Japanese Palace, Dresden

The Japanese Palace is a baroque building on the banks of the river Elbe. The structure houses three museums, the State Museum of Prehistory, the Ethnological Museum and the Senckenberg Natural History Collections. All three museums have impressive permanent collections and temporary exhibits.

The Saxon Elector August the Strong, purchased the baroque style palace to house his vast porcelain collection in 1717. He wanted the roof the ceiling and walls to be made of porcelain. Architects, Poppelmann, De Bodt, Longuelune and Knoffel were entrusted with the task of restructuring the interiors to make a suitable repository for a porcelain collection. Though the dream of August the Strong was not completely realized, elements of his plan like the Japanese curved roof, the relief on the gable above the portal and the Chinese Hems in the inner courtyard conform to his original wish.

The sculptures within the building are in classic Chinoiserie style. The porcelain collection was never housed here as originally intended and the palace was used as the electoral library and a sculpture museum. The building was completely destroyed in 1945 and restored in 1954.

The Japanese palace is a major tourist attraction in Dresden because visitors get to see three varied collections in three distinct museums within one building.