Hofkirche
The Hofkirche, also called the Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, is the former Catholic court church and the cathedral of the Diocese of Dresden-Meißen, built between 1739 and 1751 to Gaetano Chiaveri's design.
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What it is
The church is dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity (Ss. Trinitatis). It is both the bishop's church and a parish church, the cathedral parish.
It stands in Dresden's Old Town, at the Theaterplatz and Schloßplatz. The Zwinger and the Semperoper also have Theaterplatz addresses: number 1 and number 2. The north wing of the Residenzschloss is largely hidden behind the church and joined to it by a passage.
History
Friedrich August II, son of Augustus the Strong, and his wife Maria Josepha commissioned the church for the Catholic court. It was built in the Baroque style and consecrated in 1751.
Until 1918 the church was court church and parish church at the same time. Bombing severely damaged it in 1945. It became a cathedral in 1980.
The statues
The sculptor Lorenzo Mattielli made the 78 stone figures on the balustrades, niches and tower. They show apostles, saints and church fathers. The stone is Cotta sandstone, quarried in Saxon Switzerland.
Inside and below
The interior is plain: there are no ceiling paintings and no coloured marbling. The pulpit is by the sculptor Balthasar Permoser.
The church has an organ by Gottfried Silbermann, built from 1750 to 1753. His pupil Zacharias Hildebrand finished it after his death. The organ was consecrated in 1755 and restored from November 2001 to November 2002.
Under the church is a crypt where the Catholic members of the Wettin ruling house are buried. The heart of Augustus the Strong is kept there. A second crypt, the bishops' crypt, is where the bishops of Dresden-Meißen are buried.