Schloss Wachau

Barockschloss Wachau stands on a rectangular island of about 3 400 square metres surrounded by a moat in the village of Wachau in Saxony. The present building is a symmetrical, horseshoe-shaped complex in Dresden Baroque style. It replaced a medieval water castle first recorded in 1218 and owned since 1378 by the von Schönfeld family. The palace was commissioned in 1730 by Magdalena Sophie Gräfin von Schönfeld for her son Johann Georg. The architect is unknown, but the design echoes the work of Johann Christoph Knöffel at nearby Rammenau and Zabeltitz. Inside, the grand hall has a ceiling painting by Carl Jolas showing Apollo on Pegasus, and walls decorated with scenes of hunting and farming. Later owners added a Maurische Zimmer in Andalusian Mudéjar style and a Holländische Küche lined with 18th-century Dutch tiles. Visitors enter through a three-bay south front with a pedimented gable and curved balconies. A carriage ramp and staircase lead to the main floor where the vestibule opens into the two-storey hall. The rear courtyard shows a curved stair-tower topped by the von Werthern coat of arms. South of the building an English park contains sandstone figures from the Commedia dell’arte.