DRESDEN ICE SCULPTURE EXHIBITION.
The Dresden ice sculpture exhibition, Eiswelt Dresden, runs until the 25th of February 2018. This a a review of our families visit to the exhibition and information to help you plan your visit.
I love sculptures. We’ll often seek out sculpture parks such as Vigeland Sculpture Park in Norway http://www.vigeland.museum.no/en/vigeland-park and the Hakone Open-Air Museum in Japan.
Hollywood has added drama and glamour to ice sculptures. Huge blocks of ice carved with raging chainsaws and then delicately sculpted with fine tools, producing detailed designs. Only to melt away into a puddle of water.
I had previously heard about the Ice sculpture festivals that happen each year in the nearby Polish city of Poznan and also in Belgium but hadn’t managed to arrange a trip at the right time of year, so when I heard there would be one visiting Dresden, I had to take a look.
DRESDEN ICE SCULPTURE EXHIBITION- EISWELT DRESDEN
The Zeitenströmung building, an old factory warehouse, is the venue. Plenty of parking is available behind the building. The number 7 and 8 trams stop outside.
The tickets are expensive! € 13.50 for an adult and €9.50 for children 4 and up, buying a family ticket gives a discount.
The entry hall is filled with pallet furniture. This provides a seating area and there is a cafe serving coffee and cake and light meals.
The exhibition is actually housed in a refrigerated tent behind the warehouse. I was quite shocked how cold it was in there. It was snowing outside and we had on heavy winter jackets, hat, scarf and gloves but without thermal undergarments. It didn’t take long before we were feeling the cold. At a guess I would say the temperature in the tent was around -10 deg C.
The tent is quite dark with the sculptures lit up with coloured lights. This helped to add to the atmosphere and show the details in the ice.
Most of the sculptures were “no touching” but there were quite a few that you could sit on and even a slide for the kids made completely of ice.
Sitting with only jeans on slabs of ice only helped to speed up the process of our core temperatures dropping so I would recommend thick or waterproof pants for kids.
There is a strong Dresden theme to the sculptures. Starting with the Dresden Christmas market and the Stollenmädchen wielding a giant knife (Stollen is a type of Christmas cake and each year a local female baker is crowned as the local ambassador).
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King as performed at the Semperoper each year. Cinderella with her links to nearby Moritzburg Castle, The Blue Wonder Bridge, the Procession of Princes and a large model of the Frauenkirche which you can walk through.
The glowing green Grinch, the bear catching a salmon and the characters from Disney’s Frozen movie, were all hits with the kids.
We were all freezing after our first round so headed back into the warehouse to warm up, watching a time-lapse video of the Cinderella statue being carved. After warming up we headed back through, taking in more of the details and appreciating the work and skill that goes into each piece.
Need to know:
Open daily 25/11/2017 – 25/02/2018
Monday – Sunday, 10:00am – 6:00pm
Ticket Price:
Adults € 13.50
Reduced (Pensioners 65+ and Students) € 12.50
Children (4 – 14 years old) € 9.50
Family ticket II (2 adults and 2 children) € 39.00
Family ticket III (2 adults and 3 children) € 41.50
Family ticket IV (2 adults and 4 children) € 44.00
So was Dresden Eiswelt worth it?
I always find this question very hard to answer, for me yes it was worth it, I have never seen such an extensive collection of ice sculptures before but apparently, this exhibition is quite small compared to others around the world.
The children didn’t appreciate it as much as I would have hoped and the price of € 9.50 for a 4-year-old is too much in my opinion.
If you’ve already seen a lot of ice sculptures in your time (maybe you’ve been to lots of Hollywood soirees) then you can probably miss this one.
I really enjoyed it and don’t regret going at all.
Now I want to go to the largest Ice Festival in the world in Harbin, China. It looks pretty amazing…adding that one to my wanderlust list.
Looking for more winter inspiration, check out this post on the 20 best activities to try during winter.
