Professor Susanne Vees-Gulani’s Icon Dresden: Baroque City, Air War Symbol, Political Token (2026, University of Michigan Press, 388 pages) is now available, just in time for the anniversary of the Dresden firestorm from February 13, 1945 that destroyed much of the famous Baroque city in Germany.

“Icon Dresden” explores how memory and politics in Dresden after its 1945 bombing are deeply intertwined with the city’s urban history. It highlights the complex origins of Dresden’s reputation as an exclusively cultural center, focusing on urban planning, marketing, tourism, and the city’s visual archive since the 17th century. Based on this iconic status, a narrative of victimhood arose after its destruction that ignored responsibilities while highlighting the city’s innocence. Despite its origin in Nazi propaganda, this narrative influenced postwar political discourse in socialist and post-reunification Germany. Icon Dresden also provides insight into Dresden’s role under National Socialism and the GDR’s evasive response to this history. It reveals how the strong presence of far-right movements in the city today stems from multiple discourses formed over centuries and communicated from generation to generation.

The iconic 1945 photograph of Dresden by Richard Peter sen., View from the Town Hall Tower.