The present-day “Münzgasse” is one of Dresden’s oldest laneways. Its history dates back to the time of Dresden’s founding in the year 1206.
At the place where it meets the shores of the Elbe, a ford existed as a passage over the river long before the Augustusbrücke Bridge was built. In the 12th century, the Margraviate of Meissen experienced a rapid boom thanks to the discovery of silver in the Ore Mountains. One of the historic silver routes led past Freiberg to Dresden, where, on the Elbe, it joined up with the east and west-bound trade routes. The active trading on the passageway over the river eventually prompted the blossoming of Dresden. Until 1849, the “Münzgasse” residential street was called “Newe” or “Große Fischergasse”, which is reminiscent of the fact that old Sorbian fishing villages once flanked either side of the Elbe. The village of Drezdany (Old Sorbian for inhabitants of bog forests and alluvial forests), which was located at the site of what would later be the Neumarkt, ultimately gave Dresden its name. In 1500, the laneway was still situated outside the city walls, which originally only ran around the present-day Altmarkt. It was not until 1525 that today’s Münzgasse was incorporated as a result of an expansion of Dresden’s city wall.
