Marienplatz is identified by the towering Mariensäule, a column topped with a golden statue of the Virgin Mary that has presided over the center of the square since sixteen thirty-eight. This square has been the heart of Munich since the…
Altstadt Palaces and Plazas
This walk leads you through the grand civic and royal heart of Munich, connecting bustling historic plazas with the elegant courtyards and monuments of the Bavarian kings.
Listen to this tour in the Mira app →Walk it in street view
1. Marienplatz
2. Frauenkirche
The Frauenkirche is defined by its twin brick towers capped with rounded, copper onion domes. These towers rise nearly ninety-nine meters above the city, and municipal regulations prevent any new buildings in the center of Munich from…
3. St. Michael München
St. Michael’s Church in Munich is recognizable by its grand facade, which displays bronze statues of Wittelsbach rulers arranged like a family tree. Between the two main entrances, a large bronze statue depicts the Archangel Michael…
4. Odeonsplatz
Odeonsplatz is a large, rectangular public square dominated by the Feldherrnhalle, a monumental loggia with three distinctive open arches modeled after the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. King Ludwig the First commissioned the square in…
5. Munich Residence
The Munich Residence is the largest inner-city palace in Germany. You can identify this massive complex by its ten interconnected courtyards and its sprawling facade that shifts between Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassical…
6. Max-Joseph-Platz
Max-Joseph-Platz is a wide urban square defined by a bronze monument of King Maximilian I Joseph sitting in its center. The king is depicted in Roman robes on a chair, a pose he famously rejected during his lifetime. He had preferred to be…
7. Alter Hof
The Alter Hof stands as a complex of five wings in the heart of Munich, identified by the distinctive Gothic wooden bay window known as the Affenturm, or Monkey Tower. This site served as the first permanent imperial residence of the…