Taking place after long years of conflicts and embittered wars, the Pillnitz Convention, held from 25 to 27 of August 1791, signaled a tentative rapprochement between Austria and Prussia. Organized in order to discuss bilateral relations, as well as their joint position vis-à-vis the coup in Poland and the revolution in France, the convention was supposed to put a reconciliation process in motion. Emperor Leopold II, preferring an informal and neutral location to hold the summit, decided on Schloss Pillnitz. While himself not party to the talks, Frederick Augustus III, Elector of Saxony, gladly agreed to play host to this prestigious convention, of great significance to the state of political affairs in Europe.

This joint summit of two of Europe’s major rulers appeared to yet another party, of French émigrés led by the Count of Artois, brother of then imprisoned King Louis XVI, as an opportune chance, and so, to everyone’s displeasure, they invited themselves to take part in the hope of mobilizing both king and emperor into an active intervention in France, such that should lead, ultimately, to the restoration the monarchy. The Pillnitz Convention might have had quite a different agenda at the outset, yet it is the Pillnitz Declaration, signed on 27.8.1791 upon joint agreement between Leopold II, Frederick Wilhelm II and the Count of Artois, that was to go down in history. With a highly cautious wording that, on the part of Leopold II and Frederick Wilhelm II, insured the least possible concessions, it was deliberately paraded by the French as one step ahead of a war declaration – as it is often understood to this day.

In May 1791, as it had emerged that Pillnitz was to host Emperor Leopold II and the Prussian monarch, Frederick Wilhelm II, the castle’s new side wing had to be completed under high pressure. Additional furniture had to be brought in to accommodate the distinguished guests, such as a stately bed that, promptly thereafter, was sent back to Dresden.

Each of the monarchs was given their own section to stay in one of the Bergpalais’s wings. King Frederick Wilhelm II inhabited the mezzanine in the eastern wing, with the equivalent suit in the western wing assigned to Leopold II, who thus had the castle’s most lavishly decorated rooms at his disposal. This last mezzanine differs from all other three in its floor plan: It is more generous in spatial allocation and south-facing. These rooms could have had a different function originally – perhaps as reception salons for the court – which would account for the lavish paneling work they were given, a décor that, of outstanding artistic quality, nowadays counts among the few and extremely rare examples of early neoclassical style in Saxony. Short as it was, Emperor Leopold’s visit in those rooms kept them connected – at least by their name, which persisted through successive inventories going far into the 20th century. It is only in 1971, with the installation of the permanent exhibit of the Kunstgewerbemuseum (the Museum of Decorative Arts), that a renaming became possible. Henceforth they became known as the “Weinlig-Zimmer,” in honor of the architect long thought to have been in charge of their original décor, Christian Traugott Weinlig. However, in the course of the current restoration, in view of the difficulty of supporting this attribution through documents as well as stylistically, the former name was resorted to again – especially that now, following the restoration, they hark back to the “emperor’s suit” ever more clearly.

A complete restoration of the Kaiserzimmer suit of chambers in the Bergpalais Pillnitz was undertaken between 2017 and 2020, made possible through the Staatsbetrieb Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement. This includes the careful cleaning of original wood carvings and stucco decorations as well as paintings, the replacement of parts that have gone missing, and the readjustment of former restoration work discolored over time. Thanks to research we can now better admire the Kaiserzimmer as they had originally looked. The suit is marked by a color scheme persisting throughout, with alternating tones of blue and yellow offsetting one another. The walls in the suit’s two main rooms were mounted with satin silk of either a wheat-hue tone or light blue, with windows decorated with taffeta silk curtains of the corresponding color. The elegant sheen reflected from satin silk owes to the fabric’s unique weaving technique, where weft fibers are threaded mostly on the top side. The fabric that covered the walls created in both these rooms a vivid contrast that complements the wood paneling.

The original silk that covered the walls was removed in the course of renovation work that had taken place already in 1827 and replaced with wallpaper. With a new restoration underway, it was now again possible to resort to a satin silk that ties to the room’s original décor. Based on written inventories and the assessment of fibers found onsite, a new set of silk satins were designed for covering the walls, with tones of wheat-yellow and light blue. Of delicate glow, the satin material weaved in 1791 would have been made of 100% fine silk threads. In the current restoration however, for reasons of sustainability – that is, to insure a longer durability over time – the material used is made of 50% silk; the warp threads, essentially the fabric’s invisible framework, are made of a more robust cotton that, in addition, is less sensitive to light, with the weft, which carries the look of the fabric, still made of silk. The mounting was carried out largely following the historical method, with a first layer of linen applied to the plastered wall. A modern addition, a sheet of Japanese paper was then applied for long-term preservation, as a protective and separating layer. A third layer of cotton fabric concludes the inner layers preceding the final application of the precious silk. Mechanically weaved, the textile used measures 130 cm across, a modern width not corresponding to the original measure (which, in 1791, would have been 53 cm wide). For concerns of authenticity and the rhythmical effect across the wall, it was cut into vertical stripes that were then resown together.

Also of note are traces discovered on the painted walls of the two outward-facing rooms. Dresden-based conservator Sandra Risz was able to investigate their original structure and coloration by minutely exposing patches in them. The painted areas have a decorative illusionist scheme partly set in with medallions. Given that the inventory of the interior décor isn’t laid out for each room separately, nor the furniture specified in great detail, it is hardly possible today to envision the original décor. It is very fortunate then, that studies of the décor that had been originally kept allow us today at least to identify three window-pier tables that, following careful restoration, were returned to their original location.

Of great art-historical significance for Saxony, this early neoclassical interior is now the setting of a new permanent exhibition, "Design around 1800". With this, the Kunstgewerbemuseum showcases exceptional exhibits in the neoclassical style from its own collection, including ceramics, textiles, metalwork, furniture, wallpaper and clocks. The show gives special attention to the developments in Saxony, to the principal actors in the environs of the Dresden court and the craftsmanship of the time. To that end, the Kunstgewerbemuseum’s own exhibits were complemented by additional loans from the Dresden State Art Collection’s Porcelain Collection, Historic Green Vault, Coin Cabinet, and Sculpture Collection. A unique piece of Saxon craftsmanship around 1800 on view is an egg-shaped chandelier in early neoclassical style, produced in the glass manufacture of the Saxon Electorate. A newly-acquired highlight in the Kunstgewerbemuseum’s collection, it is a striking example of the fantasy that went into the design of chandeliers around 1800. Of extraordinary quality in both design and construction, its unconventional basket- or egg-like shape stands out even for the time of early neoclassicism. The superb interplay between the metalwork of the frame, in gold-plated bronze, and pendants of bohemian glass in a rich array of forms is a testament to the high level of Saxon craftsmanship at the time. The glass manufacture of the Saxon Electorate was among the earliest in central Europe to produce brass-coated glassware and chandeliers.

Archeological digs conducted from the 18th century on – such as those in Pompeii and Herculaneum – had rendered the art of the Roman Empire more accessible: Once unearthed, the frescoes, statues and three-dimensional objects such as lamps, vases and tables were publicized and eagerly adopted by large publics throughout Europe. The subject of intense preoccupation, the culture of the Roman Empire – and, mediated through it, the art of ancient Greece and Egypt – came to be translated into a new, reworked language of forms and stylistic approach – that of neoclassicism. The suit of the Kaiserzimmer stands as an exciting example to this new style as interpreted by Saxon artisanship.

That Dresden’s role at the beginning of neoclassicism was hardly a negligible one is often overlooked today. Yet it is here that Winckelmann witnessed the sculpted figures of the Herculaneum Women, which pushed him towards a deep involvement with the art of antiquity. In the academia as well as in the field of decorative arts, many artists and key figures were active whose horizon and network extended far beyond Dresden, persons who, already of service in France and Italy, stood in contact with the leading minds of the day.