Pic Spam: Saxony
Aug. 7th, 2020 08:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThis year, for obvious reasons, travelling abroad is out, but I could combine work and enjoyment this week by visiting Saxony. Which means: at long last, another travelling pic spam!
That was Dresden above. Aka Florence upon the Elbe, aka town of Baroque party times, aka, also, sadly, setting of right extremist demonstrations. More about Dresden later, but first: pictures from the one day where it wasn't hot with a clear blue sky. Which was when I visited Bautzen.
mildred_of_midgard and cahn, this is where AW was disgraced in front of the Prussian army. Everyone else: in GDR times, Bautzen was infamous because of the prison they had there, so that was how I first heard about it, but it is in fact as you can see a very historic and beautifully located town.
The self advertised "greatest castle of Saxony" is Königstein. In war time the place to keep your treasury and yourself if your highly militarized neighbour invades, not that it did much good to August(us) III at the start of the Seven-Years-War. (Saxony was conquered poste haste regardless.) Looks awesome, though.
A little less than thirty years earlier, August 3's father, August(us) the Strong, Prince Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Baroque Party Boy Extraordinaire, received the highly militarized Prussian neighbours here in a more peaceful fashion. Which is why you can see inside the castle replicas of of August the Strong (the one with the periwig), his favourite (illegitimate) daughter, the Countess Orzelska (rumor had it she was also his mistress; rumor also had it she got to deflower the visiting teenage Crown Prince Friedrich, one of the few women he showed interest in), and Friedrich Wilhelm (I), aka the Soldlier King (contender though not winner for Worst Royal Father of the Century; the reason why FW doesn't take the top position is that Czar Peter the Great tortured his son to death some years earlier, which does beat years of abuse and beheading your son's lover in front of him).
Not far away from Königstein is the "Bastei", part of Saxonian Switzerland, a facade of rocks which was also used as a defense post and later was made a popular hiking spot not least courtesy to Caspar David Friedrich.
You can see what he saw in it:
The day I spent wandering around there was the only one where it wasn't hot and sunny, though. Dresden showed itself from his best Florence-upon-the-Elbe light. Mind you: every time I visit Dresden I have to pinch myself and remind myself again that virtually everything had to be rebuild, because there was nothing left in 1945. Meanwhile, today:
And from above, as seen from the Fraunkirche.
The right side (this includes Brühl's former palace which during the Seven Years War also served as Prussian headquarters after they conquered the city:
Left side, with the royal residence (where the Queen of Poland and Prince Electress of Saxony, who hadn't left when her husband did, spent the war as a sort of prisoner in a gilded cage:
The first time I visited Dresden, directly after the border was open, the Frauenkirche was still in ruins. Now:
And, see above, you have a great view from the cupola. Back to the ground level.
Saxony's PM under August 2 and August 3, Count Brühl, was as much a big spender as his rulers. One of his enduring legacies are the Brühlsche Terrassen.
The Semper Opera:
The Zwinger (the most famous collection of which is the jewelry in the Green Vault, the Grünes Gewölbe, which was robbed just a few months ago); this is the inner courtyard.
Still the inner courtyard; here you can see the crown of Poland, which August (2) of Saxony and his son laid claim to (and rather proud of it they were, too, see: size.)
Some bits from the legendary treasury:
Rococo backgammon:
August the Strong didn't just show off via jewelry, though. When he invited the Prussian neigbours (again) for a big military review in 1730, he brought along a supposedly Turkish tent, among many other things:
And then there was his wardrobe. I mean:
Even his bathrobe looked thusly:
Swearing eternal friendship to the neighbour. Well, he and Friedrich Wilhelm shared a fondness for alcohol, so there was that.
This was formed using a mask taken during August's life time, so that must have been how he actually looked like:
Now, wanting to be the Saxonian Sun King did of course mean building places not just in Dresden. This was August's favourite palace, Pillnitz:
In the 18th century, a lot of princes developed a thing for anything Chinese, August included.
Inside it looks like this:
Whether or not August actually had as many illegitimate children as the year has days, it was the gossip about him. Some of his mistresses lasted longer than others; none was as influential as Anna Constantia, Countess Cosel. Unfortunately, it didn't end well for her. He'd gone as far as marrying her morganatically and promised her, in writing, he'd marry her properly if his wife died. The eventual breakup was ugly, featured her attempting to leave the country and being returned to Saxony by August's Prussian buddy FW, and afterwards 46 years as a prisoner. In Stolpen Castle, here:
She lived in the Johannis Tower:
Where as an old lady, who incidentally had remained unconvential and defiant and had converted to Judaism in a century which put all the usual historical pressure on Jews to convert to Christianity, she received Prussian Prince Heinrich, Frederick's younger brother.
She's buried in the castle, too, here:
Incidentally, it wasn't destroyed by the Prussians. The French burnt it when retreating after Napoleon lost the battle of Leipzig in 1812.
As a finale, have a look at yet another of August's palaces, Moritzburg:
Fare thee well, Saxony. Next week: Brandenburg!
That was Dresden above. Aka Florence upon the Elbe, aka town of Baroque party times, aka, also, sadly, setting of right extremist demonstrations. More about Dresden later, but first: pictures from the one day where it wasn't hot with a clear blue sky. Which was when I visited Bautzen.
mildred_of_midgard and cahn, this is where AW was disgraced in front of the Prussian army. Everyone else: in GDR times, Bautzen was infamous because of the prison they had there, so that was how I first heard about it, but it is in fact as you can see a very historic and beautifully located town. The self advertised "greatest castle of Saxony" is Königstein. In war time the place to keep your treasury and yourself if your highly militarized neighbour invades, not that it did much good to August(us) III at the start of the Seven-Years-War. (Saxony was conquered poste haste regardless.) Looks awesome, though.
A little less than thirty years earlier, August 3's father, August(us) the Strong, Prince Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Baroque Party Boy Extraordinaire, received the highly militarized Prussian neighbours here in a more peaceful fashion. Which is why you can see inside the castle replicas of of August the Strong (the one with the periwig), his favourite (illegitimate) daughter, the Countess Orzelska (rumor had it she was also his mistress; rumor also had it she got to deflower the visiting teenage Crown Prince Friedrich, one of the few women he showed interest in), and Friedrich Wilhelm (I), aka the Soldlier King (contender though not winner for Worst Royal Father of the Century; the reason why FW doesn't take the top position is that Czar Peter the Great tortured his son to death some years earlier, which does beat years of abuse and beheading your son's lover in front of him).
Not far away from Königstein is the "Bastei", part of Saxonian Switzerland, a facade of rocks which was also used as a defense post and later was made a popular hiking spot not least courtesy to Caspar David Friedrich.
You can see what he saw in it:
The day I spent wandering around there was the only one where it wasn't hot and sunny, though. Dresden showed itself from his best Florence-upon-the-Elbe light. Mind you: every time I visit Dresden I have to pinch myself and remind myself again that virtually everything had to be rebuild, because there was nothing left in 1945. Meanwhile, today:
And from above, as seen from the Fraunkirche.
The right side (this includes Brühl's former palace which during the Seven Years War also served as Prussian headquarters after they conquered the city:
Left side, with the royal residence (where the Queen of Poland and Prince Electress of Saxony, who hadn't left when her husband did, spent the war as a sort of prisoner in a gilded cage:
The first time I visited Dresden, directly after the border was open, the Frauenkirche was still in ruins. Now:
And, see above, you have a great view from the cupola. Back to the ground level.
Saxony's PM under August 2 and August 3, Count Brühl, was as much a big spender as his rulers. One of his enduring legacies are the Brühlsche Terrassen.
The Semper Opera:
The Zwinger (the most famous collection of which is the jewelry in the Green Vault, the Grünes Gewölbe, which was robbed just a few months ago); this is the inner courtyard.
Still the inner courtyard; here you can see the crown of Poland, which August (2) of Saxony and his son laid claim to (and rather proud of it they were, too, see: size.)
Some bits from the legendary treasury:
Rococo backgammon:
August the Strong didn't just show off via jewelry, though. When he invited the Prussian neigbours (again) for a big military review in 1730, he brought along a supposedly Turkish tent, among many other things:
And then there was his wardrobe. I mean:
Even his bathrobe looked thusly:
Swearing eternal friendship to the neighbour. Well, he and Friedrich Wilhelm shared a fondness for alcohol, so there was that.
This was formed using a mask taken during August's life time, so that must have been how he actually looked like:
Now, wanting to be the Saxonian Sun King did of course mean building places not just in Dresden. This was August's favourite palace, Pillnitz:
In the 18th century, a lot of princes developed a thing for anything Chinese, August included.
Inside it looks like this:
Whether or not August actually had as many illegitimate children as the year has days, it was the gossip about him. Some of his mistresses lasted longer than others; none was as influential as Anna Constantia, Countess Cosel. Unfortunately, it didn't end well for her. He'd gone as far as marrying her morganatically and promised her, in writing, he'd marry her properly if his wife died. The eventual breakup was ugly, featured her attempting to leave the country and being returned to Saxony by August's Prussian buddy FW, and afterwards 46 years as a prisoner. In Stolpen Castle, here:
She lived in the Johannis Tower:
Where as an old lady, who incidentally had remained unconvential and defiant and had converted to Judaism in a century which put all the usual historical pressure on Jews to convert to Christianity, she received Prussian Prince Heinrich, Frederick's younger brother.
She's buried in the castle, too, here:
Incidentally, it wasn't destroyed by the Prussians. The French burnt it when retreating after Napoleon lost the battle of Leipzig in 1812.
As a finale, have a look at yet another of August's palaces, Moritzburg:
Fare thee well, Saxony. Next week: Brandenburg!
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Date: 2020-08-07 06:18 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2020-08-07 07:05 pm (UTC)I had to look up "morganatic marriage" so I am also one word smarter as well. :)
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Date: 2020-08-08 08:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 07:52 pm (UTC)Thank you for the photography!
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Date: 2020-08-08 08:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-07 11:50 pm (UTC)...I'm going to be able to picture AW's disgrace now. That's so neat, that you were able to go there!
Augustus the Strong is fascinating, and I love that they have replicas :D His clothes, though! So shiny! That BATHROBE. (They look kind of uncomfortable to wear, but I would love to see other people wear those clothes!)
Countess Cosel sounds really cool <3
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Date: 2020-08-08 08:14 am (UTC)Now imagine you arrive fresh from FW's Prussia where anything other than a uniform is frowned at by the King....
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Date: 2020-08-08 12:25 am (UTC)Do you know why Anna converted to Judaism?
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