A house with a long tradition
The royal house of the Wettins is the oldest German royal family with a remarkable thousand year history. Margraves, dukes, prince electors and kings ruled the territories of modern Saxony, parts of Thuringia and Brandenburg, and for a period of time, the former Kingdom of Poland. Dresden's world-famous "Procession of Princes" is an impressive depiction of all 35 regents from the Wettin Dynasty, as well as other prominent citizens. The "Procession of Princes" is a larger-than-life representation of a horse-mounted procession, which was painted on 25,000 Meissen porcelain tiles in 1904-1907, and is considered the largest porcelain image in the world.
The probably most famous, talented and artistically-minded ruler of Saxony was Prince Elector Friedrich Augustus the 1st (reign 1694 – 1733), known as "Augustus the Strong", who subsequently became King of Poland. Augustus the Strong and his son and heir, Prince Elector Friedrich Augustus the 2nd of Saxony (reign 1733 – 1763), who was equally passionate about art, acted like an absolutist monarch like his role model, the French king Louis XIV.
The treasure of Meissen®
A miniature of Dresden's Procession
of Princes can be viewed daily on
the upper floor from the Kurfürstenhof
more