Dresden audio guide: the stories of its sights

A woman heard a faint crackling. Moments later, the Church of Our Lady in Dresden, the Frauenkirche, came down.

This is a Protestant church with a great stone dome, standing on the Neumarkt. George Bähr built it between 1726 and 1743, commissioned by the city council. It rises 91 metres. In the bombing night of February 1945, the church burned out completely. But it still stood. Its inner pillars had already been loaded close to their limit before the fire. Now the heat had left them glowing, and they could no longer carry the weight.

At 10 o'clock that morning, 15 February, the church collapsed in on itself. The woman who heard the crackling was an eyewitness. And in the cellars beneath, 300 people had found shelter. The church stayed a ruin. Then, from 1993 to 2005, it was rebuilt. Today, a viewing platform at 67 metres gives you a view of the Elbe panorama and the city centre.

Part of the way up is by lift, which makes the climb easier.

The man who designed the Semperoper in Dresden was once forbidden to set foot on Saxon soil.

Gottfried Semper had to flee in 1849 because of his part in the May uprisings, and for many years he was not allowed to return. So he worked abroad. There he created the Burgtheater in Vienna together with Carl von Hasenauer. The Semperoper is the home of the Dresden State Opera, standing on the Theaterplatz. Semper built it from 1871 to 1878 for King John, in the Neo-Renaissance style.

The second building, which followed his new design, was carried out under the site management of his eldest son, Manfred. After its destruction in 1945, the opera house was reconstructed between 1977 and 1985. Today the house is lively in more ways than one. For the annual Opera Ball, part of the seating is removed. And a second stage, called Semper Zwei, offers room for experimental music and dance theatre.

The Fürstenzug in Dresden hides a small act of cruelty.

Under the right hind hoof of Augustus the Strong's horse, a blooming rose is being trampled. This detail has always raised questions. The Fürstenzug, the Procession of Princes, is a huge picture of a riding procession, painted on around 23,000 tiles of Meissen porcelain. It shows 35 rulers of the House of Wettin and runs for 102 metres, which makes it regarded as the largest porcelain mural in the world.

It hangs along the Augustusstraße, on the wall of the Stallhof of the Residenzschloss, the royal palace. So why the rose? The artist was Wilhelm Walther. Presumably he wanted to hint, quite discreetly, at the fate of Constantia von Cosel. A flower crushed beneath the king's horse, in a picture meant to honour rulers. It is easy to miss, and it says a great deal.

Today the procession has even ridden out of the wall. For a city celebration, almost 50 costumed riders recreated the picture as a living procession. The costumes have been on show in an exhibition at Rochlitz Castle since May 2007.