Dessau Palace

The Dessau Palace (German: Residenzschloss Dessau or Stadtschloss Dessau) in Dessau in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt was a princely palace which mostly served as the main residence of the princes of Anhalt-Dessau and later the Dukes of Anhalt. The palace was one of the first renaissance buildings in the middle of Germany (see also: Saxon Renaissance). Today, there is only one wing remaining, the Johannbau, which offers room to the City History Museum of Dessau.

The Dessau City Palace around 1900

A four winged palace in the 17th century

The Palace from the Mulde river around 1900

The Johannbau wing today

The Johannbau wing with in the back the Marienkirche and the city hall tower

The Dessau Residence Palace was originally built in 1341 using stones from Waldeser Castle (also known as Waldersee Castle), which had been destroyed by flooding of the Mulde river.^[1] The palace was destroyed by fire in 1405 and again in 1467. In 1529, construction began on a new four-winged palace on the site of the former palace.^[2] Under the architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff the palace was changed into an 18th-century three-winged palace.

The palace was heavily damaged during the Second World War, and its ruins were largely demolished in the times of the DDR. Only one wing, the Johannbau, is remaining. After restorations between 1990 and 1997, and between 2001 and 2005, the Johannbau has been opened for the public and houses now the museum for the history of Dessau.

Stylistically, the Johannbau is classified as early Renaissance, as the architectural decoration on the arched gables, windows, portals, and altar and the spiral stone rising above it has characteristic features such as spheres and lily tracery friezes. The formal language corresponds to the transitional period from the late Gothic to the Renaissance,^[3] as can also be found in other early buildings of the Saxon Renaissance.