Dresden's most celebrated building, a festive Baroque palace built between 1709 and 1732 by Daniel Pöppelmann for Augustus the Strong. The name means "outer ward" — the complex sits between the old inner and outer city walls. Originally designed for tournaments and court festivities, the Zwinger is a series of pavilions linked by richly decorated arcades around a central courtyard. The gilded Crown Gate is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Germany.
Gottfried Semper closed the open south side with his gallery building in 1855, giving the courtyard its current enclosed form. After near-total destruction in 1945, the Zwinger was painstakingly reconstructed.
Today the complex houses several world-class collections. The Old Masters Gallery has Raphael's Sistine Madonna, Giorgione, Vermeer, and Canaletto's detailed views of 18th-century Dresden. The Porcelain Collection displays Meissen and East Asian ceramics, and the Mathematical-Physical Salon covers historic scientific instruments. The courtyard itself is free to enter and worth a stroll even if you skip the museums.