave of the Frauenkirche exactly as it was then, fresh and new.

Between the interior and exterior walls of the dome, a ramp spirals up to a viewing platform 200 feet above the city. From here it is possible to gain an impression of Dresden’s rebirth. Cranes hover above the Old Town, gradually restoring the red-roofed townhouses that fringe the medieval maze of winding streets and narrow alleys.

Most of the important palaces and churches have already been reconstructed. From the Frauenkirche looking down, you can see them lining the Elbe. But this is not the angle from which they were meant to be seen.

Old Dresden was conceived with a sense of theater, and its jostle of Baroque façades, ornate spires and domes is best viewed from the river itself.

Tourist cruises shuttle back and forth along the Elbe, and though it can be a challenge to tune out the multi-lingual loudspeaker commentaries, it is from here that you can see Dresden as it appears in old postcards. It is almost as if the catastrophic events of February 1945 were all a bad dream.

Raised above the southern bank, with the Old Town as its stunning backdrop, is the Büuhlsche Terrasse, a beautiful promenade which, in Dresden’s heyday, was known as the Balcony of Europe. As you s troll along it, the legacy of the terrible past is unavoidable. Every building bears the marks of the firestorm.

The justifications for the bombing of Dresden remain controversial. Today the city stands as a stark illustration of the fragility of human civilization. We can create works of extreme beauty over the course of centuries, and we can destroy them in an instant.

Although Dresden is being reborn, it will always remain under the shadow of 1945. Atop the Frauenkirche, a golden cross glints in the afternoon sunshine. It was donated by the United Kingdom and was forged in London by the son of a bomber pilot who took part in the Dresden raid. Against the blue sky, it is a silent clarion to forgive and not to forget.

LODGING

DRESDEN HILTON
Great Old Town location overlooking the Elbe. Big and modern with every facility you’re likely to need. $$$$
DRESDEN HILTON
An der Frauenkirche 5
tel 49 351 86420
www.hilton.de

HOTEL MARTHA HOSPIZ
These 50 traditionally furnished rooms within easy walking distance of the main attractions are a great value. $$
HOTEL MARTHA HOSPIZ
Nieritzstrasse 11
tel 49 351 81760
www.hotel-martha-hospiz.de

KEMPINSKI HOTEL TASHENBERG PALACE
The name is no idle boast — the Kempinski occupies a restored palace, offering 214 sumptuous rooms in the heart of the Old Town. $$$$
KEMPINSKI HOTEL TASHENBERG PALACE
Am Taschenberg
tel 49 351 49120
www.kempinski-dresden.de

DINING

MANGOO
The menu is a mix of German and Caribbean specialties — not an obvious combination, but it works. $$
MANGOO
Kreuzstrasse 1–3
tel 49 351 49766

PATTIS
Mario Pattis is one of the best chefs in town, specializing in modern cuisine with a flavor of Saxony. Ten minutes from town. $$$
PATTIS
Romantik Hotel & Restaurant Pattis, Merbitzer Strasse 53
tel 49 351 42550
www.hotelpattis.com

RISTORANTE BELLOTTO
Fine Italian dining in a historic building on Theaterplatz is especially convenient for the Opera House.
RISTORANTE BELLOTTO
Italian Village, Theaterplatz 3
tel 49 351 498160
www.italienisches-doerfchen.de

DIVERSIONS

How authentic is Dresden’s Old Town? It is a difficult question. After a city has been so comprehensively leveled, can it ever truly reclaim its own history? No matter how sympathetic the restoration, there is a missing link in the timeline.

Therefore, any treasure that survived the bombing intact is all the more precious. One such miracle is the 335-foot-long Fürstenzug, a mural made up of 24,000 porcelain tiles depicting 93 rulers and dignitaries of Saxony, the region of which Dresden is the historic capital. The mural decorates one side of a narrow street called Langer Gang (long corridor).

The street leads to the Hofkirche, built in 1751 as the private church of King Augustus III, whose father had converted to Catholicism. The church tower survived the bombing, and the rest of the building was reconstructed. In 1973, it was consecrated as the memorial chapel to Dresden’s dead.

Close to the Hofkirche is the Schloss, the Renaissance palace of the Saxon royal family. The west wing of the Schloss features the Grünes Gewölbe (the Green Vault), renovated to its 18th-century pomp in 2006 and containing a priceless collection of documents, gold and jewels that survived the war unscathed.

The Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) was perhaps the greatest architectural loss in 1945, and its restoration is a source of enormous civic pride. The church looms over Neumarkt, the famous central square that was the subject of 18th-century paintings by Canaletto. The surrounding buildings were almost entirely destroyed in 1945, but bit by bit they are being restored to their former glory.

Neumarkt is one traditional gathering place for the people of Dresden; the Brühlsche Terrasse overlooking the Elbe is the other.  On a sunny day, it is the perfect place to sit and watch the city amble by. Or you can cross the Augustus Bridge and lounge on the luxuriant grassy expanse of the Elbe Meadows, directly across the river from the Old Town.

Thanks to the ongoing restoration, it is now possible to gain some sense of Dresden’s halcyon days as you wander around. For full immersion in the carefree past, visit the Asisi Panometer, where an incredible 360-degree panorama of Dresden in 1756 is painted on the interior walls of a 19th-century gas storage building.

Within walking distance of the Old Town is one of the most recent attractions, the Transparent Factory. This working assembly plant for Volkswagen cars is designed with visitors and car buyers in mind. Through glass walls you can watch the production line in action.

INFO TO GO

Dresden Airport (DRS) is located 7.5 miles north of Dresden. A taxi to the Old Town costs around $25. By rail or bus the one-way fare is $2.50.