Crown Gate

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The Kronentor with the long galleries on both sides

The Kronentor is a pavilion and next to the wall pavilion the most famous part and often the symbol of the Dresden Zwinger in pictures .

Location and surroundings

With the long galleries adjoining on both sides, it stands with its front on the old fortress wall; However, the gate and galleries form a small angle to it. The Kronentor originally enabled access from outside the city through the fortress wall via the moat bridge . That is why there was no stone bridge over the Zwingergraben to the Kronentor, corresponding to the importance of the building, but only a narrow wooden walkway that would have been quickly dismantled in the event of an attack. It was rebuilt in this form when the Zwingergraben was cleared and expanded in the 20th century.

Building history

On the occasion of the planning of large, representative new buildings for the king, the orangery buildings that were created (wall pavilion with corner pavilions) were expanded by a long gallery with a crowning, middle gate. The mirror-image counterpart was to be created parallel to the Elbe.

A preliminary draft as a portal pavilion from 1712/1713 shows a building with strong rustication on the ground floor. Freestanding columns with a dome rest on top of it. The building shows references to the new palace planned by Pöppelmann. It is a three-axis building, which made it possible to connect to the arcades. At the bottom, the gate is framed by statue niches. At the top there is an arch between rectangular windows. For this design, Pöppelmann is planning a statue wreath at the foot of the four-part dome. A curved frame was created by the standing ellipses of the dormers.

A break with the palace building occurred when the Zwingerhof separated from the palace in 1714. During this time the design for a Hercules Gate was created. Pöppelmann and Permoser alternate between a more monumental and an easier solution. The monumental solution for the Hercules Gate shows pillars rising evenly on two floors. The lower storey is "too tightly closed" by a flat arch segment of the gable. On the upper floor, however, the gable fragments turn outwards. According to Hempel, the essay with the atlas rope turned out to be too small and does not allow a merger. The easier solution, on the other hand, shows a design with herms instead of columns. In addition an upper light canopy; the stairs fall away. The designs for the Herkulestor gave rise to a new design character. A "dissolution of firmly attached structures and [...] merging of images and architecture." In contrast to the designs from the years 1712/1713 with the completed building, the new designs now showed a "body that opened on all sides." As with the long galleries, gateways are characterized by a round arch. A synthesis of architecture and sculpture ensued: "Like the penetration of space and material, architectural motifs seem to dissolve into plastic decor." The building, which was damaged in the Second World War , had to be rebuilt.

  • Dresden, Kronentor First preliminary draft as a portal pavilion from 1712 and 1713

  • Dresden, Kronentor Second preliminary draft as Hercules Gate in 1714

  • Dresden, Kronentor scaffolded in 1948

Building description

The Crown Gate
Attic area and crown

The design basis for the building were works of the Italian high baroque, so by GLBernini . But also designs that J. B. Fischer von Erlach made for Ehrenpforten in Vienna were models for Pöppelmann's Kronentor.

The building was designed as a " gate tower " with a round arched passage in the basement . The passage is flanked by two pairs of columns, to which niches with sculptures have been added. Niche figures on the side of the grave are Vulkan ( Permoser ) on the left and Bacchus ( Kretschmar ) on the right . On the courtyard side are the figures of Ceres (Permoser) on the left and Pomona ( Egell ) on the right . Figures of a shawm ( Heermann ) and tambourine player ( Kretzschmar ) flank the portal to the courtyard side.

The ground floor shows heavily cranked beams, split gables and large keystones with heads and coats of arms. The upper floor, on the other hand, shows a hall open on four sides, which gives the building a "graceful lightness". The attic rests on cranked beams, split gable, figured keystones, Saxon-Polish coat of arms, name and crown both on the courtyard side and on the grave side. On the attic there are twelve sculptures of various themes around Hercules and the seasons. The attic program with its Hercules figure decorations dates from the time when the building was to be erected as the Hercules Gate.

The figures surround the onion-shaped dome, on which four Polish eagles wear the Polish royal crown. This onion, which crowns the building and shines in the Saxon green and gold, gives the crown gate its special eye-catching appearance. When lightly pressed, it looks like a pillow on which the triumphantly raised, heavy crown rests. Not only is it symbolic for the Kingdom of Poland , more precisely for Saxony-Poland , its shape also refers to the onion domes of Eastern Europe; it is thus a symbiotic counterpart to the Saxon Axis in Warsaw and heralds the Dresden baroque architecture as a “mediator of culture between East and West”.

Johann Benjamin Thomae in particular was busy at the Kronentor. He designed the arch crowns to the courtyard and the moat, further the four arch crowns with the keystone heads and the decorative architectural decorations; the two Hercules figures, a Hercules with a lion's skin and a resting Hercules, a Mercury with a staff, an allegory of winter and a bacchant all come from him.

Inside the dome was the ceiling fresco The Spring Sacrifice of Flora with rich decoration of flower branches and festoons . The fresco was destroyed in 1945. Through an open round eye in the false ceiling, it was also possible to see it from the lower passage. The painter of the fresco is not known.

  • Ornamental vase and sculptural jewelry in the open passage of the Kronentor ( sandstone type Cotta )

  • Console head of Hercules in the passage of the crown gate

  • Console head of Hercules in the passage of the crown gate

Variants of the Kronentorp Pavilion

Variant of the Kronentorp pavilion with a royal box

An expansion plan from the years 1713/1714 provided for another gate tower opposite the Kronentor. The end of the Zwinger on the Elbe side was to have a long gallery with a cascade tower and two-flight staircase. The cascade tower was a three-story, heavily tiered structure. On each side this comprised a fountain that cascaded downwards; the water therefore flowed over a two-flight staircase. A carillon hung in the upper part of the tower.

As a counterpart to the aforementioned "variant of the Kronentorp pavilion", another portal pavilion was designed, which the architect published in his Zwingerwerk. Hempel interprets the very wide arcade on the upper floor as a royal box. The building sculpture suggests a "special meaning" of the portal pavilion. Below on the right side is the figure of Hercules, as a symbol of Augustus the Strong, on the left side Minerva, which refers to the wisdom of the Polish-Saxon government. On the upper pedestals there are allegories of virtues and vices. The uppermost zone shows a glorification of August the Strong, which also surpasses that of the Wallpavilion. Under a canopy of the tent-like tower, behind the drawn curtains, the royal crown can be seen above a shield. Six genii proclaim the regiment with trumpets. The eagles above indicate the Polish crown of Augustus the Strong. The top shows a female figure with a column and the branch of a peace palm, which is intended to indicate the strength of Augustus the Strong.

In its place, however, the Semper Gallery was built later.

  • Draft for the long gallery with the crown gate, side of the Zwingerhof

  • Planned closure of the kennel on the Elbe side with a cascade tower

  • Variant of the Kronentorp pavilion, cascade tower

  • Variant of the Kronentorp pavilion, cascade tower

  • Variant of the Kronentorp pavilion, portal pavilion with royal box

Redevelopment

From October 2012 to 2016 the crown gate was overhauled for 650,000 euros. First, 22 parapet sculptures made of sandstone were restored, covered with a new protective layer and put up again in October 2013.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Fritz Löffler, Das alten Dresden , Leipzig 1981, page 127.
  2. ↑ Eberhard Hempel, The Zwinger in Dresden. Basics and fates of his artistic design , Berlin 1961, p. 71 [Figure: Plate 47. Pöppelmann Second preliminary draft for the Kronentor. Dresden, Saxon. Landesbibliothek], p. 74 [description].
  3. ↑ a b Eberhard Hempel, The Zwinger in Dresden. Basics and fates of his artistic design , Berlin 1961, p. 72 [Figure: Plate 48. Pöppelmann Third preliminary design for the Kronentor. Dresden, Saxon. Landesbibliothek], p. 74 [description].
  4. ↑ Michael Kirsten: The Dresden Zwinger , DKV-KUNSTführer No. 576/0, 1st edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munich Berlin, Munich undated, p. 14.
  5. ↑ a b Michael Kirsten: The Dresden Zwinger , DKV-KUNSTführer No. 576/0, 1st edition, Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munich Berlin, Munich undated, p. 15.
  6. ^ Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments. Vol. Dresden . Munich, Berlin (Deutscher Kunstverlag) 2005. ISBN 3-422-03110-3 , p. 55
  7. ^ Dehio, p. 55
  8. ^ Fritz Löffler: The Zwinger in Dresden , chapter: The Kronentor with the moat bridge and the long galleries , page 29ff. VEB EA Seemann Verlag Leipzig, 1976.
  9. ^ Georg Dehio : Handbook of German Art Monuments. Vol. Dresden . Munich, Berlin (Deutscher Kunstverlag) 2005. ISBN 3-422-03110-3 , p. 57
  10. ↑ Dehio: Dresden, 2005, pp. 55–57.
  11. ↑ Udo von Alvensleben (art historian) , Dresden und das Augusteische Zeitalter , in: Visits before the decline, noble seats between Altmark and Masuria , compiled from diary entries and edited by Harald von Koenigswald, Frankfurt / M.-Berlin 1968, pp. 19-30
  12. ↑ Fritz Löffler: The Zwinger in Dresden , chapter: The main works of Permoser's employees , page 45ff. VEB EA Seemann Verlag Leipzig, 1976.
  13. ↑ Eberhard Hempel, The Zwinger in Dresden. Principles and fates of his artistic creation , Berlin 1961, p. 87.
  14. ^ Fritz Löffler: The Zwinger in Dresden , chapter: The program of sculpture and ceiling painting , page 56. VEB EA Seemann Verlag Leipzig, 1976.
  15. ↑ Eberhard Hempel, The Zwinger in Dresden. Principles and fates of his artistic creation , Berlin 1961, p. 74f.
  16. ↑ Harald Marx (ed.), MD Pöppelmann. The architect of the Dresden Zwinger, Leipzig 1990, p. 31f. [Fig. 26. Matthew Daniel Pöppelmann. The Zwinger copperplate engraving. 1729. Planned closure of the Zwinger on the Elbe side with a cascade] [Fig. 27 Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. The Zwinger copperplate engraving. 1729. Cascade tower with two-flight staircase.] [Fig. 28 Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann. The Zwinger copperplate engraving. 1729. Great portal]
  17. ↑ a b Eberhard Hempel, The Zwinger in Dresden. Principles and fates of his artistic creation , Berlin 1961, p. 75.
  18. ↑ Kronentor renovated by 2016 , online article in the Sächsische Zeitung from November 6, 2013.

Web links

Commons : Kronentor  - collection of images, videos and audio files