From the early 12th century a 

small town-like settlement existed 

there with, in the middle, the 

first and for a long period, the 

only church in the region between 

Meissen and Pirna, consecrated 

to "Our Dear Lady."  Slightly 

curving roads, which can still be 

traced in the ground plan of the 

city, led from three sides towards 

this St. Mary's Church.




It was only in the late 12th 

century that a town was laid out 

under German law at the 

southwestern edge of this 

settlement.  Right up to the 

present day, its regular network 

of streets, with the main axes 

marked by Schlosstrasse and 

Wilsdruffer Strasse, together with 

a rectangular marketplace, later 

the Altmarkt (Old Market Place) - 

have marked it out from the street 

pattern that survived around the 

Frauenkirche until 1945.

Newmarkt