MORITZBURG CASTLE - SAXONY
Baroque Summer Palace and Treasures of August the Strong
A short distance from the amazing Baroque city of Dresden in the eastern Germany region of Saxony, about 20 minutes by car, or in its glorious heyday, about an hour carriage ride, lies the stunning palace of Moritzburg Castle (Schloss Moritzburg), situated between the porcelain town of Meissen and Radeburg. This jewel of a palace is set on an island in the midst of a lake, its red and gold yellow colors reflecting in the still waters, only disturbed by the ripple trails of water fowl. This royal getaway and its nearby Little Pheasant Castle was the favorite summer hunting lodge palace of the German Elector Augustus the Strong.
The name for the palace and its surround town came from 1542, when the Duke Moritz of Saxony chose this spot in the midst of game rich Friedewald forest as the location of a royal hunting lodge. The original structure was built in the Renaissance style of the time, but soon the summer lodge became the most popular place for the court to gather for hunting season. The palace was expanded over time with signature chapel built in 1661 by Elector Johann Georg II, sanctified in the Catholic rule of Augustus the Strong at the time of his coronation as King of Poland.
Under Augustus, in 1723 a reconstruction project was begun to transform the aging Renaissance architecture into the then current Baroque style as a hunting and pleasure lodge. The architect Matthaeus Daniel Poeppelmann was charged with completing the king’s ambitious plans, which called for new lakes to be filled and landscapes, as well as the addition of the pheasantry lodge to the east, with a view of the main palace across the water. The interior of the palace was redesigned with 7 grand halls and more than 200 rooms for a court's worth of visiting royal guests. More was intended to be added, but when Augustus died, the work stopped.
Then, around the year 1800, Augustus’ great-grandson undertook a refurbishment of the park, integrating the castle into the landscape. The pheasantry was rebuilt into The Little Pheasant Castle, with a miniature harbor and lighthouse. In the 20th Century, in 1933, Moritzburg Castle was taken over by the Wettin family Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony as a residence, which lasted through the Second World War, and managed to sit out the firebombing of Dresden until 1945, when the Wettins were removed from their property with the formation of East Germany.
Some of the most valuable artworks of the palace where hidden by Ernst Heinrich and his sons, buried within the grounds of the Castle Park, but most of them were discovered by the Soviets soldiers and taken. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, in 1996, many of the gold and jewel treasures of the Wettins were returned, and now, the Baroque Palace of Moritzburg makes for a must stop visit for fans of Baroque style and for Meissen Porcelain, both in ample display in the countryside near Dresden.
Visiting Moritzburg Baroque Castle
The palace museum is open daily from 10 am to 5:30 pm with last admission 30 minutes before closing. Guided Tours of the Baroque halls and the Porcelain Quarter are offered daily at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm and 3pm. The Porcelain collection can only be visited with a guided tour, (in German). Admission is €7 for adults, with concession (seniors and students) €3.50. The Little Pheasant Castle and Lighthouse have individual admissions and the Porcelain Quarter Toru is €2. The Schloss Moritzburg can be reached by train from Dresden Neustadt to Radebeul/Ost and an historic narrow gauge train from Radeburg to Moritzburg. Or by bus (line 326) from the railway station of Dresden-Neustadt towards Radeburg to “Schloss Moritzburg”. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Schloss Moritzburg
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Knights performace photo courtesy Burg Kriebstein.
See Also:
FRAUENKIRCHE "OUR LADY" DRESDEN
SOPHIENKELLER - BAROQUE THEME RESTAURANT
SAXONY CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS 2017-2017
