Grünes Gewölbe
(Green Vault)
The Grünes Gewölbe (Green Vault) enjoys world renown as one of Europe’s most sumptuous treasure chambers. The famous collection of the Wettin electors is returned to its historic home in the Dresden Royal Palace. In two exhibition areas "Neues Grünes Gewölbe" (New Green Vault) and "Historisches Grünes Gewölbe" (Historic Green Vault) of very different character, visitors will experience these magnificent artworks of gold, silver, precious gems, enamel, ivory, bronze and amber in an intensity unparalleled to date.
Prof. Dirk Syndram’s (Director of the Grünes Gewölbe) plans for the return of the Grünes Gewölbe to the Residenzschloss incorporated the idea of establishing a Neues Grünes Gewölbe. The idea of having two separate exhibition areas had several advantages. For one thing, the works that had not been added to the collection until after the death of August the Strong in 1733 (namely the objects from the former Kunstkammer, which was dissolved in 1832) could be accommodated in the Neues Grünes Gewölbe. For another, this exhibition enables objects to be displayed which require special conservational conditions. Whilst in the original exhibition rooms the overwhelming abundance of Baroque splendour amazes and astounds the visitors and demonstrates the wealth and connoisseurship of the former Wettin rulers, the Neues Grünes Gewölbe concentrates on the individual works of art and guides the visitor chronologically through the history of treasury art. The double-coated anti-glare glass used in the showcases enables the viewer to look at every detail and “touch the objects with his eyes”, as the modern museum-goer is accustomed to doing. In this way, more works of art than ever before can be shown to the public – almost the whole of the Grünes Gewölbe collection.
Open to the public since September 2004, the “Neues Grünes Gewölbe” presents some 1,080 objects of the Renaissance to Classicist periods on the first upper floor of the West Wing. A circular tour through ten display rooms focuses on many of the collection’s major works, including the Golden Coffee Set, the Royal Household of the Grand Mogul and the Ivory Frigate with its paper-thin sails, as well as the exceedingly precious Green Diamond hat clasp and the Cherry Stone with the 185 countenances. The unobtrusive modern presentation enables the visitor to view the treasures from close up and thus to be enchanted by their sheer infinite wealth of detail. The visit of the New Green Vault ist possible without time-ticket.
The “Historisches Grünes Gewölbe” has opend its doors on the ground floor of the West Wing on the occasion of the city’s anniversary in 2006. It was here that, between 1723 and 1730, August the Strong realized his vision of a Baroque synthesis of the arts as an expression of wealth and absolutist power. Extensive restoration work and partial reconstructions allow the historic interior to shine in new splendour. In harmony with the festive architecture, 3,000 artworks present standing freely against a background of richly embellished and mirrored display walls and on ornamental tables. In this incomparable Baroque setting, the individual artwork recedes behind the overflowing abundance of the whole. The circular tour climaxes in the Jewel Room where the jewel sets of August the Strong and his son are on view – a unique historical collection of eighteenth-century ceremonial jewellery.
to the ONLINE-TICKET-BOOKING HISTORIC GREEN VAULT