Historisches Grünes Gewölbe

No more than a hundred visitors are admitted at any one time to the historical Green Vault. Behind the airlock that separates the vault from the rest of the Residenzschloß, Augustus' sumptuous treasury and personal collection of objets d'art still stands, largely intact, having survived the Allied bombing of Dresden by being spirited away to the Königstein Fortress. The collection was subsequently confiscated by the Soviet Union at the end of the war, but was restored to East Germany in 1958.

Reconstructed to reflect Pöppelmann's late Baroque layout and design, the historical Green Vault comprises nine rooms – four (each increasing in detail and complexity) leading up to the Pretiosensaal, the great hall of precious objects, and four leading back away from it:

1. the Bernsteinkabinett, which showcases the Electors' collection of amber (or 'Baltic gold'), harvested from the sea;
2. the Elfenbeinzimmer, with its exquisite collection of lathe-turned and carved ivory;
3. the Weißsilberzimmer, with its nautilus goblets, mother-of-pearl basins and serpentine objects, all within a 'brilliant vermillion' setting;
4. the Silbervergoldete Zimmer, with its collection of figurative drinking vessels in a green setting;
5. the Pretiosensaal, described by the audioguide as 'the first climax of the tour' and the largest of the rooms, formerly the privy custody of the Saxon Electors;
6. the Wappenzimmer, which once housed the automaton of a female bust known as 'the Oracle';
7. the Juwelenzimmer, described by the audioguide as the 'absolute climax' of the historical Green Vault, and housing a 'breath-taking' and 'exuberant' collection of jewels and other treasures;
8. the Bronzenzimmer; and
9. the Raum der Renaissancebronzen.

I manage to miss Dinglinger and Permoser's 'Moor with Emerald Slab', one of the main works in the collection, so a return visit is clearly in order!