Before World War II devastated its baroque architecture, Dresden was widely considered Germany's most beautiful city, renowned for its stunning silhouettes and exceptional collections of fine and applied arts. The devastating Allied air raids of February 1945 transformed Dresden into what many described as Germany's most decimated metropolis, forcing a complete reimagining of the once-magnificent cultural center.
After decades of painstaking reconstruction, Dresden has reclaimed its status as what Germans proudly call a "Kunststadt" – a true city of art. Today's cultural treasures are primarily housed within the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD), an impressive network of 15 museums that continue to reflect the refined tastes and artistic preferences of Saxony's House of Wettin, the ruling dynasty that governed from the 15th century until 1918.
The city's golden age flourished during the 18th century under Augustus the Strong, who simultaneously served as prince-elector of Saxony and king of Poland. His ambitious vision transformed Dresden into one of Europe's most captivating and lavishly funded royal courts. This cultural spending spree continued under his son, Frederick Augustus II, whose strategic art purchases brought many of Europe's most celebrated paintings to the Saxon capital.
Today, Dresden's most significant art collections are conveniently located within walking distance of each other, concentrated in three main venues: the Zwinger, Augustus the Strong's spectacular baroque architectural showpiece; the Residenzschloss, the recently rebuilt and reimagined former royal palace; and the Albertinum, the late-19th-century museum building originally designed for sculpture that now displays art created after 1800.
The first essential masterpiece is Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" (1512/13), housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister within the Zwinger's Semperbau. This High Renaissance masterpiece was originally commissioned by Pope Julius II and hung in a church in Piacenza, northwest of Parma, before arriving in Dresden in 1754 after Frederick Augustus II paid an astronomical sum for its acquisition. The Madonna, one of Raphael's final works, displays a grandeur reminiscent of classical antiquity, while the two placid putti at the bottom have achieved fame in their own right. The painting, now an anchor work in the mid-19th-century building designed by Gottfried Semper – arguably Europe's most talented historicist architect – was considered another era's equivalent to the Mona Lisa and remains one of Raphael's most recognizable works.
Caspar David Friedrich's "The Great Enclosure" (1832), displayed in the Galerie Neue Meister at the Albertinum, represents the second must-see artwork. Born on Germany's northern coast and educated in Denmark, Friedrich moved to Dresden in his early twenties, established himself as Germany's preeminent Romantic painter, and died there at age 65 in 1840, with his earlier fame having faded into memory. A few years after his death, the director of Dresden's Royal Museums began collecting for a new Modern department, and by century's end, with Friedrich's reputation rising again, several of his works had become leading attractions. This late Saxon landscape – both bleak and beautiful, with premonitions of the coming Modernist revolution – was acquired in 1909 and now stands alongside the artist's early and revelatory Tetschen Altar as the outstanding Friedrich work in his longtime hometown.
The third treasure is an extraordinary cherry pit featuring 185 carved heads (created just before 1589), housed in the Grünes Gewölbe at the Residenzschloss. The richly decorated rooms of Dresden's Grünes Gewölbe, named for their original green detailing, have displayed Saxon treasures dating back to the 16th century since Augustus the Strong's time. The priceless objects here, by turns extravagant, ingenious, and outright bizarre, rank among Dresden's – indeed Germany's – leading attractions. This tiny, elaborate cherry pit with its countless carvings and enamel-and-pearl decoration stands among the collection's smallest yet most celebrated pieces. A specially installed magnifying glass allows visitors to fully appreciate this 4.5-centimeter work created by an unnamed craftsman.
Jan van Eyck's "Portrait of an Elderly Man" (around 1435/40), housed in the Kupferstich-Kabinett at the Residenzschloss, represents the fourth essential artwork. Dresden's collection of prints and drawings features approximately 500,000 works dating back to the early 16th century, representing artists ranging from Albrecht Dürer and Michelangelo to Georg Baselitz. However, perhaps its best-known work is what scholars regard as the lone surviving drawing by Jan van Eyck. The 21-centimeter-high drawing relates to an oil-on-canvas portrait of an Italian diplomat-cardinal now in Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum collection, but proves more lifelike and contains greater pathos than that work.
Otto Dix's "The War" (1929-32), displayed in the Galerie Neue Meister at the Albertinum, constitutes the fifth masterpiece. Though known primarily as a baroque capital, Dresden later became a crucial testing ground for Modernism. The city's Academy of Fine Arts was arguably Germany's leading art school during the years surrounding World War I, helping foster both Expressionism and the Weimar era's New Objectivity movement. Otto Dix, a native of the Thuringian city of Gera, served as both alumnus and professor at the academy before his scathing depictions of German society were denounced as "degenerate" by the Nazis. As an army veteran, Dix created numerous anti-war works, but "The War," a triptych with predella, may represent his most powerful creation. Inspired by Germany's Old Masters, notably Matthias Grünewald, it blends shocking hyperrealism with nightmarish fantasy.
The ceremonial armor (1518/19-1583) housed in the Rüstkammer at the Residenzschloss serves as the sixth essential piece. The SKD's Rüstkammer functions nominally as an armory, but most of its grandiose pieces, while suggesting actual conflict, were created purely for display purposes. Its rare treasures include an enormous 17th-century Ottoman tent, but the museum reserves pride of place for this complete set of supremely detailed Swedish armor, crafted by an Antwerp goldsmith for both man and horse. Originally commissioned by a Swedish king and subsequently purchased by a Saxon Elector who paid a sum equivalent to an entire castle's value, the armor's metalwork features decorative chased floral tendrils, snakes, dolphins, sphinxes, griffins, and scenes depicting Hercules' deeds, making it the crown jewel of the Rüstkammer collection.
Johannes Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" (around 1657-59), housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister at the Zwinger's Semperbau, made international art-world headlines in 2021. The SKD unveiled a painting-within-a-painting discovery in this familiar Vermeer work when conservators revealed a Cupid figure hidden beneath centuries-old surface layers. First discovered in 1979, the figure appeared to decorate a wall behind the mysterious letter-reading woman. Scholars long believed Vermeer himself had covered it after changing his artistic vision. However, during 2017 treatment, conservators realized a later hand – notably not Vermeer's – had done the obscuring, prompting the SKD's decision to restore the sumptuous element to what had previously seemed a decidedly minimalist setting. Today, visitors can enjoy the restored work with its revealed Cupid in an intimate side cabinet alongside other Dutch master works.
The eighth treasure is a Chinese lantern from the Kangxi period (early 18th century), displayed in the Porcelain Collection at Zwinger Palace. Germans distinguish between those merely interested in porcelain and those obsessed with it – sufferers of "Porzellankrankeit" or porcelain disease. Among history's afflicted was Augustus the Strong, who nearly bankrupted his realms acquiring tens of thousands of pieces of near-priceless East Asian porcelain. He later established Europe's first porcelain manufactory in Meissen, the former Saxon capital, and the SKD's Porcelain Collection showcases these sculptural works alongside Augustus's earlier purchases, including this rare, paper-thin Chinese lantern whose delicacy Meissen's masters attempted but failed to replicate.
Gerhard Richter's "Secretary" (1963), housed in the Galerie Neue Meister at the Albertinum, represents the ninth essential work. Germany's best-known living painter established roots in West Germany's Rhineland but was born in Dresden in 1932. Richter emerged from the city's communist-era art academy while drawing strong influence from the Gemäldegalerie's Old Masters holdings. Though he fled west in 1961, his enduring affection for his hometown's cultural heritage was reaffirmed in 2006 when he established the Gerhard Richter Archive under SKD auspices in the Albertinum. The building's Galerie Neue Meister now houses a noteworthy and comprehensive display of more than 70 Richter works, including this early photographic painting inspired by a lurid tabloid story about a secretary, her boss, and his wife, whom the boss murdered. Richter personally designed the display arrangement.
The final masterpiece is Rosalba Carriera's "Self-Portrait as Winter" (1730/31), housed in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister at the Zwinger's Semperbau. During its 18th-century prime, Dresden maintained strong cultural ties with the Republic of Venice, then in its twilight years. Consequently, the Saxon capital's Old Masters collection became a prime repository of Venetian pastel portraits by Carriera, who found eager buyers among Europe's luxury-loving courts. Originally trained as a lace maker before switching to painting snuff boxes, Carriera emerged as the leading woman artist of her era, with her steady output helping foster trends for pastels and facilitating a grand stylistic shift from Baroque to Rococo. This self-portrait, created when she was in her late fifties, functions as a seasonal allegory with less of the frippery and jauntiness for which she was known, instead containing subtle intimations of aging and mortality.
