The Dresden Armoury or Dresden Armory (German: ''Rüstkammer''), also known as the Dresden Historical Museum (German: ''Historisches Museum Dresden''), is one of the world's largest collections of ceremonial weapons, armour and historical textiles. It is part of the
Dresden State Art Collections
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...
and is located in
Dresden Castle
Dresden Castle or Royal Palace (german: Dresdner Residenzschloss or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) o ...
in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
.
The Turkish Chamber (German: ''Türkische Kammer'') is a separate collection within the Dresden Armoury that is focused on art from the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
History
![Rüstkammer, Dresden - armour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/R%C3%BCstkammer%2C_Dresden_-_armour.jpg)
The oldest weapons collection in Dresden, the City Armoury (''Städtische Harnischkammer'') was founded in 1409, containing the weapons used by the citizens to defend the city. It existed until the 17th century when it became obsolete. Besides this, two further armouries were established shortly after. One was the Ducal Armoury (''Herzogliche Harnischkammer''), founded after Duke
Albert
Albert may refer to:
Companies
* Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic
* Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands
* Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia
* Albert Productions, a record label
* Albert ...
was granted an independent dukedom in 1485. Housed in Dresden Castle, it contained the personal weapons of the ruling
House of Wettin
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...
. Furthermore, Prince
Elector Augustus founded the Arsenal of the Saxon State (''Kurfürstliches Landeszeughaus'') containing
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
's weapons of war, such as cannons.
The Ducal Armoury (''Herzogliche Harnischkammer'') is the direct predecessor of today’s ''Rüstkammer''. It was founded after
Albert III, Duke of Saxony
Albert III (german: Albrecht) (27 January 144312 September 1500) was a Duke of Saxony. He was nicknamed Albert the Bold or Albert the Courageous and founded the ''Albertine line'' of the House of Wettin.
Biography
Albert was born in Grimma as t ...
, ("Albert the Bold") established
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
as the centre of Albertine Saxony and named himself Margrave of Meissen in 1485. A continuous growth in the collection of parade weapons occurred during the reign of his son,
George, Duke of Saxony
George the Bearded ( Meissen, 27 August 1471 – Dresden, 17 April 1539) was Duke of Saxony from 1500 to 1539 known for his opposition to the Reformation. While the Ernestine line embraced Lutheranism, the Albertines (headed by George) were ...
("George the Bearded"), who named Dresden the capital of his realm.
[Jutta Bäumel: ''Rüstkammer/The Dresden Armory''. Munich: ]Deutscher Kunstverlag
The Deutscher Kunstverlag (DKV) is an educational publishing house with offices in Berlin and Munich. The publisher specializes in books about art, cultural history, architecture, and historic preservation.
History
Deutscher Kunstverlag was fo ...
, 2004, , pp. 9-21 After George's grandson, Duke
Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
, gained the title of Saxon prince elector in 1547, the Ducal Armory was renamed Electoral Armory (''Kurfürstliche Rüstkammer'') and thus gained electoral status. It was located on the ground floor of the ''Hausmannsturm'', the tower of
Dresden Castle
Dresden Castle or Royal Palace (german: Dresdner Residenzschloss or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) o ...
.
Prince
Elector Augustus initiated the museum era of the armoury by taking an inventory of the electoral holdings. The inventory of 1567 mentions several buildings with holdings of the armoury, listing more than 1,500 weapons.
Much of the armoury was displayed on carved wooden horses. The amory moved into the newly established Stable Building ("Stallgebäude", today’s
Johanneum) in 1591, where it remained until 1722.
When Prince Elector
Frederick Augustus I was made King of Poland in 1697, the armoury acquired royal status. Now named Augustus II ("Augustus II the Strong"), he faced increased needs for representation, leading to the establishment of his treasure chamber, the
Green Vault
The Green Vault (german: Grünes Gewölbe) is a museum located in Dresden, Germany, which contains the largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and it features a variety of ...
. As a result, richly adorned weapons were moved into the new museums, spoiling the integrity of the armoury’s holdings. Furthermore, the armoury had to be moved again, this time into the Secret War Chancellery (''Geheime Kriegskanzlei'') where it was housed from 1722 until 1832. Nevertheless, the armoury remained a favorite among visitors at this time.
The son of Augustus II the Strong,
Augustus III
Augustus III ( pl, August III Sas, lt, Augustas III; 17 October 1696 5 October 1763) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1733 until 1763, as well as Elector of Saxony in the Holy Roman Empire where he was known as Frederick Augu ...
, established the Firearms Gallery in the Long Corridor of the ''Stallhof'' (Stall Courtyard), which links the castle complex with the adjacent
Johanneum. At the time, the Firearms Gallery was the most valuable of its kind in Germany; today, its more than 3,000 firearms are an important part of the ''Rüstkammer''.
After the armoury was acquired by the state in 1831, it was renamed the Royal Historic Museum (''Königliches Historisches Museum'') and moved into the
Zwinger
"" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...
building in 1832. It remained there until 1877, when it was moved again into the
Johanneum. In 1913/14, the parade weapons which had been placed in the
Green Vault
The Green Vault (german: Grünes Gewölbe) is a museum located in Dresden, Germany, which contains the largest treasure collection in Europe. The museum was founded in 1723 by Augustus the Strong of Poland and Saxony, and it features a variety of ...
, were reintegrated into the armory collection.
The artefacts from the Firearms Gallery and the Historic Museum were taken to
Königstein Fortress
Königstein Fortress (german: Festung Königstein), the "Saxony, Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein, Saxony, Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. At the end of the war in 1945, the collections were confiscated by the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
and transported to
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. Since their return to Dresden in 1958, part of the collection, now again named the Dresden Armoury (''Rüstkammer''), had been on display in the
Semper Gallery
The Semper Gallery or Semper Building (German: Sempergalerie or Semperbau) in Dresden, Germany, was designed by the architect Gottfried Semper and constructed from 1847 until 1854.
The long-stretched building in Neoclassical style closes the Zwi ...
of the
Zwinger
"" () is a German word for outer ward or bailey (castle), outer bailey. It represents an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the Post-classical history, post-classical and early ...
until September 2012. After completion of the ''Riesensaal'' in
Dresden Castle
Dresden Castle or Royal Palace (german: Dresdner Residenzschloss or ) is one of the oldest buildings in Dresden, Germany. For almost 400 years, it was the residence of the electors (1547–1806) and List of rulers of Saxony, kings (1806–1918) o ...
in February 2013, the armoury's collection has been exhibited there.
Exhibition
![Riesensaal1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Riesensaal1.jpg)
Today’s exhibition comprises around 1,300 artefacts, representing less than 10 percent of the entire holdings. They are arranged in 121 showcases and six
pedestal
A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ci ...
s. The exhibition is centered around
knight
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
hood. It includes parade and tournament weapons, firearms from the Firearms Gallery, racing and jousting equipment, and paintings of tournaments. Usually, the pieces shown were once in use by the Saxon Electors, his family and the court. The displayed items span three centuries, from the 15th to the 18th century.
Turkish Chamber
![TürckischeCammer Inventar 1674](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/T%C3%BCrckischeCammer_Inventar_1674.jpg)
The holdings of the Dresden Armoury include objects belonging to the Turkish Chamber (German: ''Türckische Cammer'') which formed a separate collection within the armoury from at least 1591.
[Holger Schuckelt: ''Sammlung orientalischer Kunst in der kurfürstlich-sächsischen Rüstkammer Dresden''. 1st ed. Dresden: Sandstein Verlag, 2010, ] Over the course of several centuries,
diplomatic gift
A diplomatic gift is a gift given by a :diplomat, politician or leader when visiting a foreign country. Usually the gift is reciprocated by the host. The use of diplomatic gifts dates back to the ancient world and givers have competed to outdo e ...
s, purchased objects, and booty gained in various battles against the Ottomans were assembled, creating one of the oldest and most significant collections of Ottoman art outside
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
The roots of the oriental collection in Dresden can be traced back as far as 1591. At that time, the Turkish Chamber was still called ''Ungerische Cammer'' (Hungarian Chamber), probably because Saxony at that time had primarily come into contact with the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
. The first recorded use of the name Turkish Chamber dates from 1614.
The first inventory of the oriental holdings of the ''Rüstkammer'' was compiled on request of Elector
Johann Georg II of Saxony. The inventory was completed in July 1674 and revised in August 1677. It listed 385 items, divided into four groups: defensive weapons,
reflex bows, pole weapons and flags, and finally saddles,
bridle
A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the "bridle" includes both the that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit.
Headgear w ...
s and
caparison
A caparison is a cloth covering laid over a horse or other animal for protection and decoration. In modern times, they are used mainly in parades and for historical reenactments. A similar term is horse-trapper. The word is derived from the Lat ...
s.
[Holger Schuckelt: ''The Turkish Chamber: Oriental Splendour in the Dresden Armoury'', Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2010, , pp. 18-19]
After the dramatic years of the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
, August the Strong decided to reorganize his troops and renew their equipment. A military review of the 27,000-men-strong army was scheduled for June 1730, requiring an encampment near
Zeithain
Zeithain is a municipality in the district of Meißen, in Saxony, Germany.
Historically, it is known for the Zeithain Encampment (''Zeithainer Zeltlager'' or ''Zeithainer Lustlager''), which was a huge agglomeration of tents and troops, involving ...
north-west of Dresden with large tents. The biggest tent in the current exhibition was brought to Dresden specifically for this event in 1729. Originally, it consisted of a large roof section, two side walls and parts of an awning. One of the sidewalls and parts of the awning have been missing since the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Nevertheless, it is one of the most magnificent surviving Ottoman tents in the world.
[Holger Schuckelt: ''The Turkish Chamber: Oriental Splendour in the Dresden Armoury'', Munich: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2010, , p. 112]
Today's collection
Today's exhibition presents more than 600 individual pieces of art. The largest object in the Turkish Chamber is the three-mast tent brought to Dresden for the Zeithain encampment in 1730. This long, wide and high tent gives the viewer a sense of being under a second sky of gold and silk. The tent is made of satin, cotton and gilt leather; its restoration lasted 14 years.
In addition, there are eight life-sized, carved wooden horses and a group of
reflex bows with original strings, the oldest of which dates from 1586.
Also shown are weapons, suits of
chain mail
Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...
, helmets, flags and costumes.
See also
*
List of museums in Saxony
This list of museums in Saxony shows the museums in the German federated state of Saxony by location in alphabetical order:
A
* Adorf/Vogtl., Vogtlandkreis
** Bad Elster Spa Museum
** Adorf Museum
* Altenberg, Landkreis Sächsische Schweiz ...
*
Bundeswehr Military History Museum
The Bundeswehr Military History Museum (german: Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr (MHMBw)) is the military museum of the German Armed Forces, the ''Bundeswehr'', and one of the major military history museums in Germany. It is located in ...
Notes and references
External links
Rüstkammer (Armory) Homepageof the
Dresden State Art Collections
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (, ''Dresden State Art Collections'') is a cultural institution in Dresden, Germany, owned by the State of Saxony. It is one of the most renowned and oldest museum institutions in the world, originating from the ...
Dresden & Sachsen. Historisches Museum (Rüstkammer)Dresden Armourywithin
Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world.
It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...
*
{{Authority control
History museums in Germany
Military and war museums in Germany
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
1400s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1409 establishments in Europe