Dresden is a truly beautiful old German city, one of the largest economic and cultural centers of Germany. The city of Dresden has always been known for its historical and architectural treasures: ancient castles, high palaces, churches and museums. In the course of its many-sided history, Dresden was the capital of the kingdom of Saxony, and with it in 1871 became part of the German Empire.
The most popular and fascinating place in Dresden is its armory, also known as the Dresden Historical Museum. The Armory is located in the famous Semper Gallery, on the territory of the beautiful Zwinger fortress complex. It is rightfully part of the State Art Collections of Dresden – the world-famous oldest museum association of all of Europe.
In addition to the armory, the State Assembly, dating back to the 1560s, includes the Zwinger, Albertinum Museum, Dresden Castle – the residence and the palace and park complex Pilnits.
The Dresden Armory is a huge collection of weapons, military uniforms and related textiles. At first, the armory was a usual storehouse belonging to the noble Elector – Duke Albrecht the Brave, and was not at all a museum. A little later, Elector Augustus began to engage in the immediate collection of weapons and armor. Some items were bought, some were made by hand by well-known craftsmen, many exhibits were included in the collection as gifts.
In 1831, the private collection was taken over by the state and was named the “Royal Historical Museum”. Later the museum was completely moved to the Zwinger, where it remains to this day. And only in the 20th century, the armory was recognized by the art-historical museum.
To date, there are kept invaluable copies of historical weapons and firearms, painted armor, portraits, trophies and embroidered bedspreads. The main part of the exhibits belong to the 16-18 centuries. The huge collection of the Dresden Armory has more than 10,000 items, including more than 2,000 sabers, swords, swords, daggers, more than 1,500 pistols and shotguns.
