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| The world's most expensive playset. |
Dresden, Germany
Europe and possibly the world's largest collection of treasures,
objects d'art, cabinets of curiosity, baroque contraptions, and
generally royal weirdness is all held in Germany's Grünes Gewölbe or
Green Vault.
Originally the private collection of Augustus the Strong, ruler of
Saxony (modern day Dresden), the Green Vault has everything from ornate
silverware with polished coral handles to nearly microscopic portrait
reliefs of royalty carved in cherrywood or ivory (you have to look
through a magnifying glass to see them). There are Venetian wind-up
automatons that pour wine and various other ornate cabinets and
contraptions. The collection even includes such contested items as the
solid gold drinking bowl of Ivan the Terrible. The literal crown jewel
of the Green Vault is the impossibly rare Dresden Green; a massive,
naturally irradiated, green diamond from India. The diamond is on par
with the Hope Diamond and the Mountain of Light in the Crown Jewels of
the United Kingdom. It is an internally flawless hunk of beautiful green
carbon mounted in a hat clasp and no picture will do it justice.
The moniker "Grünes Gewölbe" did not derive from the Dresden Green
diamond however. The green in the the vault's name came from malachite
columns that had been painted green at the base and crown as well as
green velvet wall coverings in some parts of the treasure rooms. In 1945
over 90% of Dresden was destroyed in a vicious fire bombing by the
British RAF. During this attack the Dresdener Residenzschloss (Dresden
Castle), which held much of the collection, was obliterated. Sadly many
great works of art and treasure were lost in the fire bombing of Dresden
and original "greens" of the Green Vault were lost with them. However
in the early years of World War II a majority of the treasure in the
Green Vault was moved to the Königstein Fortress and survived the
destruction of the Dresden Castle.
In the 1960's reconstruction was started on Dresden Castle and as of
2013 the renovations have finally been completed. The new interior of
the Green Vault produced two separate museums, the New Green Vault and
the Historiches Grünes Gewölbe (Historic Green Vault), containing a
staggering 4,000 items between them. However, the original green color
for which it was named is only present in the magnificent diamond that
highlights the end of the tour. The Green Vault itself is a real hidden
gem of Europe and Eastern Germany.
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| The Green Vault |
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| A lush coffee service. |
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| The Dresden Green |
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| The Green Vault circa 1904. |
