On the top row of pictures below are some shots of the famous Zwinger Palace, perhaps the most famous landmark of Dresden. It was built by Prince Elector Augustus the Strong of Saxony. "Strong" was an accurate description, since Augustus could bend horseshoes with his bare hands! The title Prince-Elector meant that Augustus was one of only seven rulers of various German kingdoms who was empowered to vote to elect the Emperor.
He was a fairly wealthy ruler since Saxony had a great deal of mineral wealth, but because he was always spending money on new palaces, buying artwork, and supporting his dozens of mistresses he was always running out of money. He hit upon an idea to get more - put some of the royal treasures on display and charge the public admission! The gallery where these treasures was displayed was the famous "Green Vault" (so painted because green nicely offsets the gold and silver of many of the artifacts on display). Peter the Great of Russia saw the Green Vault while on his travels around Europe and was so impressed, he decided he needed to get some similar action in Russia!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|