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.
Dresden Porcelain Collection One strength is the collection of traditional Chinese and Japanese porcelain acquired by Augustus the Strong. Above all this includes blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, in particular the "Dragoon Vases" acquired by Augustus from King Frederick William I in exchange for a regiment of dragoons. There are also colourful famille-verte and famille-rose items, white Dehua ceramics, Japanese Arita porcelain, and ceramics made especially for export. The other strongpoint is the collection of Saxon porcelain, in particular Meissen porcelain. This crockery is decorated partly with Chinese patterns, but also with various European motifs such as scenes from mythology