- 1206
Dresden first mentioned as a fording point on the Elbe River
- 1423
Ruler of Saxony made elector of the Holy Roman Empire
- 1485
Elector of Saxony chose Dresden as main residence
- 1517
Martin Luther's "95 Theses on the Misuses of Indulgences" purportedly posted on the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church
- 1520
Luther publishes Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation
- 1522
Luther's German translation of New Testament published
- 1548
Court Orchestra founded, forerunner of Saxon State Orchestra
- 1556
Royal Saxon Library founded by Prince Elector Augustus (1553–1586) as his personal library
- 1694–1733
Reign of Augustus I, the Strong, who also became King of Poland in 1697
- 1709–1732
Zwinger "arena," an art gallery and festival courtyard built beside the palace by architect Pöppelmann
- 1727
Royal Library moves into two wings of Zwinger Palace and is made accessible to the public
- 1733–1763
Reign of Augustus II
- 1736
Johann von Besser's collection acquired by the Royal Library
- 1755
Librarian Winckelmann published Imitation of the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks
- 1756–1763
Seven Years War
- 1763–1806
Reign of Augustus III
- 1764
Count von Bünau's library purchased
- 1768
Count von Brühl's library purchased
- 1798
"Romantic School" of literature created in Dresden, including the Schlegels, Novalis, and Schelling
- 1806
Holy Roman Empire dissolved during Napoleonic wars, and the elector became King of Saxony; library became Royal Public Library
- 1807
Journal Phoebus, founded and published in Dresden, was a leading periodical of the "Romantic" Movement
- 1884–1887
Albertinum built to house the Sculpture Collection
- 1918
Last King of Saxony abdicated; Dresden became part of Germany
- 1919
With the Weimar Republic, Library officially becomes the Saxon State Library
* Based on the chronology in The Splendor of Dresden exhibition guidebook. National Gallery of Art, 1978
