Dresden's Augustan Age

When Elector Friedrich August I (Augustus the Strong) acquired the Polish crown in 1697, Dresden advanced further to become a capital of European rank. The face of the city also changed dramatically.

Dresden became a city of Baroque. The royal court and the nobility commissioned extensive building work and encouraged exceptional artistic and craft-art achievements. Pöppelmann built the Zwinger and Taschenbergpalais in 1711, the Japanese Palais in 1715 and the summer palace in Pillnitz in 1721. The Frauenkirche was completed in 1734, the cathedral in 1755.
The magnificent collections of the Picture Gallery and the Green Vault were established, and the first European porcelain manufactory, which was later to move to Meissen, was founded.

Among the cultural highlights of the reign of Augustus were the regular lavish festivities, which demonstrated not only an awareness for the arts, but also political claims to power. The needs of the royal court thus led to rapid economic development in the city, whose population tripled to 63,000 between 1700 and 1755.

In the wake of the courtly society, however, the Dresden bourgeoisie was also able to present notable achievements, as witnessed, for example, in the imposing town church architecture of the Frauenkirche.