Dresden Art Galleries Walking Tour

Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 1 - Dresden Art Galleries Walking Tour In Dresden, lovers of art can contemplate the world's most famous works of art. There are first-rate art galleries in this city, which include the finest works of German, French, Italian and Spanish artists housed in magnificent Baroque palaces. Take this self-guided tour to visit the most famous art galleries of Dresden. Guide Location: Germany» Dresden # of Attractions: 6 Tour Duration: 2 hour(s) Travel Distance: 3.5 km Please note: This walk is also featured in the ios app "GPSmyCity: Walks and Articles with Offline Maps" on itunes App Store and the Android app "Dresden Map and Walks" on Google Play. The apps provide GPS navigation to guide you from one tour stop to the next, so you will never be lost. The apps offer additional walking tours in Dresden. Check them out! GPSmyCity offers self-guided walking tours in over 1,000 city around the world. Please visit gpsmycity.com for more walking tour offers. List of attractions included in this self-guided walking tour: A) Albertinum B) Dresden Academy of Fine Arts C) Dresden Castle D) Old Masters Picture Gallery E) Gallery F Dresden F) Abstract Moments Gallery Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 1 -

Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 3 - A) Albertinum (must see) The Albertinum is a fine arts museum in Dresden that was named after the Saxon King, Albert. The Saxon Elector, August the Strong collected paintings, graphics, coins and sculpture and his collection formed the basis of the exhibits at the museum. The Albertinum was built between 1884 and 1887 by Carl Adolf Canzler. The museum was to serve as a repository and archive or art and sculpture. The building was damaged by the bombings on 1945 and rebuilt in 1953. The Albertinum was closed again in 2004 because of damage caused by the flooding of the River Elbe. 40 German contemporary artists worked to raise the money for restoration of the building by auctioning their famous works and the result was a flood proof construction with a modern courtyard retaining the original façade. The Albertinum has four major collections. The coin collection has over 20000 coins, medals, seals and seal impressions. Many of the coins and medals are minted in Saxony. The upper floors have paintings by old and modern masters. The gallery of the old masters has works of the Roamntic, Biedermeier and Realist periods. Many modern works were withdrawn and sold by the Nazis but the museum has acquired an impressive collection after the war. The print cabinet has over 180,000 sheets of graphic and watercolors by European artists dating back to the 15th century and the museum has a vast sculpture collection including the marble reproductions of the Lemnian Athena by Adolf Furtwangler. Operation hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10 am - 6 pm Address: Georg-Treu-Platz 1-2, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Stepro. Sight description based on wikipedia B) Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest schools of art in the German speaking world. The academy is significant because it replaced court patronage and provided a platform for learning, interaction and promotion of art and artists in the region. The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts occupies three buildings and the prominent part of the college is in Bruhl s terrace near Frauenkirche. The Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 3 -

Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 4 - buildings were designed by architect, Constantin Lipsius by the order of Prince Elector Frederick Christian of Saxony and built between 1887 and 1894. The building has a neo renaissance style and the distinctive feature is a large glass dome called the lemon squeezer because of its shape. The structure suffered extensive damage in the 1945 fire bombings. The academy was reorganized, reconstructed and restored to its former glory in 1991. The Academy of Fine Arts has an illustrious past of being administered by some well known artists of the time. Prominent directors were French artist, Charles Hutin, the first director and Bernardo Bellotto also known as Canaletto who painted landscapes of Dresden City. The Academy became one of the most important fine art schools in Europe in the 19th century because of teachers like painters, Anton Graff and Adrian Zingg. Address: Brühlsche Terrasse, 1, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Flickr and jsmjr C) Dresden Castle (must see) The Dresden Castle is one of the oldest buildings of Dresden. After the firebombing of the city in 1945, the castle remained a burned out shell till 1991 when extensive restoration work commenced. The refurbishment of the castle is expected to be complete by 2013. The Dresden Castle is a witness to the different styles that have influenced European architecture throughout the ages. Buildings with new architectural forms were added from time to time. At first the structure was a Romanesque medieval keep. Between 1471 and 1474, the castle was extended by architect Arnold von Westfalen who added a renaissance style addition to make it a closed structure, suitable for a residence of the Electors of Saxony from 1547 to 1806 and the Kings of Saxony from 1806 to 1918. A fire in the castle in 1701 destroyed part of the building and August the Strong made many Baroque style extensions during its subsequent restoration. The castle had many ornate rooms including the Silver Room, the Heraldic room, the jewelry room, the Bronze Room and the Ivory Room during the reign of August. Another neo renaissance style restoration was performed between 1889 and 1901, during the 800th anniversary celebrations of the House of Wettin. In 2005, the Green Vault was opened to the public and visitors can now view the crown jewels of the royal family of Saxony. The largest collection of jewels in Europe is on display including gold jewelry and ornaments and a cherry stone on which 113 faces are carved. The jewels Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 4 -

Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 5 - were moved for safe keeping and protected during the bombings in 1945. Address: Taschenberg, 2, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Norbert Kaiser D) Old Masters Picture Gallery (must see) On the northern side of the Zwinger Palace in Dresden is the simper building that houses the Old Master s Picture Gallery. The gallery has many famous paintings of well known artists that formed the collection of the Electors of Saxony. The Semper wing of the Zwingler Palace that houses the Old Master s Picture Gallery was designed by Gottfried Semper. He was a leading architect who laid the plans of many prominent buildings in 19th century Dresden. The gallery is regarded as one of the finest in the world. Many of the priceless works of art in the collection were moved during the 1945 bombings. Though the building was damaged extensively, most of the treasures within were saved. The Russians moved many of the paintings to Moscow and Kiev but returned them to Germany in the 1950s. The art gallery has paintings by Flemish and Dutch painters of the 15th and 17th centuries including Van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer. German paintings of the 16th and 18th centuries and paintings by Spanish artists of the 15th to 18th centuries make up some of the prominent exhibits at the gallery. The treasure in the gallery is the acquisition of Raphael s Sisitine Madonna by the Saxon Electors in 1754. The art gallery is open through the year from Tuesday to Sunday and guided tours in English need to be booked in advance. Operation hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10 am 6 pm Address: Theaterplatz, 1, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Flickr and Daniel Voyager Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 5 -

Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 6 - E) Gallery F Dresden In Gallery F Dresden or Galerie Europäisches Glas Dresden, led by Mrs. Herta Fürch, Czech glass and glass-ceramic pictures have been represented since 1999. It is the first and the only gallery of its kind in Dresden. The director of the gallery is the artist as well. You can see works from German painters of the 20th century, namely, Rudolf Aicher, Richard Werner Pusch, Christoph Wetzel and many others. Operation hours: Monday, Saturday: 10 am - 2 pm; Tuesday - Wednesday: 3 pm - 6 pm; Thursday - Friday: 3 pm - 7 pm Address: Obergraben, 10, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Flickr and foxrosser F) Abstract Moments Gallery Abstract Moments Gallery of Dresden displays many temporary exhibitions. It was opened in January 2005. It presents to the public contemporary art and sells the works of contemporary German artists too. There are modern paintings, sculptures and elements of interior design. Operation hours: Monday - Tuesday, Thursday - Friday: 3 pm - 7 pm; Wednesday: 10 am - 2 pm; Saturday: 10 am - 1 pm Address: Hoyerswerdaer Straße, 21, Dresden, Germany Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Oliver Álvarez Copyright by GPSmyCity.com - Page 6 -