Germany Guide
Saxony
The Hofkirche
Address: Schlossplatz
Schlossplatz has been a seat of power throughout Dresden's history: today it's the site of Saxony's parliament building, the Landtag, which boxes in the east side; previously it was the swaggering Renaissance gateway to the Residenzschloss, flanked by muscled warriors to reflect the might of the incumbent House of Wettin. The Hofkirche (also known as the Kathedrale) closes the square with a handsome dollop of Baroque. Augustus the Strong's son, Augustus III, erected the largest church in the state. His father had converted to Catholicism as a ruse to claim the Polish Crown, and so he commissioned a church to keep up appearances before the pope as the Protestant Frauenkirche inched into the sky. He also kept the plans secret. A wise move as it turned out because the Protestant council refused to acknowledge the church after it was completed in 1755 nor allow its bells to peal. A collaboration of an Italian and a German architect – adjacent square Italienischesdorf recalls the "Italian village" of masons – results in a quirky hybrid of Italianate exterior (the decidedly un-Germanic two balconies crowded with posturing saints and a lantern-like spire) and a solid Germanic interior which is a bit of a letdown: impressive in scale but plainly whitewashed. Furniture includes a Rococo pulpit held aloft on boiling clouds of putti thanks to Zwinger sculptor Balthasar Permoser and a prize organ by Gottfried Silbermann (concerts Wed & Sat 11.30am– noon). In the crypt lie assorted members of the House of Wettin along with Augustus the Strong's heart in a casket.