Pillnitz Castle

[1] The château was acquired by the Wettin dynasty in 1694 when Elector John George IV of Saxony bought it as a present for his mistress, Magdalena Sibylla of Neidschutz.

In 1706, John George's brother Augustus II the Strong gave the facilities to one of his numerous mistresses, Anna Constantia of Brockdorff, only to rescind the gift after she fled to Berlin in 1715.

Augustus II then ordered the château to be converted into an oriental summer palace for riverside festivities, necessitating extensive rebuilding.

[2] Starting in 1720, the first church and buildings were replaced by elaborate Baroque palaces designed by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and Zacharias Longuelune.

The upper staircase built on the Elbe side in 1722 was supplemented in 1725 by water stairs forming a gondola dock, designed by the French architect Zacharias Longuelune.

The royal kitchen shows “cooking machines” and original copper pots and pans in its reconstructed historical setting.

Its multiple frescos by the court painter, Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein, depict scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary.

From this, a chestnut-lined allée approximately 500 metres (1,600 feet) long runs parallel to the river bank, flanked by small rectangular hedged parterres.

Together with its green counterpart, the original red gondola was built under the supervision of the architect Christian Friedrich Schuricht around 1800.

Schloss Pillnitz is also harmoniously integrated with the natural setting of the Elbe valley and the surrounding hills and vineyards.

In 1723, Augustus II the Strong asked his architect, Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, to build the country Church of the Holy Spirit in the east.

As was fashionable in German interpretations of Baroque and English gardens, in 1785, an artificial ruin was built on a hilltop in the north.

Its Gothic Revival architecture was meant to contrast with the Baroque style of the palace, its expression of the fleeting vanity of life with the pleasurable nature of the gardens.