Germany Guide
Saxony
The Residenzschloss
Opening time: Wed– Mon 10am–6pm, Historisches Grünes Gewölbe till 7pm
Price: Historisches Grünes Gewölbe €10; Neues Grünes Gewölbe €6
The Residenzschloss occupies the central Altstadt west of Neumarkt. The neo-Renaissance residence of electors and kings of Saxony until 1918, the palace has a Renaissance core at its colossal bulk, though most of what you see is a post-reunification rebuild. Restoration has returned the Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) collections to the palace they were intended for. One of the most sumptuous treasuries on the planet, these fancies are a legacy of Augustus the Strong – a real-life Ali Baba's cave of gold, silver, diamonds, ivory and mother of pearl craftsmanship designed to express the Elector's wealth and authority. The most fantastical objects are the work of Johann Melchior Dinglinger, Augustus's chief court jeweller. Such is the scale of the collection – there are four thousand or so objects – they are split into two sections.
The first part, the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe, is displayed as Augustus the Strong knew it, in ever glitzier palace rooms of the west wing. Note that a dust-lock restricts admission to timed slots and the number of tickets on sale daily – buy in advance or come early. While the objects displayed on shelves and free-standing tables are less head-spinning than those in the Neues Grünes Gewölbe, seen in their mirrored, gilt-trimmed rooms they are intended as a Gesamtkuntswerk (total work of art). Highlights are the intimate Eck-Kabinet crammed with the tiny curios that so tickled Augustus, and the Juwelen-zimmer, intended to suggest the inside of a treasure chest, whose statuette of an African king bearing a tray of uncut crystal has become an icon of the collection's decadence.
The stand-alone dazzlers are in the Neues Grünes Gewölbe, a glut of objects that express better than words the grandiose and, ultimately, grotesque posturing of Augustus's Baroque. A cherry stone carved with 185 human faces or a jewelled miner's axe are typical. There's no faulting the workmanship, however. Highlights by Dinglinger include a Chinoiserie coffee set that was four years in the making; and in the same room a representation of the Court of Delhi on the birthday of the Grand Mogul Aureng-Zab, consisting of 137 gold and enamel figurines encrusted with over five thousand jewels.