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Zwinger garden in spring
One of the Vier Tageszeiten at Brühlsche Terrasse
Water elements - Kunsthofpassage - DresdenElbschlösser (Elbe Castles) - Homes of the Rich
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On this photo you can spot several castles in the background. They are the Elbschlösser (Elbe Castles) which can all be reached from Bautzener Straße (B 6). They are only 4.5 kilometres from the very city centre, and approximately 2.5 to 3 kilometres from Pfunds Molkerei which is also in Bautzener Straße. You can get there by tram. Schloss Pillnitz is only another 5 kilometres away.
The name Elbschlösser does not just mean any castles on the Elbe but exactly those located on the Neustadt bank of the river, not far from the very city centre, in the sururb of Radeberger Vorstadt.
The complex comprises three castles built in a style mixture of the so-called Historism:
Schloss Albrechtsberg
Lingnerschloss (formerly: Villa Stockhausen)
Schloss Eckberg (formerly: Villa Souchay)
All three castles are surrounded by big parks. And north of the road starts Dresdner Heide which is the city's biggest recreation area.
Schloss Albrechtsberg
This castle was designed by the official Prussian architect Adolf Lohse and built from 1850 to 1854. (Lohse BTW was a student of Karl Friedrich Schinkel.) It looks like an Italian Renaissance villa, and in fact was designed in the style of Roman villas of the 16th century. They call this Belvedere Villa.
The castle is made of limestone and has 100 rooms. The terrace reaches down to the river and reminds of Villa d’Este in Tivoli.
It is named after Prince Albrecht von Preußen (1809-1872/Albrecht of Prussia). He needed a new home outside Prussia when he married his second wife Rosalie of Hohenau who was only a countess, and this was obviously not acceptable in the Prussian society. After the couple’s death their younger son Friedrich lived in the castle until his death in 1914, then his brother Wilhelm moved in. Obviously he was a gambler and had huge debts, so he sold the castle to the city of Dresden in 1925.
The castle is part of the city’s concert and congress corporation, and used for multiple purposes. It is not only a site for wedding parties; the registry office would also marry you there officially.
Whereas the park has public access guided tours of the castle (50 min) are only sprinkled over the year – and if, it is on selected Sundays and public holidays. In October 2008, for example, there were three tours on one Sunday only.
They do offer tours for groups out of this roster – but not on Saturdays.
Admission 4.50 Euro/groups 90 Euro. So do not hang your hopes too high.
Contact:
Phone (0351) 811 580 and 811 58-21
Internet: http://www.schloss-albrechtsberg.de/
(For tours click on „Führungen“ in the German version – the English version was only updated until May when I checked out October…)
Lingnerschloss
Prince Albrecht resided in this castle until Schloss Albrechtsberg was completed. It was designed by Adolf Lohse as well, and built from 1850 to 1852. The owner was Baron von Stockhausen (Duke of Stockhausen) who then worked for Prince Albrecht, thus the original name Villa Stockhausen. The style is a mixture of neo-classicism and neo-renaissance. It has a portico on the side of the Elbe, and like Albrechtsberg, corner towers at the entrance.
In 1891 the sewing machine maker Bruno Naumann bought the villa, and in 1906 Karl August Lingner bought it – thus the name Lingnerschloss. Mister Lingner had arrived in Dresden in 1885 and became rich and famous by producing the mouth wash named Odol which you can still buy today. I think it still is Germany’s best-known mouthwash. Some drops into a glass of water, and your breath is fresh enough to chase away friends and enemies ;-)
The castle has been undergoing restoration and has public access. On the website (which is mostly about funding the projects and donations) you can find out about concerts taking place in the castle, mostly chamber music at the moment.
Website: http://www.lingnerschloss.de/
Schloss Eckberg
The merchant (wholesaler) Johan Daniel Souchay was the original owner of this castle east of Lingnerschloss/Villa Stockhausen, built from 1859 to 1861. So the first name was Villa Souchay. Later is was named Schloss Eckberg, just for its location at the corner of a hill (Ecke = corner, Berg = mountain).
The architect was Christian Friedrich Arnold, a student of famous Gottfried Semper. He obviously was Dresden’s only neo-gothic expert, and accordingly he designed the castle in the English Tudor style of the 16th century. You easily recognise the two rounded towers.
During GDR times the castle was used as a kind of youth hostel (Jugendtouristikhotel). From 1987 the interior was reconstructed true to the original, 1997 the conversion into a hotel started. Today the castle and the so-called Kavaliershaus some steps further down the hill are home to a luxury hotel.
To give you an idea about the rates (including breakfast):
Castle (17 rooms): suite € 295, double room € 235, single room € 175
Kavaliershaus (65 rooms/2 suites): € 190/143/103
(About 20 Euro cheaper at selected dates – please check the website; they write they might change the rates on weekends and require a minimum stay – which certainly means that the rates might go up…)
The dining rooms look fantastic, and al fresco with view of Dresden, that is something special…
Contact:
Address: Bautzner Strasse 134, 01099 Dresden
Phone (0351) 80990
Internet: http://www.schloss-eckberg.de
Email: info@schloss-eckberg.de
