Where once Augustus the Strong celebrated his sumptuous festivals and demonstrated all his power as Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, the museums present themselves
even their magnificence today! Walk with me along the galleries and exterior pavilions, under the eye of Hercules Saxonicus, supporting the terrestrial globe; then let's admire at the Mathematics and Physics Salon the old Persian globe, more than 700 years old, which reflects the cosmos of princes in the 16th century.

Carefully displayed are, in addition, the car distance counter and music boxes from the time of Elector Augustus as well as the burning mirror of the physicist Tschirnhaus, who made a significant contribution to the discovery of porcelain manufacturing , a luxury so coveted in 18th century Europe.

We will end this visit with the porcelain collection in the vaulted galleries of the Zwinger, formerly an orangery under Augustus the Strong, today a real showcase
orientalizing, by Meissen's first services of the three fancy drinks of coffee, tea and chocolate, in this Baroque era.

At the end of this half-hour visit to the Old Masters gallery, the famous paintings await us: La Balle Chocolatière by Jean-Etienne Liotard, the
Sistine Madonna by Raphael and Portrait of a Turk by Rosalba Carriera.

So, certainly, when you observe the porcelain cup filled with chocolate and the well-known cup of „Coppchen“ which, under Augustus the Strong, presented the Turkish drink; colloquially called... coffee, you may want to go to one of the nearby restaurants...

Take two hours with your guide on a musical tour of Dresden, and get up close and personal with great composers such as Richard Strauss, members of the J.S. Bach family and Gottfried Silbermann, one of the finest organ builders of his time, who were on the payroll of the Saxon court! Find out why a "magic harp" was named after Richard Wagner on his 300th birthday, and why a descendant of the Strauss father-and-son dynasty composed a waltz, An der Elbe, as a tribute to their beloved Dresden.  

Your city tour on foot through the historic center leads from Theaterplatz with Semper's opera house and the Zwinger to Residence Palace, Palace of Culture, Altmarkt with the Kreuzkirche, famous for its boys' choir, and Neumarkt with the Frauenkirche.

If you'd like to find out more about the Palazzo della Residenza and its striking, sgraffito-decorated great courtyard, or the Renaissance loggias and small towers of the castle's small courtyard, head for the transparent, diamond-patterned vault. Join us in this historic complex, totally destroyed in the last war and almost completely rebuilt, for a 2-hour journey through 900 years of history. Once the seat of government and residence of the Electors and Kings of Saxony, it is now a venue for various museums (unique collections from the Green Vault, the Turkish Chamber, the Riesensaal and the Parsonage Apartments and the Cabinet and Mint) to showcase their most outstanding pieces.  

Think of us as the Wettiner's state guest as you climb the beautiful Englische Treppe staircase.

Named after Albert, King of Saxony, the Albertinum Museum of the New Masters (as opposed to the Old Masters) exhibits sculptures and paintings worthy of major collections. Masterpieces dating back almost five millennia await your discovery: evidence of Egyptian and Greco-Roman cultures, the classical and neoclassical periods and the artists of our time, not forgetting paintings from C.D. Friedrich to Gerhard Richter.  

The luminous, skilfully structured spaces feature a dialogue between sculptures and paintings, with works selected according to artistic period and displayed alongside those from the museum's rich holdings.

Follow us along the paths of the past, to the Dresden Opera House, designed by the architect Semper for one evening. From the entrance hall, through the magnificent staircase decorated with opulent arabesques and gods under its vaults, supported by splendid stucco columns and painted settings of excerpts from musical and literary works known from antiquity to the present day. Then take a seat with golden velvet cushions in the royal box and let your gaze wander over the gilded chandeliers to the "five-minute clock" crowning the stage frame.  
Then listen to the stories and anecdotes of this great house, famous composers, conductors, soloists and choreographers, and get a glimpse of the day-to-day work behind the scenes and on stage.