Between 1688 and 1690, a one-storey cross building with a gateway was built at the east of the “Schloss-Platz”. It was based on plans by either Johann Christian Richter, the architect of the Weissenfels Residence Palace, who died in 1667, or the court architect Christoph Pitzler (1657–1707). He had travelled Europe for three years from 1685 onwards on behalf of the Duke, visiting architecture and buildings everywhere.
The Weißenfels Gallery is very similar to the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. On the one hand, it created the necessary eastern closure for the cour d’honneur; on the other hand, its representative gateway offered the possibility of entering the courtyard in a manner befitting one’s status. In the understanding of the 17th and 18th centuries, this gate was nevertheless “at the back”. In front of the gallery was an area with buildings of the old castle complex, which housed the guard and stables.