Die Parforcejagd zu Wermsdorf und Hubertusburg

Between Dresden and Leipzig lies the Saxon Versailles, Schloss Hubertusburg, one of the most significant palace complexes of the 18th century in Germany. Completed in 1752, this hunting lodge of the Saxon Elector and Polish King Augustus III was lavishly furnished and regularly served the court as a venue for grand festivities and parforce hunts until the outbreak of the Seven Years' War. The parforce hunt was incredibly elaborate, requiring 250 dogs from the Saxon-Polish hunting pack to be led and trained daily by hunt masters. Parforce hunts were ceremonial luxury hunts involving exhausting hours-long rides, often requiring changes of horses. For the small village of Wermsdorf, the relocation of the court from Dresden to Wermsdorf during the weeks of the court hunt was always a grand experience. Enormous efforts went into preparing for the hunting parade, breakfast, and outdoor luncheons, and the grand hunting procession on Hubertus Day, November 3rd, left the staff and helpers of the parforce hunting party with no time to participate in the religious festivities of their patron saint. Reprint of the original edition from 1879.