Hans Christian Andersen is most famous today for his fairy tales. »The Little Mermaid«, »The Emperor's New Clothes« and »The Princess and the Pea« are part of world literature. What is less well known is that the fairy tales were not initially intended for children and that Andersen also wrote poems, dramas, novellas and travelogues. He also created silhouettes and collages.
One of his early travelogues was dedicated to the city of Dresden and Saxon Switzerland, which he visited on his first trip abroad in June 1831. He was particularly fascinated by the picture gallery with the »Sistine Madonna«. He visited well-known personalities such as the poet Ludwig Tieck, who lived in Dresden, and the Norwegian painter Johan Christian Clausen Dahl, who lived in the same house as Caspar David Friedrich. Andersen describes his experiences in impressive detail. This was followed by 14 further visits to the Saxon royal seat, during which he made numerous acquaintances. His contact with the Serre family in particular, who owned a manor in Maxen, became so strong that Andersen travelled to Dresden and Maxen almost every year in the 1850s.
The exhibition is dedicated to the famous poet and his work in Dresden, providing a vivid insight into 19th century Dresden.