The History of  the Royal Palace

The Dresden palace became the permanent residence of the Saxon electors and kings in 1485, making it a point of departure for the city’s history and the centre of its cultural development. Construction measures carried out between 1548 and 1556 gave the palace such an impressive character that it was soon considered one of the most outstanding works of Renaissance palace architecture in Germany. Under August the Strong and his son August III, the increasingly stately building reached a further heyday.

On February 13, 1945, fire destroyed the Royal Palace to its very foundations. Dresden had thus been robbed not only of a politically and historically important building, but of a major symbol of Saxon identity and culture as well.

A cabinet resolution of 1997 established the palace’s future function, ushering in a whole new age. Selected museums of the Dresden State Art Collections – among them the Green Vault and the Cabinet of Prints and Drawings – have since returned to their place of origin. What is more, beginning in the spring of 2006, visitors will again have the opportunity to experience the splendid rooms of August the Strong with their original furnishings. Modern facilities such as the Art Library represent the ambitious aim to render the palace a residence of research and education as well as of museum institutions.