The gilding
Gold leaf covering the whole statue, shining hard in the sun.
Bybbisch94, Christian Gebhardt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DCB, Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich) — CC BY 4.0 · Bybbisch94, Christian Gebhardt — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Golden Rider is a gilded equestrian statue of Augustus the Strong, ruler of Saxony, standing at the end of the Augustus Bridge on Dresden's north bank. It was raised in 1736 after his death and is covered in gold leaf that shines hard in sunlight. It shows him dressed as a Roman emperor, facing east towards Poland, of which he was also king. It is free and always in the open, standing at the head of the tree-lined Hauptstraße, the entrance to the Neustadt quarter, which is quite unlike the touristy old town.
Gold leaf covering the whole statue, shining hard in the sun.
The figure faces east towards Poland, of which Augustus was also king.
It stands at the head of the Neustadt, the local, younger side of Dresden.
Neustädter Markt, 01097 Dresden
The Archive of the Avant-Gardes at the BlockhausThe Blockhaus is an eighteenth-century baroque guardhouse at the northern end of1 minute walk4.0
Museum of Saxon Folk ArtThe museum occupies the Jaegerhof, a princely hunting lodge begun in fifteen six2 minutes walk4.5
Canaletto ViewThe Canaletto View is not a building but an angle. You stand on the north bank o3 minutes walk4.7
Museum of Dresden RomanticismThe Kügelgenhaus is a baroque merchant's house on the main street of the Neustad3 minutes walk4.5
Japanese Palace (Japanisches Palais)The Japanese Palace witnesses Europe's eighteenth-century obsession with the Far4 minutes walk4.3Ruler of Saxony in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and king of Poland as well. He gathered the Green Vault treasures and built the Zwinger; most of the grandeur you see in Dresden dates from his reign.
The tree-lined Hauptstraße begins here and leads into the Neustadt, the local side of Dresden with its cafés and painted streets, quite unlike the old town. Cross back over the bridge for the view of the old town from the water.
Ten minutes for the statue. But use it as a starting point: walking over the Augustus Bridge and into the Neustadt is worth an hour or two.