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48-799: Today, the residential castle is a museum complex that contains the Historic and New Green Vault , the Numismatic Cabinet , the Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs and the Dresden Armory with the Turkish Chamber . It also houses an art library and the management of the Dresden State Art Collections . The original castle was a Romanesque keep , built around 1200. The Hausmannsturm

96-726: A cross-section of the various parts of the collection. The Numismatic Cabinet is also a center of scholarly research and has a public library of some 30,000 volumes. The Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs ( Kupferstich-Kabinett ) shows work by renowned artists from numerous countries. There are approximately 515,000 objects by more than 20,000 artists across eight centuries. It holds drawings and prints by old masters such as Albrecht Dürer , Rembrandt , Michelangelo and Caspar David Friedrich , as well as later artists, like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pablo Picasso . Engravings by Martin Schongauer and woodcuts by Lucas Cranach

144-604: A decorative badge of the Golden Fleece . His grandson Frederick Augustus I of Saxony commissioned the Dresden court jeweler Diesbach to alter it radically. The framed diamond was incorporated into an extremely valuable hat ornament. It became the focal point of a 14.1 cm (5.6 in) high hat clasp, where it was surrounded by two large colorless diamonds of 19.3-carat (3.86 g) and 6.3-carat (1.26 g) carat plus 411 additional medium-sized and small diamonds. This

192-639: A department store and a bank robbery. One of the thieves was also involved in the theft of a gold coin from the Bode museum in Berlin . Prior to the 2019 heist, the collection consisted of over 4,000 pieces, with almost 1,100 on display in the New Green Vault and about 3,000 shown in the Historic Green Vault. Entrance to the Historic Green Vault requires advance purchase of tickets for

240-561: A portrait of Augustus the Strong at the centre of the monument. He is presented as a king revered by peoples from classical antiquity , as becomes obvious by the cameos of famous men and women from this classical period skillfully carved on the shaft of the obelisk. The New Green Vault contains works of the royal goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger and other jewelry from the Baroque era. In total, there are roughly 1,100 pieces on display in

288-404: A specific entry time slot. A limited number of tickets is also sold every morning. The New Green Vault can be visited at any time. The Historic Green Vault has approximately 3,000 pieces of jewelry on display, including works in gold, amber, and ivory. Gemstone vessels and bronze statuettes are on display without showcases, in front of mirrored display walls. The Historic Green Vault is located on

336-483: A tray of tortoiseshell . The Jewel Garnitures (Juwelen-Garnituren) constitute the largest collection of jewels in Europe. They represented the monarchs' claim of absolute power. Here, the "Dresden White" or "Saxon White" ( Sächsische Weiße ), a 49.71-carat (9.942 g) carat cushion-shaped diamond, is on display. Also unique is a 648-carat (129.6 g) sapphire , a present from czar Peter I of Russia . Three of

384-573: A wealth of " turquerie ". The Renaissance Wing ( Renaissanceflügel ) presents a multitude of ornate objects, costumes, and weapons, offering a unique glimpse into the world of the Electors of Saxony during the Renaissance . A suite of four fully restored staterooms reopened in September 2019, marking the 300th anniversary since they were first constructed by Augustus the Strong. Additionally,

432-541: Is a separate collection within the Dresden Armory that is focused on art from the Ottoman Empire . It displays more than 600 objects of art from the Ottoman Empire , making it one of the oldest and most significant Ottoman-era collections outside Turkey . Between the 16th and the 19th centuries, the electors of Saxony, motivated by their passion for collecting and their desire for princely prestige, amassed

480-446: Is integrated into an earring. This tiny work of art was given as a present to Elector Christian I of Saxony in 1589. The "Large Ivory Frigate Supported by Neptune " was the last work of Jacob Zeller. It was completed in the summer of 1620, a few months before his death. The frigate, with a crew of almost 50 tiny sailors made of ivory, is supported by the god of the seas. One of the mainsails, also made of extremely thin ivory, displays

528-608: Is one of Dresden’s oldest museums, dating back to the early 16th century. It contains one of the largest universal collections in Europe. Its broad-spectrum ranges from classical antiquity to present-day coins. Some 30,000 Saxon coins and medals represent different periods in Saxony's history. The collection also includes orders and insignia, banknotes and historic bonds, models, seals, minting dies for coins and medals, as well as minting machines and equipment. The exhibition shows around 3,300 outstanding objects in four rooms, which represent

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576-811: Is ongoing, with part of the State Apartments reopening in September 2019. Dresden Castle houses five museum sections, the Historic Green Vault and the New Green Vault , the Numismatic Cabinet , the Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs and the Dresden Armoury with the Turkish Chamber and the Renaissance Wing. Also accessible is an art library ( Kunstbibliothek ) with approximately 260,000 volumes of special literature on art history. The character of

624-642: Is the setting that the Dresden Green Diamond still appears in today. Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden The Kupferstich-Kabinett (English: Collection of Prints, Drawings and Photographs ) is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen (State Art Collections) of Dresden , Germany. Since 2004 it has been located in Dresden Castle . Like many of Dresden's notable collections, this print room traces its origins to

672-539: The Eckkabinett (Corner Cabinet) were listed as completed in the inventory of 1725; they reached their present-day form in this construction phase. An extension followed in 1727. Augustus’ intentions have been preserved on a ground plan from 1727 on which he drew his ideas. As in the first construction phase, the architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann planned and built a museum-like, artistic structure of German Baroque grandeur. A suite of eight interconnecting rooms

720-616: The Green Vault were destroyed. However, the collections survived, having been moved to safety at Königstein Fortress in the early years of the war. For the first 15 years after the end of the Second World War , no attempt was made to rebuild the castle, except to install a temporary roof in 1946. Restoration began in the 1960s with the installation of new windows and has occurred rapidly since then. The castle's restoration

768-490: The Jewel Garnitures were removed during a robbery on 25 November 2019. So far they have yet to be recovered. The jewel-studded obelisk Obeliscus Augustalis was made by Johann Melchior Dinglinger in 1719–21. The 2.28 metres (7.5 feet) high obelisk with 240 stones and figures was acquired by Augustus the Strong directly from Dinglinger's workshop. This cabinet piece, conceived as an indoor monument, shows

816-649: The Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, Russia was opened in 1714 and the Vatican Museums date their foundation to the public display of the newly excavated Laocoön group in 1506. After the bombing of Dresden during World War II , the Green Vault was completely restored. Today, its treasures are shown in two exhibitions: The Historic Green Vault ( Historisches Grünes Gewölbe ) is famous for its splendors of

864-595: The Prince-electors of Saxony . The art chamber of the House of Wettin , established around 1560, became an independent museum of prints and drawings in 1720. The collection was expanded in the following centuries. It now describes itself as the oldest museum of graphic arts in the German-speaking world. Because most items had been evacuated to Schloss Weesenstein in the early stages of World War II ,

912-569: The 17th century, the Privy Repository was used by the rulers of the Electorate of Saxony as a private treasure chamber for important documents and jewelry. Then, between 1723 and 1729, the elector Frederic Augustus I , today referred to as Augustus the Strong, turned the private chambers into a public museum. First, he commanded splendid rooms to be created in which to display his collection. The Pretiosensaal (Hall of Treasures) and

960-637: The Elder are shown along with photographic works. There is also a collection of drawings and graphic art by Käthe Kollwitz . Originating from weapons owned by Saxon Dukes and Electors, the Dresden Armory ( Rüstkammer ) owns one of the most valuable collections of weapons and armory in the world. The exhibition includes around 10,000 objects, including helmets, shields, swords, rapiers, daggers, sabres and maces, pistols and rifles, riding equipment and ceremonial clothes. The Turkish Chamber ( Türckische Cammer )

1008-520: The New Green Vault ( Neues Grünes Gewölbe ). The Historic Green Vault is known for its treasure chambers and is itself a baroque work of art. The New Green Vault is more modern. The Historic Green Vault is located on the ground floor of the Dresden Castle and visits require an advance booking; admittance to the New Green Vault, which is on the second floor, is not limited. The Numismatic Cabinet ( Münzkabinett ), with its nearly 300,000 pieces,

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1056-419: The New Green Vault. The New Green Vault is located on the second floor of the castle, and is roughly the same size as the Historic vault, at approximately 2,000 square metres. The New Green Vault consists of 12 rooms: The "Cherry Stone with 185 Carved Faces" was created before 1589 by an unknown artist, probably using a magnifying glass . Actually, only 113 faces can be distinguished on this cherry pit, which

1104-532: The Small Ballroom in the Georgenbau has reopened, showcasing one of the 19th-century additions to the palace. On 25 November 2019, masked burglars stole royal Polish-Saxon jewels and priceless objects from the museum . They disabled a junction box and were able to enter the premises through a diversion. The getaway car was later found in an underground car park. The press called the burglary one of

1152-463: The Strong wanted to exhibit a precious emerald cluster, studded with 16 dark green emeralds, in his new Schatzkammer museum. The emerald cluster, a "miracle of nature" which originally came from a Colombian mine, was given to Elector Augustus by Emperor Rudolf II as a gift in 1581. The " moor " is actually an elegantly dressed South American Indian, who presents the Colombian emerald cluster on

1200-590: The Strong had made his crown treasures and his inherited riches accessible to the public – an unprecedented innovation in the Baroque period. These rooms remained unchanged for almost two centuries. When war was imminent in 1938, the art treasures were taken to the Königstein Fortress . The Green Vault was severely damaged in the February 13, 1945 bombing of Dresden in World War II . Three of

1248-438: The added rooms on the first floor of the palace were given elaborate, molded plaster ceilings. In these rooms, the column bases and capitals were painted a bluish-green color. Due to this coloring, the rooms were referred to as the "Green Vault." The official name of these rooms, which were protected against fire and robbery by thick walls and iron shutters and doors, was "Privy Repository" ( Geheime Verwahrung ). Throughout

1296-413: The coat of arms of elector Johann Georg I and his wife Magdalene Sibylle . The "Golden Coffee Service" presents the cups and saucers and sugar bowls on an elaborate pyramidal etagère surmounted by the coffeepot, all in enameled gold, a cabinet piece unique in Europe. Here, Dinglinger masterfully combines the most diverse artistic forms to produce an avantgarde work of art which can be regarded as one of

1344-548: The collection include Lucas Cranach the Elder , Albrecht Dürer , Jan van Eyck , Francisco de Goya , Hans Holbein the Younger , Michelangelo , Rembrandt , and Rubens . There is also a large number of works by artists with strong connections to Dresden, such as Caspar David Friedrich , Ludwig Richter , Georg Baselitz and Johannes Heisig . The collection of Käthe Kollwitz was started in 1898 and now numbers over 200 works from her oeuvre of drawings and graphics. Besides

1392-573: The collection was saved from the bombing of Dresden in February 1945. War-time losses were still high; around 50,000 items are still missing. Most of the exhibits were looted by the Soviet Union after the war and did not return to Dresden until the late 1950s, and some when they were put back on display in the Albertinum . The collection includes over 500,000 items, only a fraction of which can be exhibited. The most renowned artists in

1440-403: The construction of Moritzburg Castle . The "Bath of Diana" (or "Diana Bathing") was Dinglinger's favorite work: the goddess Diana , carved out of ivory, is seated at the edge of a chalcedony bowl in a filigree that is supported between the horns of a stag's head. Two dolphins spew water into the bowl for her bath. A pearl is suspended in place of the shaft, while the bowl seems to float on

1488-476: The eight rooms were totally destroyed. At the end of the war in 1945, the treasures were confiscated by the Red Army and transported to the Soviet Union . After their return to Dresden in 1958, part of the collection was displayed at the Albertinum . In 2004, the New Green Vault was opened on the second floor of the rebuilt Dresden castle. Its modern style of presentation centers on the works of art. In 2006,

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1536-452: The first floor of Dresden Castle, and spans roughly 2,000 square metres. With these treasure chambers, Augustus the Strong realised his vision of a Baroque Gesamtkunstwerk (synthesis of the arts) as an expression of wealth and absolutist power. He presented his treasures to a select public, thus establishing the Green Vault as one of Europe's oldest museums. The Historic Green Vault consists of nine rooms and one entrance chamber: One of

1584-731: The first manifestations of the fashion for chinoiserie . Augustus took the recently completed ensemble with him to Warsaw at Christmas 1701, to dazzle the nobles of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , of which he was the nominal ruler. "The Royal Household at Delhi on the Occasion of the Birthday of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zeb " represents contemporary European fantasies of "Oriental despotism" in India . At

1632-455: The historic treasure chamber as it existed in 1733, while the New Green Vault ( Neues Grünes Gewölbe ) focuses the attention on each individual object in neutral rooms. The Green Vault is located on the first and second floors of the western section of Dresden Castle . It is now part of the Dresden State Art Collections . In 1547, Holy Roman elector Moritz of Saxony ordered the construction of an additional wing to Dresden Castle . Four of

1680-409: The holdings is closely related to the collecting focal points of the museums. The Green Vault ( Grünes Gewölbe ) is a museum that contains the largest collection of treasures in Europe. Founded by Augustus II the Strong in 1723, it features a unique and rich variety of exhibits from the period of baroque to classicism. The museum consists of the Historic Green Vault ( Historisches Grünes Gewölbe ) and

1728-459: The largest and most significant since World War II , with the loot's worth estimated at nearly $ 130 million. 51°03′10″N 13°44′13″E  /  51.05278°N 13.73694°E  / 51.05278; 13.73694 Green Vault The Green Vault ( German : Grünes Gewölbe ; pronounced [ˈɡʁyːnəs ɡəˈʋœlbə] ) is a museum located in Dresden , Germany , which contains

1776-500: The largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony , and features a variety of exhibits in styles from Baroque to Classicism . The Green Vault is named after the formerly malachite green-painted column bases and capitals of the initial rooms. It has some claim to be the oldest museum in the world; it is older than the British Museum , opened in 1759, but

1824-424: The most important statues in the collection is the "Moor with Emerald Cluster" ( Mohr mit Smaragdstufe ; also known as "Moor with Emerald Plate" or "Moor with Platter of Emeralds"). It was manufactured by the royal goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger together with Balthasar Permoser , probably in 1724. The statue is 63.8 centimetres (2.09 feet) high and richly decorated with jewels. It was created because Augustus

1872-593: The outside of the Stallhof (Stall Courtyard), which links the castle complex with the adjacent Johanneum , the " Procession of Princes " was painted by the artist Wilhelm Walther. The 102-meter-long mural represents the history of the Wettins. Since it quickly faded, it was transferred to about 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles between 1904 and 1907. Most of the castle was reduced to a roofless shell during 13 February 1945 bombing of Dresden in World War II . Three rooms of

1920-497: The permanent exhibition, the Kupferstichkabinett also hosts regular special exhibitions featuring both its own works and those on loan from other notable museums. The Kupferstich-Kabinett is one of several German museums that are researching the art collector Carl Heumann (1886–1945), who after building in the 1920s and 1930s an important collection of prints of German and Austrian art of the 18th and 19th centuries,

1968-407: The reconstructed Historic Green Vault was reopened in the magnificent suite of rooms on the first floor as it had existed in 1733 at the time of its founder's death. On 25 November 2019, the Green Vault was broken into , and three sets of early 18th century royal jewellery were stolen. Each set consists of 37 items, made up of diamonds , rubies , emeralds , and sapphires . It was estimated that

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2016-516: The rim of the base reads, "DISCRETION SERT EFFRONTERIE PERD" ("Discretion is laudable, indiscretion unwise"). The 41-carat (8.2 g) Dresden Green Diamond is the most valuable diamond in the whole Green Vault. The stone's unique green color is due to natural exposure to radioactive materials. It was acquired by Augustus III of Poland from a Dutch merchant in 1742 at the Leipzig Fair . Augustus ordered his "house diamond" to be mounted into

2064-455: The stolen items were worth up to 1 billion euros ( US$ 1.1 billion). In December 2022, investigators found 31 objects stolen in the 2019 burglary, reportedly after talks with the lawyers of six men on trial for the theft. In May 2023, five men were found guilty of the heist. The robbers were a part of the Remmo clan, a criminal clan that is involved in organised crime and conducted raids on

2112-622: The time, Augustus the Strong was under serious threat due to setbacks in the Nordic Wars . In contrast, the Grand Mogul embodies the dream of absolute power and immeasurable riches. This masterpiece of European jewelers’ art comprises 4,909 diamonds, 164 emeralds, 160 rubies, a sapphire, 16 pearls and two cameos. It was created by the royal goldsmith Johann Melchior Dinglinger , his brothers and others, between 1701 and 1708. The elector paid almost 60,000 talers for it, more than he did for

2160-406: The tips of the stag's antlers. This piece depicts the mythological scene in which the unapproachable Diana changes the hunter Actaeon into a deer and has him torn to pieces by his own dogs for having watched her bathing. The base of the piece presents the forest floor , upon which lies the head of the stag Actaeon, with the dogs falling ravenously upon it. The inscription picked out in diamonds on

2208-591: The western wing. The Silver Room, Heraldic Room and the Pretiosensaal were built from 1723–1726 and the Kaminzimmer , Juwelenzimmer (Jewel Room), Ivory Room and Bronze Room were built from 1727–1729. The 800th anniversary of the House of Wettin , Saxony's ruling family, resulted in more rebuilding between 1889 and 1901. A Neo-Renaissance renovation was undertaken, followed by various modernizations, such as in-floor heating and electric lights in 1914. On

2256-492: Was built at the beginning of the 15th century. From 1468 until 1480, the keep was extended by the master builder, Arnold von Westfalen, becoming an enclosed four-wing construction. In the middle of the 16th century, an addition was made in the Saxon Renaissance style. After a major fire in 1701, Augustus II the Strong rebuilt much of the castle in the Baroque style. The collection rooms were created at this time in

2304-434: Was constructed whose architectural beauty complemented the abundance and quality of the priceless treasures. Augustus the Strong could now exhibit his entire collection of valuables, including bronze statues and works of art in silver , gold , amber and ivory . The sequence of rooms was deliberately staged, presenting the objects according to their materials. By the end of his almost four-decade-long reign in 1733, Augustus

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