In the 1720s, Augustus the Strong ordered a pair of Baroque summer palaces built beside the Elbe, where he could entertain at costume parties and sporting contests.
Decorated in the then-popular Chinoiserie style, they face each other across a garden. Pillnitz later became the royal family's summer residence, and in 1820 the Neoclassical New Palace was built, forming the third side of the Pleasure Garden.
During all this time, the gardens grew and expanded across the estate, each new addition reflecting the tastes and styles of its era, until they stretched across much of the 77-acre park.
