History of the Collection

The Green Vault is among Europe’s most exquisite and most famous treasure chambers. It was established as a museum by the Saxon elector and Polish king August the Strong (1670-1733) between 1723 and 1730. During that period, the Wettin dynasty’s sumptuous collection of Renaissance and Baroque treasures was placed on view for the first time in eight presentation rooms of the Royal Palace.

This Baroque synthesis of art objects and magnificent interior architecture remained almost unchanged until World War II.

Three of the Green Vault’s eight sumptuously decorated exhibition rooms were destroyed on February 13, 1945 during a major bomb attack on Dresden. The portable art objects had already been removed to the Königstein Fortress in the nearby Elbsandstein Mountains for safekeeping. After the war, the stored objects were seized by the Red Army Trophy Commission and shipped to the Soviet Union. There they remained until 1958, when the Soviet government passed a resolution providing for their return to Dresden.

In 1959, parts of the collection were placed on display in the Albertinum, as a return to Dresden Royal Palace was impossible due to war damages.

More than half a century later, the first part of the world-famous treasure chamber returned “home” to the Royal Palace. Since September 8, 2004, 1,080 masterworks have been on view in the modern facilities designed especially for the permanent exhibition of the New Green Vault.

Following the festive opening of the Historic Green Vault in September 2006, the elaborately restored and reconstructed Baroque rooms on the ground floor are once again accessible to the public. The historic exhibition presents an additional 3,000 splendid works.