2009 - Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden

Page 64: US President Barack Obama and Federal Chancellor
Dr. Angela Merkel during the press conference in the
Small Courtyard of the Residenzschloss on 5 th June 2009
Guests of honour in the Historisches Grünes Gewölbe:
Barack Obama and Angela Merkel sign the Golden Books
of the City of Dresden and the Free State of Saxony.
H IStORIC MOMENtS
US President Barack Obama in the Grünes Gewölbe
The most famous visitor to the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden in 2009 was most definitely US President
Barack Obama. Weeks before his arrival, rumours started
to circulate and there were initial indications that the most
powerful figure on the world political stage might be
coming to Dresden. Once it became clear that the President
of the United States of America really was going to conduct
political talks with the Federal Chancellor in the Grünes
Gewölbe, a series of confidential preliminary visits to the
Residenzschloss took place, which put high demands above
all on Prof. Dr. Martin Roth, Director-General of the Staatliche
Kunstsammlungen Dresden, and Michael John, Technical
Manager of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden.
Whether it was the Protocol Department of the Foreign
Office and the State Chancellery, the Federal Press Office,
the Federal Criminal Police Office or US security authorities
– every institution had certain demands to make. The
Saxon police force’s special operation code-named “Canaletto
2009” turned Dresden into a three-level security
zone such as had never been seen before. The focal point
was the Taschenbergpalais, where Obama rested – in the
same suite in which Vladimir Putin had stayed in January
– after having given a remarkable speech in Cairo, and from
where he walked straight over to the Residenzschloss.
In the Residenzschloss everything went according to plan,
the talks in the Bronzenzimmer and the Wappenzimmer,
the photo session in the Pretiosensaal and the press confer-
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in the exhibition
“Crossing the Seas with Fortuna. Saxony and Denmark
– Marriages and Alliances Mirrored in Art (1548 – 1709)”
ence in the Kleiner Schlosshof. The Grünes Gewölbe is used
to receiving high-ranking state visitors, and not only since
its reopening in 2006. Its founder, August the Strong, well
knew how to use it in the interests of the state. As Prof. Dr.
Dirk Syndram, Director of the Grünes Gewölbe, pointed
out on the day of Obama’s visit in a live interview with the
German TV channel ARD, he would certainly have enjoyed
the visit of the US President to his treasure chamber.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in the Residenzschloss
On 22 nd and 23 rd August 2009, the Prime Minister of Saxony
Stanislaw Tillich and his wife Veronika welcomed Her
Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her sister, Her
Royal Highness Princess Benedikte, to Saxony. This two-day
visit took place in connection with art and culture that
testified to the centuries-long dynastic relationship between
Saxony and Denmark. In 1709, i.e. exactly 300 years
ago, the Danish King Frederik IV visited the Elector of Saxony,
August the Strong. To mark the occasion, extravagant
festivities were held over a period of four weeks in the
Saxon capital. “The purpose of the meeting between August
the Strong and Frederik IV was not only magnificent
courtly display. It also served to promote diplomacy and
peace. For 200 years during the Renaissance and Baroque
periods, Saxony and Denmark were close partners among
the European concert of powers,” said Prime Minister Stanislaw
Tillich at the opening of the exhibition “Mit Fortuna
übers Meer. Sachsen und Dänemark – Ehen und Allianzen
im Spiegel der Kunst (1548 – 1709)“ (Crossing the Seas with
Fortuna. Saxony and Denmark – Marriages and Alliances
Mirrored in Art [1548 – 1709]) in Dresden’s Residenzschloss.
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