Coselpalais, City palace in Inner Old Town, Dresden, Germany

The Coselpalais is a five-story, eleven-axis rococo palace at An der Frauenkirche 12, northeast of the Frauenkirche where the Salzgasse opens onto the square. Julius Heinrich Schwarze built it from 1762 to 1764 around a small courtyard flanked by two two-story wings; the main front has a central risalit with a triangular gable, and the first upper floor holds the Festsaal. The pale yellow facade carries the lettering "GRAND CAFE - RESTAURANT"; a dark wooden cannon on a wheeled carriage stands on the cobbles in front.

The site held a 20-metre powder tower, demolished in 1744; Johann Christoph Knöffel built two five-storey houses there in 1745–46, ruined by Prussian bombardment on 19 July 1760. Friedrich August von Cosel bought the remains in 1762 and had Julius Heinrich Schwarze rebuild them as a Rococo palace by 1764. Cosel never lived in it; from 1845 to 1853 it housed the Russisches Hotel, then served as a police station until 1901.

The name comes from General Friedrich August von Cosel, who bought the ruins in 1762 but never lived here; he died in 1770 in his Dresden residence. Diners at the Grand Café & Restaurant can see the baroque courtyard and the wing rooms: the Porcelain Room, Rose Room, Mirror Room and Bird Room. The Pulverturm restaurant occupies the vaulted cellars of the former powder tower.

The building is largely occupied by offices, so only the Grand Café & Restaurant and the Pulverturm restaurant are open to visitors. Dining there gives access to the baroque courtyard and historic wing rooms such as the Porcelain Room, Rose Room, Mirror Room and Bird Room. Tram lines 1, 2 and 4 stop at Altmarkt, a few minutes' walk away.

The twelve sandstone figures of children above the gate entrance, carved by Johann Gottfried Knöffler, are counted among the high points of Saxon Baroque sculpture. General Friedrich August von Cosel, who commissioned the palace, never lived in it; he died in 1770 at his other Dresden property.