Kupferstich-Kabinett Dresden, Print room in Dresden Castle, Germany
The Kupferstich-Kabinett is the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden's museum of drawings, prints and photographs, housed since 2004 on the second floor of Dresden Castle. Its holdings of over 500,000 works range from Albrecht Dürer, Michelangelo and Rembrandt to Caspar David Friedrich and Georg Baselitz. Temporary exhibitions change every three months and show up to 200 objects at a time.
The collection grew out of the Wettin art chamber founded around 1560 and became an independent museum of prints and drawings in 1720. Most holdings were evacuated to Schloss Weesenstein before the February 1945 bombing, yet around 50,000 items remain missing. The Soviet Union took the main works after the war; they returned in the late 1950s and were shown in the Albertinum. Since 2004 the museum has occupied the second floor of Dresden Castle.
The name reflects the centuries-old tradition of printmaking that remains central to the collection. Visitors encounter works by artists like Dürer and Rembrandt that show how printing techniques shaped artistic practice across generations.
Visitors can view original artworks in the study room, and advance registration is recommended if you want to examine specific pieces. Check opening times and visitor guidelines before your visit to plan accordingly.
In June 2026 it emerged that Otto Greiner's drawing "Stehender männlicher Rückenakt, an eine Mauer gelehnt" (1892, acquired 1894), missing since World War II, had been rediscovered at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles. Staff identified it by a 1900 reproduction, a characteristic ink stain and a Cyrillic inscription on the verso; the Getty shows it from June to October 2026 and returns it in December 2026.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,055 contributors worldwide.
