Palaces, Castles and Gardens

The splendor of the grand architecture of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Baroque could only express itself during an age when wealth and a refined taste for art were able to come together as one. This was a time and a place where nature and culture, picturesque river valleys and magnificent palatial gardens, high cliffs and mighty fortresses, the depths of the forests and the romantic seats of nobility were able to come together and form an awe-inspiring tout ensemble. Where else can visitors find a room containing millions of artistically woven feathers next to the oldest castle in Germany which is not far from three splendid palaces situated like pearls strung on a chain or, for that matter, unexplainable stairway constructions which seem to defy the laws of physics?

Prosperity thrives behind thick walls: almost all the strategically important points of Saxony are crowned by solid fortifications. Laid out in deep valleys like a necklace of pearls or alone on a throne of a sandstone rock as the highest fortress in Germany, there are stories or legends about almost every one of them, which make Saxony’s history one of the most vivid in Europe.

Just as with life at court, nature had to obey the wishes of the rulers. In the Baroque garden the maze of boxtree hedges and trimmed hornbeams is as complex as an absolutist court intrigue. Even the landscape park of later centuries, which seems to have grown quite naturally, is in fact the result of careful planning. Either way, the result for Saxony was European masterpieces of landscape planning.

The majority of the pugnacious knights in their castles had scarcely heard of the word education and could hardly read, let alone write. It was first and foremost the members of the clergy who cultivated Saxony with their knowledge and aptitude. Outstanding monastery complexes in Saxony tell of that untouched time when the future “motherland of the Reformation” first became Christian.

Today some of the most beautiful and outstanding stately homes in Saxony are again in private hands, often transformed into stylish hotels, modern conference centers or culinary temples. Their guests do not even have to strain their imagination to transform themselves into the lord of the manor or the mistress of the castle. In the hospitable state of Saxony, many doors stand wide open to a grand existence, even if it is only temporary.