Meissen Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: "Meißen", ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrechtsburg castle, the Gothic Meissen Cathedral and the Meissen Frauenkirche. The "Große Kreisstadt" is the capital of the Meissen district. Meissen is sometimes known as the "cradle of Saxony". The city grew out of the early Slavic settlement of "Misni" inhabited by the Glomacze tribe and was founded as a German town by King Henry the Fowler in 929.
Meissen porcelain landscapes and port scenes, animals, flowers, "galante" courtly scenes and "chinoiseries", fanciful Chinese-inspired decorations, were to be found on Meissen porcelain. The "Kakiemon" vases and tea wares of Japanese export porcelain were imitated as "Indianische Blume" ("Flowers of the Indies"). Paintings by Watteau were copied. Wares were also sold in solid glazed colors, to be enamelled in private workshops ("Hausmalerei") and independently retailed. The support of Augustus' patronage attracted to Meissen some of the finest painters and modellers of Europe as staff artists. The Albrechtsburg was utilized to protect the secrets of the manufacture of the white gold. As a