A masterpiece of European Baroque architecture and home to world-famous museums.
The Dresden Zwinger was built as a synthesis of architecture, sculpture and painting between 1710 and 1728 according to plans by the architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. Originally, it served as an orangery and the setting for magnificent festivities such as the wedding of the century of Augustus the Strong's son, Friedrich August II, to Maria Josepha of Austria in 1719. The name Zwinger goes back to the name used in the Middle Ages for a fortress section between the outer and inner city walls. Today, the Zwinger Dresden houses the Old Masters Picture Gallery, the Dresden Porcelain Collection, the Royal Mathematical-Physical Cabinet and is one of the most important buildings of the Baroque period.