Tourist Attractions in Munich

The Academy of Art in Munich, founded in 1770, which provides training in painting, graphic art, sculpture and art education, lies at the Siegestor.

This extended range of buildings (230m/755ft in length) with projecting wings, was built between 1874 and 1885 by Gottfried von Neureuther, in the style of the Italian High Renaissance. In a manner typical of the architecture of the Gründerzeit (the period of rapid expansion in the early 1870s) the design is concerned only to achieve an effect of imposing grandeur on the main (south) front.

The Amalienpassage cuts through a block to the rear of the University, between Amalienstrasse and Türkenstrasse. It was constructed in 1975-77 by a group of architects following a new concept of urban planning: a gray and unattractive area to the rear of the street frontages was to be opened up, replanned and redeveloped for housing. Although at first the demolition of older property and its replacement by new building at high density met with some resistance, the Amalienpassage is now widely accepted as a successful example of the rehabilitation of the old city center and has become a popular place for the people of Munich, with shops, cafes and restaurants bringing animation to its three linked courts.

The 16th C. Asam Haus in Munich was acquired in 1733 by Egid Quirin Asam, who decorated it with lavish stucco ornamentation, giving plastic form to the South German technique of Lüftlmalerei (painted decoration on the exterior walls of houses). The themes of the decoration are mankind's artistic activity and the sensuous world (lower half), and Heaven as conceived by Christianity and by classical antiquity (upper half).

This Late Gothic parish and pilgrimage church, built in the 15th C., was remodeled in Baroque style in the 17th and 18th C. (stucco-work of 1626 in nave, of 1749 in choir). The tower was given an octagonal superstructure in 1626 and a new onion dome in 1749. The church contains a valuable carved Crucifix (Romanesque, ca. 1180) from Seeon Monastery in the Chiemgau. The statues of Christ and the Mater Dolorosa on the pilasters along the wall were the work of A. Fassbinder (1708). Note also the magnificent tabernacle dating from about 1700.

The Cuvillies Theater in Munich is a Rococo style theater that dates back to 1753. Much of the interior decoration was rescued after WW II. The theatre is undergoing restoration.

This hunting lodge in the Fürstenried district was built by Joseph Effner in 1715-17 for the Elector Max Emanuel; from 1886 to 1916 it was the residence of King Otto of Bavaria, who was insane. Since 1925 it has been a house of retreat belonging to the archbishopric of Munich with Freising.

Schloss Fürstenreid is strictly symmetrical in plan, comprising three cube-shaped blocks linked by galleries. The avenue of lime-trees in front of the castle is directly aligned with the towers of the Frauenkirche which can be seen in the distance.

The first line of the Munich Underground (U-Bahn) was opened in 1971. It is made up of 6 lines with 72.7km of track, 67.1km of which are underground. There are 76 stations. The system has a zonal fare structure.

The has a rolling stock of 468 cars. During peak hours in the central area trains run every 2-3 minutes and off-peak every 5 mins.

This scenic rail route features beautiful mountain scenery.

This scenic rail route features beautiful mountain scenery.

Johanneskirche is a church in the Haidhausen district of Munich containing one of the few cycles of early 20th C. stained glass that survived the wars.

Leopoldstrasse continues the line of Ludwigstrasse northward from the Siegestor to the square known as the Münchener Freiheit and beyond. It is both a major traffic artery and a favorite promenade for the inhabitants of Schwabing. Numerous cafes tempt the passer-by to linger; and on summer evenings, by the light of candles and oil-lamps, artists, students and miscellaneous hawkers offer for sale a wide variety of arts and crafts, trinkets and trash: water-colors and oil-paintings, leather goods, articles in silver-ware, carvings and other items of varying degrees of utility.

During the period of rapid expansion in the 18th and 19th C., modest single-story dwellings were erected for Munich's poorer inhabitants. Houses such as the "Üblackerhäusl", a day laborer's home, were once very typical of the Haidhausen district.

Faithfully restored and furnished from the ample resources of the Münchner Stadtmuseum, of which it is a branch, the Üblackerhäusl is also used for temporary exhibitions.

In the heart of the Pedestrian Zone of Munich, adjoining Michaelskirche, is the Old Academy, a large complex surrounded by four courtyards. Now occupied by the Bavarian Statistical Office, this Renaissance building was erected between 1585 and 1597 for a Jesuit college and school. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1773 it housed the Court Library and Archives (1774-1885), a school of painting and sculpture (hence the designation Academy) and, from 1826 to 1840, the University. Destroyed during the Second World War it was rebuilt in 1954.

The Planetarium der Bayerischen Volkssternwarte opened in 1972 and contains a Goto E-5. Its dome measures 5 meters.

Construction of the Sendlinger Tor, at the end of Sendlinger Platz, took place in the 14th C., which also saw the building of the Karlstor and the Isartor. Only the two flanking towers of the original gate survive.

The fountain in the square in front of the gate was replaced in 1972.

The west side of Sendlinger Torplatz is dominated by Matthäuskirche.

This monumental building, more than 170m/560ft long, in Maximilianstrasse, was built between 1856 and 1864 for the Upper Bavarian government. The architect responsible, Friedrich Bürklein, embellished his design with arcades, projections, low towers and a number of novel features.

The building was badly damaged in the Second World War, only the original facade surviving. The rest was reconstructed in a new form after the war.

Facing the Regierung stands the Völkerkundemuseum.

Villa Lenbach in Munich features paintings from the "Blue Rider" art movement.