Send special Christmas greetings
A special Christmas card is now available at the two tourist information offices in Dessau-Roßlau.
The painting “Princess Amalia Augusta of Anhalt-Dessau in front of a Christmas tree”, a major work by the painter Johann Friedrich August Tischbein (1750-1812), was acquired for the permanent exhibition of the Anhalt Picture Gallery in November.
It shows a granddaughter of Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz (1740-1817), the creator of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Kingdom. Tischbein was employed for a time as court painter to the princely family. In this context the painting of Prince Franz’s granddaughter in the Residence Palace was created. It is one of the first pictorial representations of a decorated Christmas tree.
The original portrait was acquired with funds from the Kulturstiftung der Länder, the state of Saxony-Anhalt, the Ernst von Siemens Kunststiftung, the Ostdeutsche Sparkassenstiftung together with the Stadtsparkasse Dessau and the city of Dessau-Roßlau. It will be on display in the Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie in the future.
In a limited edition, the traditional Christmas motif can now be purchased as a folding card at the two tourist information offices for € 2.50.
A donation of € 1.00 per ticket will be made from the proceeds to the “Anhaltische Gemäldegalerie und Georgengarten” Dessau e. V.
The sum raised will go towards the restoration of the painting “Princess Friederike of Prussia with Turban”, also a work by Tischbein.