Semper's
Opera House
The west side of the Theaterplatz in Dresden is dominated by the Opera
House, the second opera house built by Gottfried Semper on this site (the
first one having been burned down in 1869). Like Dresden's Picture Gallery,
it is in the style of the Italian High Renaissance. From 1878 until the
end of the Second World War it was Dresden's most magnificent theater;
after wartime destruction it was restored between 1977 and 1985 very much
in its original form.
Albertinum
The Albertinum, an art gallery with a collection of international standing,
was built by Carl Adolf Canzler in Dresden in 1884-87, incorporating part
of the old Arsenal (Zeughaus) of 1559-63. It was named after the then king
of Saxony, Albert.
Gallery of Old Masters
On the north side of Dresden's Zwinger is a linking wing built in 1847-54
by Gottfried Semper, who played a leading part in the architectural
development of Dresden in the 19th century. At the west end of this wing
is the Picture Gallery of Old Masters, one of the world's great art
galleries, whose treasures include works by Flemish and Dutch painters of
the 15th and 17th centuries (van Dyck, Rubens, Frans Hals, Rembrandt,
Vermeer, etc.), German painting of the 16th-18th centuries (Dürer, Holbein,
Cranach, Graff, Tischbein, etc.), Spanish and French painting of the 17th
and 18th centuries (Velázquez, Murillo; Poussin, etc.) and - the high
point of the collection - Italian painting of the 15th-18th centuries,
particularly Renaissance works (Raphael, "Sistine Madonna"; Giorgione,
"Sleeping Venus"; Titian, "The Tribute Money"; Botticelli, Correggio, the
Carracci, Guido Reni, Tintoretto, etc.).
The Museum is at present closed; selected works are temporarily displayed
in the Albertinum.
Zwinger
Dresden's most celebrated tourist attraction is the Zwinger, a gem of
courtly Baroque architecture in which overflowing creative power and
clarity of form are most happily combined.
The best approach to the Zwinger is over the old moat (the Zwingergraben)
to the rear of the Theater (Schauspielhaus; 1912-13) and through the
Kronentor. On the front of this gateway, which is topped by the royal
crown of Poland, the emblems of the Saxon/Polish dynasty of Augustus the
Strong, who had the Zwinger built (by M. D. Pöppelmann, 1710-32) as a
celebration of his power.
The Zwinger shows an extraordinary variety and magnificence of form: the
majestic 32-bayed Long Gallery on the south side, the four symmetrically
arranged pavilions on the east and west sides, the Wallpavillon in the
center of the semicircular arched gallery at the west end - with its
musical lightness the particular jewel of the Zwinger - and the Nymphenbad
(Bath of the Nymphs) with its graceful fountains and mythological female
figures (from the workshop of Balthasar Permoser, who collaborated with
Pöppelmann on the construction of the Zwinger).
The Zwinger's collection of porcelain is the second largest in the world.
The Zwinger also has a large collection of scientific instruments and a
carillon of 40 porcelain bells.
Bruhl Terrace
The Brühlsche Terrasse in Dresden, famed as the "balcony of Europe", is
best approached from the Schlossplatz by a broad flight of steps. This
area on the site of the old ramparts was granted to Count Heinrich von
Brühl (1700-63), an intimate of Frederick Augustus II (Augustus III) and
from 1733 Director of the Royal Art Collection, who in 1738 had it laid
out as a pleasure garden, with a number of buildings which have not
survived. In 1814 the terrace was opened to the public and the flight of
steps at the west end was built. The sculptured groups on the staircase
representing Morning, Noon, Evening and Night (by J. Schilling, 1863-68)
were replaced in 1908 by bronze casts.
Catholic
Court Church
The Hofkirche of Dresden, built between 1738 and 1755, was raised to
cathedral status in 1980.
The site of the church, at the end of the bridge over the Elbe, was chosen
by the Elector as a position commanding the Elbe area. The church, in
Italian High Baroque style, was designed by the Roman architect Gaetano
Chiaveri. After his departure in 1743 the work was continued by Sebastian
Wetzel and others. The church was consecrated in 1751 and finally
completed in 1755.
During the devastating Allied bombardment of 1945 the interior was burned
out and most of the vaulting collapsed, leaving only the tower unscathed.
The church was restored after the war.
The exterior of the church is striking, with its 85.5m/280ft high tower
and its 78 statues in niches and on the balustrades. Notable features of
the interior are the processional ambulatories, Balthasar Permoser's
magnificently carved pulpit (1722), the altarpiece of the Ascension (by
Mengs, 1750-51) and the Silbermann organ (1750-53), Silbermann's last and
finest work. In four burial vaults are the remains of kings and princes of
Saxony. An urn contains the heart of Augustus the Strong; his body was
buried in Krakow.
Schloss
Moritzburg
14km/9mi northwest of Dresden, in a landscape reserve, is Schloss
Moritzburg, an Electoral hunting lodge and pleasure palace in the ochre
and white of Saxon Baroque. Here, on a low granite hill in a marshy
depression in the Friedewald, Duke (later Elector) Moritz built in 1542-44
a modest hunting-box which developed into a large hunting lodge. Then,
during the reign of Augustus the Strong, in 1723-36, Z. Longueline, M. D.
Pöppelmann and J. C. Knöffel built the palace as we see it today. The old
hunting lodge and its chapel (1661-71) were incorporated in the new
structure. Celebrated sculptors like Balthasar Permoser, J. C. Kirchner
and Benjamin Thomae carved the gay Baroque statues on the balustrades of
the carriage ramp and the terrace. The decoration and furnishing of the
interior (wallpaper, furniture, painting, etc.), still preserved almost
complete and unaltered, were the work of the court painter Louis de
Silvestre, the interior decorator Raymond Leplat and the wallpaper
designer Pierre Mercier. Outstanding among the pictures are works by Lucas
Cranach the Younger and A. Thiele and the "Man of Sorrows" by Permoser in
the chapel.
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Semper's
Opera House
Zwinger
Catholic
Court Church
Schloss
Moritzburg
