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Schloss Pillnitz – history
Schloss and Park Pillnitz lie right on the Elbe on the outskirts of Dresden: the Wasserpalais (Water Palace) by the river, the Bergpalais (Hill Palace) on the landward side and the Neues Palais (New Palace) in between. The Saxon electors and kings used Pillnitz as their summer residence; today the park covers 28 hectares.
Countess Cosel and the Chinese dream
In 1694 the estate passed to the Elector; Augustus the Strong gave it to his mistress, Countess Cosel, and took it back after her fall in 1718. From 1720 he had it remodelled by Pöppelmann and Longuelune – in the “Indian”, that is to say Chinese, style, with curving roofs and a broad staircase leading down to the Elbe. In 1791 Austria and Prussia signed the Declaration of Pillnitz here against the French Revolution.
Fire and camellia
On 1 May 1818 the old Renaissance palace burned down; in its place rose the Neoclassical Neues Palais with its domed hall. The park's most famous plant is a Japanese camellia, planted in 1801 and the oldest specimen of its kind on the European mainland – from February to April it bears up to 35000 blossoms, and in winter it stands in a movable glasshouse.
The park and its pavilions
The park grew over the course of a century: in 1712/13 Countess Cosel had the hedge compartments laid out for outdoor festivities, around 1723 came the pleasure garden with its fountains, and from 1725 the four-row chestnut avenue to Pöppelmann's plans. From 1778 the English Garden was added, with the round English Pavilion of 1780, and in 1804 the Chinese Pavilion with eight Chinese landscape paintings. In a boathouse you'll find the magnificent Triton gondola from around 1800, in which the court travelled on the Elbe.
Palm House and Camellia House
King John had the Palm House built from 1859 to 1861 – almost 94 metres long, at the time the largest glasshouse in Germany; it reopened in 2009. The famous camellia of 1801 is almost nine metres tall and flowers in carmine red, though it has no scent. In winter it is protected by a glasshouse weighing 54 tonnes and standing 13 metres high, with viewing platforms for visitors, which is rolled away on rails in summer. The main flowering is around mid-March.
Neues Palais and museums
In the Neues Palais, built after the fire of 1818, you'll find the domed hall of 1823 – the only Neoclassical domed building in Dresden – and the palace chapel, consecrated in 1830. In summer the palace museum also shows the old court kitchen. Until 1918 Pillnitz was the summer residence of the Saxon kings, after which it belonged to the Free State; from 1946 the “Zentralmuseum” displayed paintings from the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister here, and since 1963 the Wasserpalais and Bergpalais have housed the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the Museum of Decorative Arts – though in 2026 it can only be visited on guided tours, owing to preparations for building work.
Weinbergkirche, ruin and Friedrichsgrund
Above the palace, among the vineyards, stands the Weinbergkirche, the Vineyard Church, which according to Wikipedia Pöppelmann built from 1723 to 1725. Above the Friedrichsgrund, around 1785 to 1790, the court had an artificial ruin erected in the Gothic style – for dining with a view; since 2019 it has had a viewing platform again. The Friedrichsgrund itself is a romantic valley with stone bridges; according to legend, a dragon called Meix once lived in the Meixmühle.
Links to other places
Through Countess Cosel, a direct line runs from Pillnitz to Burg Stolpen, where she later lived as a prisoner. The master builders Pöppelmann and Longuelune also worked on the Barockgarten Großsedlitz, and Pöppelmann also built the Zwinger and Schloss Moritzburg. The court travelled to Dresden's Royal Palace along the Elbe in magnificent gondolas.
Matching hikes
- Sächsischer Weinwanderweg, Etappe 1: Pirna nach Dresden-Pillnitz
- Von Pillnitz über Borsberg und Triebenberg
As of: 10/2026
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