Schloss Pillnitz Photos

Pillnitz is on the Elbe River, in the southeastern suburbs of Dresden. (This photo was taken from the Schwebebahn Dresden, an historic monorail suspension railway between Dresden and Pillnitz.)

Two types of boat serve Pillnitz: Vintage paddlewheelers of the Sächsische Dampfschiffahrt or Saxon Steamboat Company, and the yellow-hulled Elbe ferries of Dresden's DVB transit company.

Arriving by boat (in this case, via paddlewheel steamer) offers a fine view of the Pillnitz estate.

Your boat will arrive at a pier on the palace grounds.

A short walk will bring you into the main quandrangle of the Pillnitz complex, where you'll see the Neues Palais . (The New Palace was built between 1818 and 1826, to replace the Old Palace that had burned down on May 1, 1818.)

You'll also view the landward side of the Wasserpalais, or Water Palace, which you already saw from the Elbe if you arrived by boat. (See photo on page 1 of this article.)

The central gardens of the Pillnitz are formal in design. The Pleasure Garden, for example, began as a Baroque garden under Augustus the Strong but was redesigned several times during the 19th Century.

Park benches face the Pleasure Garden and the Neues Palais.

The Maillebahn was once used for playing pallamaglio (Italian for "paille-maille" or "pall-mall"), a now-defunct French and English game with a passing resemblance to croquet.

In 1965, the former pallamaglio alley was planted with rows of chestnut trees on both sides. When I visited Pillnitz in October, the local squirrels had been feasting on chestnuts, and shells were scattered along the path.

As  I headed toward the boat landing, I saw these signs: one forbidding horseback riding, the other telling bicyclists to get off and push their bikes.

By late afternoon, many Pillnitz visitors were ready to return home.

Other locals preferred to walk along the Elbe on foot with their dogs.

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