The time around 1800 was one of enormous dynamism: social, scientific, technological – the signs pointed everywhere to change, a new dawn, progress. Paradoxically, in the decorative arts the path to the future of design led back to classical antiquity.

The permanent exhibition "Design around 1800" illuminates the various facets of applied art around 1800 with ceramics, textiles, glass and metalwork, furniture, paper wallpaper and clocks. The exhibition is shown in the Imperial Rooms in the west wing of the Bergpalais at Pillnitz Palace. This sequence of rooms, which was created around 1790 and some parts of which have been preserved in their original state, is itself an impressive testimony to the interior design of this period.