Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Meissen

A selection of photographs from a May 2026 visit to Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Meissen. All were made with a Leica Q3-43, during and after the ride along the Vltava and Elbe that brought us from Prague to Dresden. These cities and towns are some of the most photogenic in Europe. The pictures gather some of the things that caught my eye on my first visit to Bohemia and Saxony: stone, glass, river light, church interiors, decorated facades and a few bright streets. Still, there was so much more...

A highlight of the trip for me was the Pentecost Sunday service in the Tomaskirche in Leipzig where we heard the choir and orchestra perform several parts of Bach's mighty Mass in B Minor in the church in which it was first performed (as well as other 17th century hymns transcribed by Bach and a beautiful modern motet by Nystedt). The recessional, on the organ, was the Toccata and Fugue in D that, surprisingly, worked very well to balance the power of the Mass in B Min.

The Thomaskirche remains more or less as it was in Bach's time and a great museum dedicated to the entire tribe of Bachs is located just across the street in the former home of the Johann and Anna's good friends; the silver merchant Georg Heinrich Bose and his wife Eva Sybilla.