Dresden (Germany) - Following Berlin, Dresden is the second German city to release a complex map of the city for Google Earth. The map is available free of charge and shows imagery of more than 150,000 buildings, city representatives said.

The 3D model is delivered through a KMZ file, which will transfer a massive amount of data to the client PC. According to the developers of the model, Chemnitz-based Virtualcitysystems and Potsdam-based 3D Geo, the data requires a 400 MB cache and the elaborate facades as well as building structures can take several minutes to load.

In our case, the server hosting the data appeared to be stressed and it took well over half an hour for Dresden downtown and the surroundings to appear.

The result, however, looks stunning and allows viewers to get a realistic impression of the town, which was founded in 1315 and which was almost completely destroyed in World War II bombing runs in February of 1945 and rebuilt thereafter. The downtown area shows most historically important buildings, including Dresden’s cathedral (Frauenkirche, built in 1726 and re-opened in 2005), the opera building (built in 1718), the Nikolai church (built in or before 1206), and the Zwinger Castle (built in 1710).

The KMZ file can be downloaded here.