Drawn between two old arms of the Elbe, Gruna’s story begins. In 1370, Gruna was first mentioned. Its name means place in the green floodplain.
Gruna is now a district in Dresden. It lies east of the city near the Große Garten. The Zwinglistraße is Gruna’s center. You’ll find the main bus and tram stop there. The library, shops, and restaurants are also there.
In Gruna, you see buildings from different eras. There are DDR-Plattenbauten. These are apartment blocks from East Germany. You will see buildings from the 1990s as well. Some streets feature older buildings from around 1900. Look for them on Beilstraße and Herkulesstraße.
Centuries ago, Gruna’s farmers had to give up land. This was so the Große Garten could be built in 1676. In 1813, a battle raged. Gruna burned. Residents used stone from the Große Garten’s destroyed walls to rebuild.
Until 1865, children from Gruna went to school in Striesen. Then, a school was built on Bodenbacher Straße. It grew in 1884. From 1867 to 1890, Gruna’s population quadrupled. Before the Thomaskirche was built, Gruna belonged to the Kreuzkirche. Gruna became part of Dresden on April 1, 1901.
After World War I, many homes were built in Gruna. This changed the village’s rural feel. In the 1920s, the Gartenheim building association built a settlement. It stood between Junghansstraße and Landgraben. East of Landgraben, the Dresdner Spar- und Bauverein built another settlement. The GEWOBAG settlement at Falkensteinplatz is a landmark. It was built in 1928.
During World War II, Gruna suffered. From 1943 to 1944, a flak battery stood on Liebstädter Straße. A memorial marks the spot today. Air raids damaged Gruna. The old village center and Falkensteinplatz suffered most. Rebuilding started in 1949. It finished in the 1960s. The remains of old Gruna vanished. This happened when high-rise buildings were constructed on Rosenbergstraße from the 1970s.
Today, Gruna offers several sights. The Thomaskirche is a neoromanesque church. The Rothermundtpark is great for walks. The Hans-Erlwein-Gymnasium, built in 1913, is also notable. Look for the Findlingsbrunnen. It is a special fountain. Every June, Gruna celebrates with the Brunnenfest.
The Kinder- und Jugendhaus Schieferburg is located on Liebstädter Straße. It was built in 1996. Its design features organic architecture. On Bärensteiner Straße, you can find a private museum. It is the Lichtdruck-Werkstatt-Museum.
Bartolomeo Bosco lived in Gruna. He was a famous Italian magician. Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Wegener died in Gruna. He was a Romantic painter. Else Seifert was an architecture photographer. Käte Basarke, a photographer, had a studio on Beilstraße after 1945.
The Radebeuler Schuhfabrik started in Gruna in 1916. It was then called Schuhfabrik F. Keyl. It moved to Radebeul in 1925.
Gruna’s main roads are Bodenbacher Straße and Winterbergstraße. They run east to west. Zwinglistraße runs north to south. At the end of Tiergartenstraße is the Betriebshof Gruna. It is a depot for the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe.
Gruna has transformed over the centuries. It changed from a village to a Dresden district. Gruna maintains its unique charm. Its mix of old and new makes it special.