Ever wondered what happens in a museum overnight?

On July 12th, 40 of Dresden's museums are set to stay open until 05:00 CET allowing natives and tourists to enjoy extra activities and parties in the dead of night.

During the overnight event, there will be special tours of the museums, with events in the botanical gardens and zoo adding to "the special atmosphere of nocturnal adventure", What's on When claims.

The Museums-Sommernacht (Museums Night) follows the success of similar schemes in other cities around the country.

Dresden is in east Germany along the banks of the river Elbe and used to be under Soviet control.

In this period, the city rebuilt a number of its important cultural and historic buildings such as the Semper opera House and the Zwinger Palace which were destroyed during the bombing of the city in the second world war.

The city has a population of around half a million people and is the fourth largest urban district after Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne.