Dresden Zwinger Palais

Dresden certainly has beautiful museums and rich collections thanks to the Wettin Family who as  Prince Elector and Kings of Saxony through the ages collected various Art objects for their beauty, prestige and the pleasure they brought.

On this visit to Dresden, our first in 14 years, we visited again the Zwinger Palace built in 1711 by Matthaus Daniel Pöppelmann on the site of the old Fortress of Dresden, it is across the street from the Royal Palace. 

The Zwinger is a strange word in German, it actually has a military significance. It means a building usually for military use built by the City Defensive Walls, this Zwinger never had any military use and was built purely for pleasure and festivities, it did not have any residential use either. It was a place for entertainment and great festivities, dinners, balls and other State occasion when the King needed to show how magnificent his Court was to Foreing dignitaries. Somewhat like the Trianon in Versailles, la Gloriette at the Shönbrunn Palace in Vienna or the Villa Borghese in Rome. 

It like the rest of Dresden was severely damaged in the fire bombing raids of 1945, it was in a very poor state until 1990 when major reconstruction and renovation work took place. Originally the Zwinger housed the Royal collections of great masters paintings, rare Asian porcelain and other Art objects. Luckily the collections were all stored away in 1942 to avoid any damage. At the end of the war the area was overrun by Soviet troops and fell into the Soviet sphere, all of the treasures were stolen and brought back to Moscow on the orders of Stalin.

It was only after 1990 with the re-unification of Germany that Russia finally agreed to give back what had been stolen. 

What we were able to visit in 2000 was mainly the great courtyard of the Zwinger which was originally used as an Orangery and garden.  The buildings including the SemperBau were closed as they were unsafe and undergoing major repair work, still it was beautiful. 

Now restored it is even more beautiful and we marvelled at the work of the craftsmen who were able to re-create a Baroque fantasy. This means replacing the putti on the balustrade of the roof and other statues that were missing. For those who might be wondering a putto (singular) putti (plural) are not part of the 9 choirs of angels. We find them in Etruscan and Greek ancient imagery, they are secular and profane, often mischievous in the company of Bacchus, the God of Wine. The word Putto in Italian comes from the Latin Putus for boy. They are physical manifestation of invisible essences or spirits called genius or genii. They often represent Love, fertility, abundance, the Spirit of the Fruit of Life. 

  

It also meant replacing the 40 Meissen white porcelain bells on the glockenspiel and rebuilding the Crown Tower.

Satyrs having a good time 

Will not as a Satyr posing by the Crown Tower

Though much as been done the SemperBau which houses the old European Masters painting collection will undergo a modernisation of its engineering system so that it will be in keeping with modern museum standards in the next few years.

Semper Bau built by Gottfried Semper in 1850 see how the landscaping today is different from the photo below. The Church of St-Sophie in the background disappeared in 1945.

Photo of 1875 

Today the Swinger houses the famous State Collections of Porcelain and Mathematical and Scientific objects of the 18th Century which at the time were true marvels. August II the Strong loved those objects, he wanted to have all the latest gadgets to amuse himself and impress this guests.

In the Porcelain collection is the famous Dragoon Vases. In total some 23,000 porcelain objects are on display. It is said to be the most complete and specialised collection in the world today.  I do not doubt it, it is very impressive. It was August II the Strong who was the instigator of this great collection, exotic oriental objects were all the rage then in what was called Chinoiserie.  He loved those delicate fine porcelain so much so that in 1717 he exchanges 600 Dragoon Soldiers for 151 Lidded Porcelain Vases that belonged to Frederich Wilhelm I of Prussia. Since the soldiers were Dragoons the vases came to be know by that name.

   

Would you believe that this fine porcelain grouping is a table centre representing an allegory of gods and nymphs. Just the thing for the table for that weeknight supper with a few friends.

These galleries are beautifully curated and give an excellent idea of life at the Saxon Court and the accumulation madness of beautiful objects in the Age of Princes.

As you can see from the photos all items are presented with minimum barriers so that the most natural aspect can be enjoyed. Needless to say that you do not touch anything and strollers or small children are not allowed neither are back packs or bags of any kind.

This is just a small sample of what can be seen on a visit to the gallery. 

 A last reminder of what the Zwinger Palace looked like in 1945, fortunately it was restored for us to enjoy today.

And the Satyr are still dancing in the sunshine

I hope to return to Dresden in the coming years, it is truly a beautiful city and all the art collections are of the finest quality. It was the young Goethe who on his first visit to the Zwinger was enraptured by what he saw, today you can see the same thing and feel what Goethe felt amid such beauty.

Meissen

Since we were in Dresden we decided to visit the City of Meissen where in 1724 under the auspices of the King of Saxony a group of researchers found the secret of how to make fine Porcelain. Until that time all porcelain came from China and the City of Jingdezhen was the World Capital of fine Porcelain since the Yuan Dynasty. I visited Jingdezhen in 2005 for the 1000 anniversary of the invention of the process in transforming simple clay into fine Porcelain. At the time of the late Renaissance European rulers started to see a new product appear from their trade with Asia, at first cups and saucers to drink Chinese tea and then that new drink coffee or chocolate from the Americas.

Fine Porcelain was a luxury product available only to Emperors and Kings, a novelty item really at first to marvel at since no one in Europe knew how to make such fine and delicate objects.
The King of Saxony had the idea that if he instructed the alchemists at this Court maybe they could find out the process and if they could produce porcelain of the quality of what was coming from China then Saxony could become the producer and supply house for all the Courts of Europe.
A great idea but not one easily achieved.

So we decided to sail to Meissen on an original steam boat built in 1860 powered by coal and steam.
Such boats take tourists up and down the Elbe river between the two cities a 2 hour leisurely trip. If you book ahead you can have breakfast or lunch on board, they also serve an excellent coffee and cake.

Steam boat mechanism.

The Elbe river is very scenic, all green fields, cows, sheep and horses, vineyards and castles.
As we left Dresden, the boats are moored just below the Brül Terrace, we got a very good panoramic view of the whole city centre.

We passed near the tower of the slaughter house which is featured in Kurt Vonnegut's book Slaughter House 5. The rest of the journey is spent looking at the wonderful countryside of Saxony on this very quiet river.

Tower of the Slaughterhouse as seen by Kurt Vonnegut

One of the many vineyards along the way producing mostly Riesling white wine

Meissen, Albrechtsburg Castle and Cathedral, said to be one of the oldest in Germany

The albrechtsburg Castle on the Misni Hill dominates the countryside. The foundation stone was laid by Duke Heinrich I in 929 as a fortress it was transformed by architect Arnold Von Westfalen into the first Palace in Germany by 1471 as a symbol of the power and wealth of the Wettin Family. The construction at the time used the most modern techniques and the castle rose on four floors using arches and support columns to carry the weight of each floor with large windows.

It was in 1710 that August II the Strong converted the entire castle into a porcelain fabrication research centre, he wanted to discover the secret process to make fine porcelain. The main residence of the Royal family had moved to Dresden many years prior and Albrechtsburg was the perfect setting for this secret work.  A cathedral built in 1260 is also part of this complex as well as the Bishops Palace.

The cathedral continued to function first as a Catholic church and then at the time of the Reformation it 1581 became a Lutheran Church. A Royal Chapel is the site of the burial of the Wettin family. The Cathedral has works by Lucas Cranach the Elder.

West door with Wettin Family tombs dating from the 13th century. 

art work by Lucas Cranach the Elder, in the memorial chapel of the Duke, scene here praying with his wife to the Saviour.

 People's Altar in the main sanctuary, note the Meissen porcelain crucifix and candle sticks.

 High Altar in the Santuary from the time when the Cathedral was R.C. reserved for the Monks.

View from the heights of the Castle with Elbe River 

In 1860 the porcelain making was transferred out of the castle to a new installation and the Castle was renovated and refurbished into what we see today. With large pseudo-middle-age paintings on the virtues of the Wettin Family, all very Wagnerian all Wotan and Lohengrin reminded me of Ludwig II castle Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, mind you it is the same historical period and the two families knew each other.

Difficult to imagine living in this decor around 1860. Though the King lived in the main Residence at the Royal Palace. Albrechtsburg was for show only.

Meissen as a town is quite beautiful, it is very clean and much is being done to erase the traces of the terrible flood of 2013 when the Elbe river invaded the city and the flood waters reach 2.5 meter in height.

There are of course many shops selling the Meissen Porcelain at very nice prices, a coffee set for 6 persons only 3900 Euros. It is the best possible porcelain you can buy and it is made with great care, truly a collectors item. In Canada we do not know Meissen Porcelain because of the monopoly of British Bone China which is not the same quality and is far more affordable.

We had a lovely lunch at the Castle with a view overlooking the whole region. The Hotel Burgkeller has a terrace with mature linden trees. A very good menu and good service, it was most pleasant.
Will had an apricot and strawberry soup and then white asparagus in a béchamel sauce with ham.
I had catfish in a fennel and dill sauce. See www.hotel-burgkeller-meissen.de

Our return was with the S-Bahn which is a light rail train connecting all the small towns around Dresden. Only 30 minutes and we arrived at the main rail station in Dresden. Again efficient public transport for all, no need for a car.

   

Meissen, Saxony

Meissen is world renowned for its Porcelain. The famous symbol of the city, the two blue swords on a white background is synonymous with elegant table ware. To this day the Meissen trademark is a symbol of quality for collectors and investors in rare porcelain pieces.

We plan to travel from Dresden by boat down the Elba River a distance of 2 hours to Meissen to visit the city.

From the 13th century porcelain was imported from China at very great cost by Kings and Princes and it became a game of showing off elaborate and delicate vases, plates and other objects and having large collections on display. The Prince Elector of Saxony was amongst many in Europe who collected but also had alchemists working at finding out the secret of how to make fine porcelain. After 500 years of research the secret was finally revealed and the first European Porcelain manufacture was established in 1710 in the Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen where for 300 years now fine porcelain has been produced. Once the exclusive domain of Royalty, porcelain became gradually available to the merchant class and the bourgeoisie.

Meissen Couture 1710, web site http://www.meissen.com