Dresden

Dresden stands in the Elbe valley, its name derived from a Sorbian settlement on the northern bank. A German trading town grew opposite it under the margraves of Meissen and was first recorded in 1206. A stone bridge connected the banks in the thirteenth century. The division of the Wettin lands in 1485 made Dresden the residence of Duke Albert of Saxony; after the Schmalkaldic War, his successor Maurice received the electoral dignity in 1547 and Dresden became an electoral capital.

Elector Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II of Poland in 1697, linking the Saxon court to Warsaw. Postal routes connected Dresden with Poznań, Toruń and the Polish capital. He and his successor gathered artists and architects at Dresden, adorning the city with the Zwinger, palaces and churches. The Lutheran Frauenkirche and Catholic court church embodied the confessional complexities of a Protestant electorate whose ruling house had embraced Catholicism. Court collections of porcelain, prints and precious objects added to the city's reputation.

The Saxon residence was not spared the wars of the eighteenth century. Its rulers' Polish crown and their ambitions drew Dresden into the politics of competing European powers. The city endured occupation and fighting in the Napoleonic era, while its palaces and collections continued to testify to the wealth and aspirations of the Wettin court.