Fürstenzug (Procession of Princes)
A 102 metre cavalcade of Saxon rulers rides silently across the wall of the old stables, rendered entirely in gleaming Meissen porcelain. It is the largest porcelain artwork on earth, and it survived the firestorm that flattened everything around it.
About this place
Stretching along Augustusstrasse on the outer wall of the Stallhof, the former stables courtyard of Dresden Castle, the Fürstenzug is a mounted parade of the House of Wettin, the dynasty that ruled Saxony for more than eight centuries. Thirty five margraves, electors, dukes and kings ride in chronological order from 1127 to 1904, trailed by scholars, artists, craftsmen, soldiers, farmers and children. Originally created in a delicate plaster technique in the 1870s, the image faded so badly in the Saxon weather that it was reborn on some twenty three thousand hand painted porcelain tiles at the turn of the century. That gamble on ceramic durability paid off in the most dramatic way possible when the mural emerged nearly unscathed from the 1945 bombing that reduced the surrounding Old Town to rubble.
Key facts
- 102 meters — The length of the mural, making it the largest porcelain artwork in the world
- 23000 tiles — Hand painted Meissen porcelain tiles form the complete image
- 35 rulers — Margraves, electors, dukes and kings of the House of Wettin ride in the procession
📍 Stallhof, 01067, Dresden