Must-see attractions in Saxony

  • The Zwinger Palace, baroque architecture

    Zwinger

    Dresden

    A collaboration between the architect Matthäus Pöppelmann and the sculptor Balthasar Permoser, the Zwinger was built between 1710 and 1728 on the orders…

  • Residenzschloss

    Dresden

    Dresden's extraordinary Renaissance city palace, home to its Saxon rulers from 1485 to 1918, now shelters multiple precious collections – including the…

  • Famous trademark Meissen porcelain dining services; Shutterstock ID 280400489; Your name (First / Last): Josh Vogel; Project no. or GL code: 56530; Network activity no. or Cost Centre: Online-Design; Product or Project: 65050/7529/Josh Vogel/LP.com Destination Galleries

    Erlebniswelt Haus Meissen

    Saxony

    Next to the historic porcelain factory south of the Altstadt, this museum is the place to witness the astonishing artistry and artisanship that makes…

  • Nikolaikirche

    Leipzig

    This church has Romanesque and Gothic roots, but since 1797 has sported a striking neoclassical interior with palm-like pillars and cream-coloured pews…

  • Militärhistorisches Museum Dresden

    Dresden

    Even devout pacifists will be awed by this engaging museum, housed in a 19th-century arsenal bisected by a bold glass-and-steel wedge designed by Daniel…

  • Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister

    Dresden

    This astounding collection of European art from the 16th to 18th centuries houses an incredible number of masterpieces, including Raphael's famous Sistine…

  • Albertinum

    Dresden

    The Renaissance-era former arsenal is the stunning home of the Galerie Neue Meister (New Masters Gallery), which displays an array of paintings by some of…

  • Museen im Grassi

    Leipzig

    The university-run Museen im Grassi harbours three fantastic collections that are often overlooked, despite being a five-minute walk from Augustusplatz…

  • Museum der Bildenden Künste

    Leipzig

    This imposing modernist glass cube is the home of Leipzig's fine art museum and its world-class collection of paintings from the 15th century to today,…

  • Historisches Grünes Gewölbe

    Dresden

    The Historic Green Vault displays some 3000 precious items in the same fashion as during the time of August der Starke, namely on shelves and tables…

  • Festung Königstein

    Saxon Switzerland

    Festung Königstein is the largest intact fortress in Germany, and so imposing and formidable that noone in history has ever even bothered to attack it,…

  • Frauenkirche with Neumarkt market, Saxony, Germany, Europe

    Frauenkirche

    Dresden

    The domed Frauenkirche – Dresden’s most beloved symbol – has literally risen from the city's ashes. The original church graced the skyline for two…

  • Schloss Weesenstein

    Saxony

    A magnificent sight on a rocky crag high above the Müglitz River, Schloss Weesenstein is an amazing alchemy of styles, blending medieval roots with…

  • Schloss Moritzburg

    Saxony

    An impossibly romantic vision in yellow and white surrounded by an enormous moat-like lake and a park that is at turns wild and formal, baroque Schloss…

  • Schloss & Park Pillnitz

    Saxony

    Baroque has gone exotic at Schloss Pillnitz, a delightful pleasure palace, festooned with fanciful Chinese flourishes. This is where the Saxon rulers once…

  • Albrechtsburg

    Saxony

    Lording it over Meissen, the 15th-century Albrechtsburg was the first German castle constructed for residential purposes, but is more famous as the…

  • Asisi Panometer

    Leipzig

    The happy marriage of a panorama (a giant 360-degree painting) and a gasometer (a giant gas tank) is a panometer. The unusual concept is the brainchild of…

  • Neues Grünes Gewölbe

    Dresden

    The New Green Vault presents some 1000 objects in 10 modern rooms. Key sights include a frigate fashioned from ivory with wafer-thin sails, a cherry pit…

  • Museum für Völkerkunde

    Leipzig

    At Leipzig's Ethnological Museum, you can plunge into an eye-opening journey through the cultures of the world.

  • Grosser Garten, baroque garden, Dresden, Saxony, Germany

    Grosser Garten

    Dresden

    The aptly named Grosser Garten (Great Garden) is a relaxing refuge during the warmer months. A visitor magnet here is the modernised Zoo Dresden in the…

  • Germany, Saxony State, Dresden, drainpipes on a facade of Kunsthof Passage

    Kunsthofpassage

    Dresden

    Take a web of grimy courtyards, a load of paint and a bunch of visionary Dresden artists and out comes the Kunsthofpassage, one of the most refreshingly…

  • Semperoper

    Dresden

    One of Germany's most famous opera houses, the Semperoper opened in 1841 and has hosted premieres of famous works by Richard Strauss, Carl Maria von Weber…

  • Südfriedhof

    Leipzig

    Leipzig's largest cemetery is a vast and beautiful park, filled with rosebay shrubs, populated by squirrels, rabbits and foxes and centred on a building…

  • DDR Museum Pirna

    Saxony

    In a former army barracks, you can snoop around a furnished apartment, sit in a classroom with a portrait of GDR leader Walter Ulbricht glowering down at…

  • Stasi Museum

    Leipzig

    In the GDR the walls had ears, as is chillingly documented in this exhibit in the former Leipzig headquarters of the East German secret police (the Stasi)…

  • Dom

    Saxony

    Meissen’s dome, a high-Gothic masterpiece begun in 1250, does not impress as much by its size as by the wealth of its interior decorations. Stained-glass…

  • Zeitgeschichtliches Forum

    Leipzig

    This fascinating, enormous and well-curated exhibit covers the political history of the GDR, from division and dictatorship to fall-of-the-Wall ecstasy…

  • Deutsches Hygiene-Museum

    Dresden

    Not an institution dedicated to the history of cleaning products, the German Hygiene Museum is, in fact, all about human beings. The permanent exhibit…

  • Asisi Panometer

    Dresden

    Like its siblings in Leipzig and elsewhere in Germany, this old gasometer – a huge round-shaped building – has been transformed into a venue for German…

  • Völkerschlachtdenkmal

    Leipzig

    Half a million soldiers fought – and one in five died – in the epic 1813 battle that led to the decisive victory of Prussian, Austrian and Russian forces…

  • Katholische Hofkirche

    Dresden

    The Katholische Hofkirche (also called Dresden Cathedral) makes up an integral part of the baroque ensemble crowning the Altstadt, and is one of Dresden's…

  • Thomaskirche

    Leipzig

    Johann Sebastian Bach worked as a cantor in the Thomaskirche from 1723 until his death in 1750, and his remains lie buried beneath a bronze plate in front…

  • Stadtgeschichtliches Museum

    Leipzig

    Leipzig's beautiful Renaissance town hall is an atmospheric setting to recount the twists and turns of the city's history from its roots as a key medieval…

  • Porzellansammlung

    Dresden

    Housed in two gorgeously converted curving galleries, this extraordinary collection ranges from 17th- and 18th-century Chinese porcelain to that produced…

  • Kraftwerk Mitte

    Dresden

    If you are interested in urbanism and the redevelopment of industrial facilities, check out this giant 19th-century red-brick powerplant reborn as a…

  • Zoo Leipzig

    Leipzig

    The standout attraction at Leipzig Zoo, one of Germany's most progressive, is Gondwanaland, a jungly wonderland of 17,000 plants and 300 exotic animals…

  • Pfunds Molkerei

    Dresden

    The Guinness-certified ‘world’s most beautiful dairy shop’, founded in 1880, is a riot of hand-painted tiles and enamelled sculpture, all handmade by…

  • Kroch-Haus

    Leipzig

    Leipzig's first 'skyscraper', the 11-storey Kroch-Haus is topped by a clock and two muscular bronze sentries, who bash the bell at regular intervals; the…

  • Markt

    Saxony

    The handsome Markt is flanked by colourfully painted historic townhouses along with the Rathaus (1472) and the Gothic Frauenkirche.

  • Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon

    Dresden

    This wonderful collection of scientific implements, dating from the early 16th century onwards, will delight anyone interested in the history of science…