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 ( 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) of Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony from ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. 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 (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

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 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 () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

. Furthermore, Prince Elector Augustus founded the Arsenal of the Saxon State (''Kurfürstliches Landeszeughaus'') containing

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

'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 () (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 the third and y ...

, ("Albert the Bold") established

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

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"), 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 Architecture is the art and technique of designing and bu ...

, 2004, , pp. 9-21 After George's grandson, Duke Maurice, 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 armoury 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. 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 favourite among visitors at this time. The son of Augustus II the Strong,

Augustus III Augustus III (; – "the Saxon"; ; 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 Augustus II (). He w ...

, 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 A () is an open kill zone area between two defensive walls that is used for defensive purposes. s were built in the medieval and early modern periods to improve the defence of castles and town walls. The term is usually left untranslated, ...

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, were reintegrated into the armory collection. The artefacts from the Firearms Gallery and the Historic Museum were taken to

Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (), 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 of the largest hilltop for ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. At the end of the war in 1945, the collections were confiscated by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and transported to

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. 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 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 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 civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

s. The exhibition is centred around

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a 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. The concept of a knighthood ...

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 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. 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 is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

. 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. It prov ...

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 In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, 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 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 Ottoman tents were fabric architectural structures used by the Ottoman Empire. they could be transported and erected anywhere, from the battlefield to Palace, palatial gardens. These portable structures served as everything from simple soldiers' t ...

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 Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...

, helmets, flags and costumes.

Notes and references

External links

*
Dresden & Sachsen. Historisches Museum (Rüstkammer)

Dresden Armoury
within

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, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...