The Zwingerbauhütte in Dresden: 100 years of responsibility for a baroque landmark

Zwinger master builder: preserving the building fabric is an eternal task

The Dresden Zwinger is considered the most important late Baroque building and, with its crown gate, a symbol of the city. It was built 300 years ago as an orangery and courtly festival venue. It was designed and built by the architect Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann and the sculptor Balthasar Permoser. Today, it houses several museums of the Dresden State Art Collections, including the porcelain collection.

With regard to the preservation of the building fabric, master builder Kai-Uwe Beger speaks of an eternal task: with around 700 sculptures, a façade area of around 15,000 square meters, 1.2 kilometers of balustrades and 15 fountains, the builders will practically never be finished. Once the restoration has been completed at one end of the complex, work has to start again on the other side.

The Zwingerbauhütte was founded on November 1, 2024. A comprehensive renovation began at that time. Originally, the Zwinger was painted white with oil paint and had a blue roof. According to the stone sculptor Clemens Modrakowski, this was due to the color ideal of the time - white, blue and gold. In Italy, white marble was used for construction, so the grey sandstone was painted white.