One of the palaces I briefly visited (i.e. saw the exterior) in Germany back in 2009 was Schloss Pillnitz, or Pillnitz Castle, the leisure and summer residence of the electors and kings of Saxony. Schloss Pillnitz is located on the banks of the Elbe River in Dresden, Saxony, Germany. It comprises three palaces: the Baroque and Chinoiserie Riverside Palace (Wasserpalais), the Hillside Palace (Bergpalais), and the neoclassical New Palace (Neues Palais). The first two palaces were built between 1720-24 and were used for entertainment by August the Strong. When a Renaissance palace burnt down in 1818, his great-grandson, Elector Frederick Augustus I, had a New Palace built in the neoclassical style, which was completed in 1826.
The Riverside palace is located on the river bank with steps leading to the Elbe River. There is a replica of the red gondola that Frederick Augustus I had used to travel between his main royal residence, Dresdner Residenzschloss, and Pillnitz. It was Frederick Augustus I who made Pillnitz his summer residence and it continued to be a summer residence for the House of Wettin until the end of WWI.
The replica gondola made from parts of the original gondola
The riverside staircase and markings showing how hide the water levels in the last two centuries.
Today, the New Palace houses the Palace Museum (Schlossmuseum) and the Riverside and Hillside Palaces house the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum).
The Lady and the Rose 