The Dresden district of Hellerau is considered the first German garden city. Garden cities were designed as a new concept at the end of the 19th century to restore housing standards, the great casualty of the Industrial Revolution.

As "Au am Heller", the present Hellerau was designed and built on the model of progressive English workers' housing estates of the late 19th century. The district has been extended and rebuilt several times in the past century and expanded to include the market and the Festspielhaus.

Another important institution is the "Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau". The first industrial furniture production in Germany took place here; the high standard guaranteed over the decades ensures that the products from the workshops have a certain reputation today, as they did then. In addition to exclusive furniture, the interior fittings of the Saxon Parliament, the New Synagogue and the paddle steamers of the Saxon Steamship Company also come from here.