Geography and urban development of Dresden Geography and urban development of Dresden Dresden is a large city in the eastern German Free State of Saxony nearby the border to the Czech Republic at the river Elbe. The geography and urban development of Dresden is embossed by the valley location and by the Elbe stream. Dresden lies on both banks of the river Elbe, mostly in the Dresden Basin, with the further reaches of the eastern Ore Mountains to the south, the steep slope of the Lusatian granitic crust to the north and the Elbe Sandstone Mountains to the east at an elevation of about 113 metres.
Accession of Hamburg to the German Customs Union (Zollverein) Instead of the old international treaties, a constitution bound the states together and solidified the union. Thus the fears of the Hanseatic cities had become groundless. But now it became clear that the other grounds alone were strong enough to keep them away from the Customs Union. Following the Second Schleswig War of 1864, Schleswig and Holstein became a Prusso-Austrian condominium, with Prussia occupying the former and Austria the latter, but on 8 June 1866, Prussian general Von Manteuffel crossed the river Eider into Holstein, which bordered Hamburg on the north. Having warned Austria he was exercising Prussia's condominate right