About the museum
The creation of the Baroque gardens including “Friedrichsburg” Castle between 1719 and 1732 can be traced back to the plans of the architects Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, Zacharias Longuelune and Johann Christoph Knöffel. The new gardens were commissioned by Elector Frederick Augustus I, and the design integrated the existing gardens that were completed between 1719 and 1723 under the previous owner, the Duke of Wackerbarth. In 1727, the feast of the Polish Order of the White Eagle took place here for the first time and was held here a further twelve times until 1756.
After the death of Elector Frederick Augustus I, and partly due to a shortage of money, further extension of the garden was discontinued in 1732. The garden remained unfinished with only twelve of the originally planned ninety six hectares having been completed. The garden was partially destroyed as a result of vandalism and battle during the temporary occupation by Prussian troops in the Seven Years’ War and again in 1813. Extensive restoration and maintenance measures began in the middle of the 19th century, in the course of which the derelict castle was demolished, and today’s “Friedrichsschlösschen” (Frederick’s Little Castle) was built. The Grosssedlitz Baroque Garden is among the few gardens whose Baroque ground structure has been preserved unchanged.
The Grosssedlitz Baroque Garden is one of 19 cultural monuments which have been entrusted by the Free State of Saxony to the "State Palaces, Castles and Gardens Sachsen non-profit GmbH" for their care, preservation, management and public promotion.