Our Blog - Day 3 - Dresden, Germany

Day 3 was mostly taken up by tours ... we started at the Dresden Castle (the Residenzschloss) and the historical Green Vault. I only took a few pictures on the outside, showing a variety of architectural styles from Neo-Renaissance to Baroque. The origins date back to 1200 and then extended in the 15th and 16th centuries (mostly in Baroque at this time). To commemorate the 800th anniversary of the House of Wettin, additional rebuilding was done between 1889 and 1901. A Neo-Renaissance renovation was undertaken in 1914. So depending on which side of the building you look at, it looks a bit different.

The Green Vault was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and features a variety of exhibits in styles from Baroque to Classicism. Supposedly it contains the largest treasure collection in Europe and is one of the oldest museums (The Kunstkamera in Russia and the Vatican museums are older). It gets its name from the color of the column bases and capitals in the initial rooms. The Green Vault was destroyed during the Dresden Bombing in 1945 but rebuilt, but the collection itself survived as it was moved outside of the city. The collection is split between the historical vault (that we went through) and a new vault, (which displays objects in neutral rooms). When originally built, the set of 8 interconnecting rooms allowed Augustus the Strong to exhibit his entire collection in a sequence according to their materials. Unfortunately, they are very strict with no photos in the Historical Green Vault but they do have an interesting "Panoramic Tour" with 3 of the rooms on their website, which will let you take a peek at the collection and the rooms .... here is the link to the Panoramic tour. You can use the mouse/cursor to move around the room .... I recommend you look at the ceilings in the Jewel room and the walls in the Silver Gilt room.

And then we went through the State Apartments to see some of the other pieces of artwork, furniture, and decorated rooms. One thing I noticed is that they seem to have had a fascination with clocks! There were LOTS of clocks! This first one is a Palm Tree clock, which is one of 2 that were severely damaged during WWII. You can make out the palm leaves and also one of the 2 figures on the top of the clock ... Apollo and his sister Artemis, although Apollo was lost during the war.

Augustus the Strong, like many rulers, amassed quite a collection of furniture and he was fond of several artists from Paris.

The Antechamber is pretty impressive, which is exactly how Augustus the Strong wanted it ... his intent was to create a palace that would rival Versailles in France, attempting to paint himself at the same level as King Louis XIV. Here you can see the painted ceiling, the original throne, and several clocks.

This clock was originally owned by the Dukes of Parma (Italy)

This Chronos-clock was given to the House of Wettin in 1925. The decoration in the case is really nice,

The Corner State Room was where public banquets were held during the 18th century. Two large stoves were added at the end of the 1760's (these are reconstructions from 2019). You can also see the gold gilding on the decorations holding the chandeliers, and a cabinet with yet another clock on top.

They say that "Clothes make the Man", and I think Augustus the Strong believed in that saying as well. Similar to how he wanted his castle to rival Versailles, he modeled his clothing after Louis XIV as well. For his coronation banquet in 1697, he worse clothes made of gold-embroidered silk that was ONLY manufactured in France. This first one is a "Rhinegrave" from 1719, which was based on one that was worn in the 1660's by Louis XIV. "Rhinegraves" are a form of pleated pants gathered around the knee. It is has light blue, pink, and silver silk along with red ribbons.

Here is a Gala coat, waistcoat, and short pants made of light blue, silver, and pink silk with a gold star on the chest, which is the star of the Royal Polish Order of the White Eagle.

Another set of silk pants and jacket, this one from 1611 for Elector Johann Georg I. The medallions have pictures depicting ships at sea, storms, and shipwrecks as well as landscapes.

This Parade Saddle was part of a gift sent to Augustus the Strong from King Louis XIV of France in 1715, which sealed the peace treaty at the end of the War of Spanish Succession.

The State Bedchamber looks a lot like the Antechamber but with a bed instead of a throne (although the bed and canopy look similar to the throne and canopy!). The interesting thing here is that this is really a throw-away room ... this was NOT his bedroom and it had no official function. The bed was never slept in and was only for show. The ceiling is painted with the theme of night and dawn breaking, with Aurora (Goddess of dawn) bringing in the dawn and pushing out the darkness of night.

This clock is one of the most beautiful in the palace, and it came from Paris in the early 18th century. The case has an intricate inlay design and is stopped by Diana, goddess of the hunt.

The Dresden opera house, the Semperoper, is home to the Saxon State Opera, the Saxon State Orchestra, and the Semperoper Ballet company. The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841. After a devastating fire in 1869, the opera house was rebuilt, partly again by Semper, and completed in 1878. The opera house has a long history of premieres, including major works by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. An interesting story about the rebuilding ... the citizens of Dresden demanded that it was rebuilt by Gottfried Semper, but he was living in exile because of his involvement in the May 1849 uprising in Dresden. So he agreed but only if he could have his son, Manfred, do the rebuilding using his plans and his direction from afar.

The reconstructed building is an example of Baroque Revival architecture. It was damaged during WWII and rebuilt between 1977 and 1985. While much of it was rebuilt identically, there were interior changes to accommodate modern opera operations and another building was added behind that houses administrative offices and a rehearsal stage. On the square in front, there is a statue of King Johann 1st of Saxony, unveiled in 1889. Above the main entrance is a horse-drawn chariot with Dionysos. Below the chariot is a balcony with a really nice painted dome.

We did a guided tour of the building, which was very informational. Here you can see the outer ring aisle with the painted ceilings.

This picture may look blurry, but in fact, it is not. If you look at the aisle picture again, you can see that the walls are covered with wood. But this is not actually wood, which would have been too expensive. Instead, they brought in specialty artists that painted plaster to look like wood.

Then we headed upstairs, and you can admire the painted ceilings and marble columns. But again, not marble ... painted to look like marble.

A few more from the upper "lobby", the chandeliers and additional ceiling paintings.

Heading into the auditorium, where there is still a "royal box" and a painted dome, as well as some very modern additions. The seats have air conditioning/heating included in the seat backs, and there is a place above the stage where both English and German translations are shown during Operas that are in foreign languages (most are in Italian).

This was an interesting piece of trivia that I don't know if I would have known without the tour. The "clock" above the stage (shown here with a 1 and 35) was added because the King didn't like the sound that was made when the men would take out their pocket watches and open/close them to check the time (supposedly the time left that they had to sit through something that they didn't want to sit through but did because of their wives). The clock shows the hour and 5-minute intervals, so the men could keep track of the time left in the show without opening their watches.

We then headed back to the Residenzschloss to continue through the museums. One part is called the Türckische Cammer (Turkish Chamber), one of the most significant collections of Ottoman art outside Turkey. Many of the items here were diplomatic gifts, purchases, or commissioned works. Augustus the Strong loved the orient and, thanks to his position as a Saxon elector and later king of Poland, he was able to bring items back to Dresden, even importing camels and Arabian horses with richly decorated riding gear for the baroque feasts at his court. He ordered an entire tented city for one event, including 4 tents, seat cushions, carpets, and a bronze cauldron.

This saddle dates from the first part of the 18th century and was a gift from a Tartar Envoy to King Augustus III.

They had various displays with jousting through various periods, here we have a joust with iron lance heads from around 1550. These jousts were more "for fun" between friends than they were meant to be deadly.

In the 17th century, "foot tournaments" would take place in the palace courtyard or in the old market square. Opponents faced each other, separated by a wooden barrier set about waist-high. The aim was to strike the opponent on the head or chest with your sword in order to get the opponent to drop his sword.

This parade armor was produced in the mid 1500's, when King Erik XIV was attempting to arrange a marriage with Elizabeth I of England (the attempt failed). The decoration is really detailed, and depicts scenes from the legend of Hercules and the Trojan War.

I'm not sure which room this is, but I thought the ceiling and the paints were pretty impressive.

The "Long Corridor" was added in 1590 to connect the palace with a new stable building. The design shows Italian influences in the Renaissance architecture. In 1733, Augustus III decided to display the King's personal weapons here. A few of the firearms including a set of flintlock firearms in Rococo style from 1747.

This is an impressive cabinet that was purchased in 1615 by Elector Johann Georg I. There are ebony and ivory inlays everywhere, and 121 partially visible and partially concealed compartments. Then a couple close-ups of the detailed carvings and etchings.

This interesting sandstone monument was created by Elector August for his brother Moritz, showing Moritz handing the Saxon electoral sword to his brother, August. Behind Moritz is a figure of death, because the monument was built to commemorate Moritz's death during the Battle of Sievershausen in 1553.

A couple more dinner items .... the first is veal meatballs with a traditional local potato salad that has slices of cucumber ... the second a crispy pork knuckle, which was HUGE!