Schloss Pillnitz

On the one hand, I’m not qualified to comment on the American mid-term elections, which is the thing everyone wants to talk about right now. On the other hand, it’s been a while since I did any location posting, so perhaps you’ll enjoy a few photos of Schloss Pillnitz on the eastern edge of Dresden, where I’ve spent the past week completing various chores. It was particularly beautiful this evening in the light of the setting sun, so I took the ferry over for a walk, and for once I remembered my camera.

There had been a village at Pillnitz since the Middle Ages, but the Schloss was first constructed in the eighteenth century, as a summer residence for the kings and electors of Saxony. It’s intended to evoke Oriental styles, with many Chinoiserie design elements.

This is the facade of the Water Palace, which faces the Elbe, as seen from the gondola dock at the bottom of the river stairs. This is the view the electors themselves would’ve had as they disembarked.

Behind the Water Palace is a large courtyard, bound on the far side by a nearly identical Mountain Palace, which looks out onto the hilly vineyards to the northeast. This is the courtyard facade:

Joining the two palaces on the southeast end is the New Palace, so called because it was constructed in the early nineteenth century. The is the view from the north-west.

In the gardens, you can find various follies and also the ‘Triton Gondola’ of Frederick August III of Saxony. This is how the good elector travelled back and forth from the Residence in Dresden. It was built around the year 1800. Many pictures are available online, but here is my own of the very excellent cabin: