Historisches Grünes Gewölbe
(Historic Green Vault)

On the occasion of the city’s anniversary in September 2006, the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe (Historic Green Vault) has opend its doors on the ground floor of the West Wing of the Dresden Royal Palace. Since September 15 the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe is open to the public. 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 reconstruction allow the historic interior to shine in new splendour. In harmony with the festive architecture, 3,000 artworks are presented 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.

The „Vorgewölbe“ (Entrance Vault), sheds light on further gems of this fascinating collection: objects of the Medieval and Early Renaissance periods. Visitors of the Neues Grünes Gewölbe (New Green Vault) will also have access to the this room. To protect the delicate works in the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe, visitors are required to pass through a dust sluice at its entrance. Due to this precaution and to the intimate atmosphere of the breathtaking display, only a limited number of visitors can be accomodated here at a given time. Access is therefore regulated by means of time cards .

The inventories of 1733 have survived and form the basis for the present reinstallation of the treasure chamber. In those documents, this group of rooms is referred to as the “Secret Repository of the Green Vault of Dresden.” The rooms themselves have their origins in palace expansions of the sixteenth century and were initially used for the safekeeping of precious objects and important documents. The malachite-green hue of various architectural elements in the rooms of the secret repository probably led to their colloquial designation as the “Green Vault” from as early as 1572.

Please find here the TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION  (pdf-document).
Directly to the ONLINE-TICKET-BOOKING HISTORIC GREEN VAULT