Dresden - Catholic Court Church

(Local Name: Katholische Hofkirche) The Hofkirche of Dresden, built between 1738 and 1755, was raised to cathedral status in 1980.

The site of the church, at the end of the bridge over the Elbe, was chosen by the Elector as a position commanding the Elbe area. The church, in Italian High Baroque style, was designed by the Roman architect Gaetano Chiaveri. After his departure in 1743 the work was continued by Sebastian Wetzel and others. The church was consecrated in 1751 and finally completed in 1755.

During the devastating Allied bombardment of 1945 the interior was burned out and most of the vaulting collapsed, leaving only the tower unscathed. The church was restored after the war. The exterior of the church is striking, with its 85.5m/280ft high tower and its 78 statues in niches and on the balustrades. Notable features of the interior are the processional ambulatories, Balthasar Permoser's magnificently carved pulpit (1722), the altarpiece of the Ascension (by Mengs, 1750-51) and the Silbermann organ (1750-53), Silbermann's last and finest work. In four burial vaults are the remains of kings and princes of Saxony. An urn contains the heart of Augustus the Strong; his body was buried in Krakow.