Fieldtrip: Pillnitz

This is Pillnitz.

It's a collection of palaces and grounds located on the east edge of Dresden dating back to the late 1600s, though it's seen its fair share of redecorations, remodels, and reconstructions since then.

Located pretty far from the bustling city center, Pillnitz served as summer residence for Saxony's royalty and also as home to at least two particularly beloved mistresses of Saxony's kings.

 

The Japanese and Chinese influence is unmistakable, but there's still some Baroque in there, in keeping with the royal family's go-to aesthetic.

 It's a quiet place located right on the Elbe River, and can be reached by ferry.

 And it has a hedge maze.

And on a summer weekday morning, you may there find a plentitude of gray-haired leisure-seekers in khaki jackets and sandals with socks, a photo-snapping gang of Japanese tourists, and these two — a woman and her child widowed and orphaned, respectively, by science.

In loving memory of my darling Jake who has been brainwashed by a doctoral thesis and dragged away by a grizzly band of academics. I guess we had a pretty good run.



JEM