Reconstruction Schlossstraße
We are looking at the east side of Schlossstraße, directly opposite the restored Residence Castle in Dresden, which is at our back. On the left, the street block is starts at Kanzleigäßchen, on the right it ends by Sporergasse. Together with Prager Straße, Schlossstraße forms the historic north-south axis through Dresden’s Old Town. It runs from the north across the Augustus Bridge over the Elbe River through the Georg Gate of the castle from left to right through the panorama towards the Altmarkt and the main train station to the south. Until 1945 it was densely built with dozens of important town houses with often richly decorated oriels.
Since the development on Schlossstraße was almost completely destroyed in World War 2, this area of the street remained largely undeveloped for decades. This street front was reconstructed around 2010. The reconstruction was based on photographs, original plans, engravings and paintings and was not an exact copy of the pre-war state but a reconstruction of the original buildings from the 16th to 18th century. During construction, even staircases and vaults of the old buildings were partially reconstructed, and the facades were colored based on analogies of the respective period. Nevertheless, behind the historic facades there is today a compact new building structure, most of which houses a hotel. Only the historically insignificant corner building facing Sporergasse on the right edge of the picture was replaced by a modern new building. The reconstruction was realized by IPRO consult Dresden with the leading architect Uwe Kind.
Zehmsches Haus and Hoffmannseggsches Haus
On the left we see the so-called “Zehmsche Haus” with a high gable and elaborate bay window in the Mannerist style. It dates from the first quarter of the 17th century and is named after the chamber and mining councillor Johann George von Zehmen. Since 1712 it belonged to the Saxon court and served administrative purposes. To the right of it we see the Graeflich Hoffmannseggsche House, the former residence of the Zwinger master builder Daniel Pöppelmann.
Residence- or Fraumutterhaus
The picture-defining building in the right half of the picture was built in the middle of the 16th century by joining two houses (recognizable by the offset in the facade). Since 1612 it has belonged to the Saxon court and housed high court officials, among others the Oberlandbaumeister M.D. Pöppelmann and J. Chr. Knöffel, later it served as a “Geistliches Haus” for the accommodation of Catholic clergymen. Prominently placed on the facade is a copy of a statue of M.D. Pöppelmann, the original of which was created by Paul Polte in 1936.
For the support with the text contents we thank the association “Gesellschaft Historischer Neumarkt Dresden” and the author Stefan Hertzig, whose book “Der historische Neumarkt zu Dresden” (2005) leads deeper into the matter. This panorama is also presented in our virtual exhibition Saxony Street Fronts.
