Altstädtische Hauptwache

Altstädtische Hauptwache stands at the southern corner of Theaterplatz in Dresden’s Inner Old Town, beside Sophienstraße. The Semperoper, Catholic Court Church and Taschenbergpalais surround this compact sandstone building. Its late Berlin Classicism follows Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s school rather than traditional Dresden architecture. An Ionic portico gives the central Antentempel a calm, temple-like appearance.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed the structure, which Joseph Thürmer supervised between 1830 and 1832. Cotta sandstone made it Dresden’s first building constructed from this material. Earlier buildings on the site served as city police stations. Air raids destroyed the structure in 1945, while reconstruction restored its exterior and modernised its interior. After restoration from 1993 to 1996, the building gained a tourist information centre and café.

Saxonia by Joseph Herrmann watches from the south-eastern front. Mars by Franz Pettrich occupies the north-western gable. Since 1985, the Semperoper ticket office has used the building, alongside its later Opera Dining&Bar.

City: Dresden
Content updated: 2026-06-22

Image: Matthias Hiekel CC BY-SA 3.0 de
Image: IngersollPublic domain
Image: Museum für saechsische VaterlandskundePublic domain
Image: Matthias Hiekel CC BY-SA 3.0 de

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The myTuur app is free, and once you are standing at a spot its story starts by itself.

Spots like this one are the stops myTuur strings into tours through Dresden. In the app, each story begins where you stand: walk up to a spot and it starts, read it on screen or listen as you go, then follow the route to the next one.

What is myTuur?

myTuur is a free city-guide app. Its tours are built from spots, and each spot carries a story that starts when you get there, to read or to listen to as you like.