I was skeptical of this museum (and in particular the exhibit on the 2nd floor) after reading the…read moreintroductory remarks which are full of typical postmodern art museum BS. That said I found the exhibit enjoyably interesting. 2 hrs here is enough for a quick stroll through the 3 floors. Spend more time on the 2nd. I used the Dresden Museum pass here.

This Old Masters Museum is in a complex. The museum entrance was hard to find because of the…read moretourist groups gathering and blocking the entrance. Once we made it into the building, we were rudely greeted by two old and angry women, and told to go downstairs for tickets. We were directed to self service lockers for coats and backpacks then to purchase tickets. The same rude "greeters" on the first floor practically yelled at me because I had my purse with me. She demanded that I return and store it in the locker. I asked if I could keep it with me because it contained my passport and with a stern and rude "nein" she turned me away. I did manage to put my valuables in my pocket in hopes that there are no pick pockets in the museum. The museum's collection is impressive, but the curation is not up to par. Many of the master works are behind glass such as Raphael's Sistina Madonna. The skylights and lighting above the Sistina Madonna casted a terrible glare, which made it impossible to enjoy the piece from a direct front view. The pieces are incredible, which would make this a 5* museum, but the terrible curation and horrible customer service bumped down 2*.

Ekstasis ~ "standing outside oneself" (from Greek, ex- "out" + histanai "to place")…read more First there was Raphael's Sistine Madonna. Then, somewhere between Giorgione's Sleeping Venus and Vermeer's Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window -- ecstasy waved and found us: sitting on round sofas, gazing at art.

Gorgeous palace! The inside is apparently some vr experience thing and not like a normal castle…read moreexperience. They also have art and there's a few different exhibits. The outside was pretty but the whole garden is under construction so it's not the best right now.

What a neat historical place showing off some very old historical art work of Dresden Germany. The…read morecourt yards and gardens were absolutely spectacular to walk through and around the palace. Walking through and understanding culture hear was pretty fun and great experience.

It is not just about the jewels collection in the Historic Green Vault. The are many other…read morecollections of functional art. Great collection of presentation grade arms and armor. Really impressed with the items from the Ottomann Empire. Everything displayed were very nicely restored and presented for up close viewing. Almost everything was identified and explained in English along with German. The free audio guide in English and many other languages was very useful. Really appreciate this museum's effort to accommodate non German speakers. A must visit place when in Dresden. Buy the two day combined ticket. A good bargain if you want to visit the Zwinger as well. Sorry, no photos allowed. Hope my words helps with your decision to visit.

As an overview, the "Green Vault" is Germany's equivalent to a grandmother bragging about her…read morechintzy keepsakes she collected over the years. Perhaps to immediate family the keepsakes are impressive, but to all other visitors, who cares! Yes, I'm a bit biased. There are some interesting historical pieces and some items of truly significant historical value, but I wanted to give the average Yelp readers a reality check before selecting this museum. The three most interesting items I liked about this museum included: (1) Ivan the Terrible's drinking vessel, (2) a rock crystal glass once owned by Martin Luther, and (3) the amber collection. WiFi: not available Bathroom: for a Euro 1 fee Time budget: unless you're an expert on something in this museum, 90 minutes is enough time. Photos: Photos are not allowed in the museum Value: Unless you have a special connection to something on display here, I rate the value as below average for this museum.

This museum is located in the city center of Dresden and it is an easy walk even in the cold if you…read moreare staying in a hotel in the area. There is also a tram stop, use Google to confirm. We walked. It is centrally located near many restaurants and shops. This has a 16 euro entry free. Negative: 1. This is 16 euros and not worth it. 2. There is no WIFI. 3. Bathrooms are not free 4. No photos allowed. 5. Watch the size of your bag, my crossbody bag was too big according to coat check and I had to leave it behind. The coat check is free, but a locker is 1 euro. The building other than one room was destroyed during the war. All rooms but one were renovated and restored. This is a rich man's over indulgence in buying stuff. He would be considered a collector/hoarder in today's terms. There are quite a lot of high end impressive items from amber, mother of pearl, gold, emerald, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, glass, and more. It is quite overwhelming. There is free audio to explain everything but not everything is covered in the audio guide. So things you are curious, there is no details. There is limited explanation of items on the walls or display cases. You have to go through a "vault" to get to the treasures. There have been quite a few breakins that make security heighten here and they are still missing some pieces from a break in, there is a plaque that explains the details the past break-ins. Yes, this is a lovely museum packed full of a rich man's beloved collection of treasures, but I found it overwhelming and quite boring after 30 minutes. I would recommend this museum if it was 5 euros. At 16 euros, skip it.

Beautiful castle! Large and embedded in the Old City of Dresden…read more Perfektes Schloss! Gross und im Bezirk der Alten Stadt Dresden. Review: 5

A great value with an amazing collection. It was almost too much to take in! The alarmed displays…read moreare a great way to alert staff when someone gets too close without impeding viewability. I appreciated being able to go at our own pace & highly recommend taking a closer look at the details on some of the displayed items. For example, one knife handle has detsiled images on cameos the size of my fingernail embedded. The display glass was crystal clear (I saw a few people bonk their heads leaning in), and the lighting was reflection free- truly stunning display cases. I would gladly go back

This is one of a kind porcelain. State of the art design and artists. Very interesting tour. I…read morethink this porcelain is unique in the world.

Excellent tour giving you an overview of the porcelain manufacturing process. Nearly every step is…read moreby hand, you go through 4 different rooms to see artisans working each major stage. Very impressive what they do, it is painstaking work. No wonder why their product is so expensive. The factory has a large parking area, cost is 5 euro for the day. Only quibble is the combo pass should give you some information on how to use the local bus to save walking or driving between the factory and the castle.

If you are interested in porcelain, you will enjoy the fine pieces shown here. Many are from China…read moreand Japan but many are from Meissen, nearby. You can see the detailed artwork and be amazed by the talent these artists showed. One thing I did not like was having to climb up a long flight of stairs to buy a ticket, then back down to the exhibit. Maybe I'm just tired. Minor problem for most visitors, I think. We did not see an elevator but perhaps there is one.

I've always loved museums and the Zwinger museum made my trip to Germany complete…read more It holds the famous Sistine Madonna which have the two bored looking baby angels looking up at the sky but I didn't realize it was a portion of a much larger portrait of the Virgin Mary holding the Baby Jesus. I came late around 5pm and since it was in October, I thought the museum would close by 6pm. However, lucky me, the museum stayed open until 7pm and I had a chance to linger a little longer, stare at the painting and think about its significance. The museum holds a large quantity of Old Italian Masters consisting of many religious overtones of death and suffering. However, what took my breath away was when I stepped outside in the courtyard during twilight and the reflection of the faint lights streaming through the windows. I stayed outside in the courtyard for a bit and took in the gorgeousness. The cobblestones, the lighting and the quietness all had a romantic feel to it. Perhaps this is why I fell in love with Dresden.... P.S. The attendees at the museum were super cool that I could take pictures of the paintings as long as there were no flash!

I'm a watch nerd, so I wanted to really love this place. And I did, but I think it could have been…read morebetter. Starting with what worked, the museum presents a really exhaustive chronological timeline of the development of the watch industry in the town, completely with lots and lots of artifacts as examples - some truly impressive. Gorgeous hand finished work of art, marine chronometers that went to the North Pole, pilot's watches manufactured for WWII. You learn a lot about the founding personalities as well as the manufacturing firms involved, and the museum does a similarly good job of covering how the town and the industry worked through Soviet dismantling of the factories post WWII, operations behind the Iron Curtain, and the quartz revolution, before the more recent renaissance with super lux brands that I can only dream about. There is also a great audio guide - very detailed and worth listening to. I really liked the Glashütte Original sponsored exhibit on the ground floor showing how one of their more complicated watches worked - a projector shines on a round table that shows a sort of x-ray view inside the watch movement, highlighting which pieces are involved, how gears and levers move, etc. But that cool cutaway exhibit just made me notice how much "watch basics" are missing from this museum. To be fair, the museum is not selling itself as "how watches work," it's "watchmaking in this town." But I still feel like a little more explanation of the basics of how watches work could help people understand more of the exhibits, which lay on some fairly specific watchmaking terms. There is an upstairs room with a multimedia "glossary" - which would take hours to go through - but just a basic animation of how a movement goes together, what the wheels do, etc. You have to go a little out of your way to visit, and you need to like watches to want to visit, I think, but if that's up your alley, this is a great side trip, especially if you're already in the area. It's an easy drive from Dresden.