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August der Starke
Augustus the Strong, born in 1670, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as Frederick Augustus I, and King of Poland as Augustus II; for the sake of the Polish crown he converted to the Catholic faith in 1697. He died in Warsaw in 1733 and is buried in Kraków, while his heart lies in Dresden's Hofkirche, the Court Church. He owed his nickname to his physical strength; the oft-quoted 354 children are a legend.
His buildings and stories
Augustus turned Dresden into a Baroque metropolis: he had the Zwinger built, Pillnitz and Moritzburg remodelled, and he bought the Barockgarten Großsedlitz. His mistress Countess Cosel was given Pillnitz and ended up a prisoner at Burg Stolpen. Böttger was held on the Festung Königstein before he invented porcelain in Meissen, and on the Königstein Augustus had a giant wine barrel built, which was removed in 1818 because it had fallen into disrepair.
As of: 09/2026
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