Sculpture of Gottfried Semper

The Gottfried Semper monument stands on the Brühl Terrace in Dresden’s Inner Old Town. It marks the spot where the architect Gottfried Semper worked from 1834 to 1849. The bronze statue was commissioned after his death in 1879 and completed in 1892. Johannes Schilling, a leading Dresden sculptor, designed the figure. A granite pedestal supports the life-size statue, which shows Semper holding a partly rolled building plan. The monument was paid for by the Association of German Architects and Engineers. Semper’s son Manfred approved the design during a review in 1890. King Albert of Saxony chose the terrace as its setting. The pedestal and the sandstone staircase beside it were planned by Constantin Lipsius. The staircase leads down to Georg Treu Square, framed by a double flight of steps. Visitors see a bronze figure in formal dress, its left foot resting on a console carved with two lion heads. The statue faces north-west, looking down towards the square. A bronze nameplate is fixed to the front of the pedestal. The terrace itself is part of Dresden’s old fortifications and overlooks the Elbe river. Below the terrace lies the entrance to the Dresden Fortress Museum.