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 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 kings (1806–1918) of Saxony from the Alberti ...

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 ...

. 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

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 * Alber ...

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 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 r ...

("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

. 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 Aug ...

, 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 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 and early modern periods to improve the defence ...

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

, 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 " Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one of the largest hilltop fo ...

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 opposing ...

. 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, afte ...

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

until September 2012. After completion of the ''Riesensaal'' in

in February 2013, the armoury's collection has been exhibited there.

Exhibition

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 ...

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

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 gifts, 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 transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. 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

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. 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, bridles 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-Swed ...

, 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

. 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.

Notes and references

External links