Maxvorstadt Art and Architecture

This walk traces how 19th-century Bavarian kings transformed Munich into an artistic capital with Greek-inspired squares, monumental museums, and grand university forums.

Listen to this tour in the Mira app →Walk it in street view

1. 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…

2. Karolinenplatz

The most striking feature of Karolinenplatz is the twenty-nine-meter tall black obelisk that rises from its center. Clad in bronze plates, the monument was erected in eighteen thirty-three at the command of King Ludwig the First. It serves…

3. Königsplatz

Königsplatz is defined by its three monumental, neoclassical buildings that frame an open, rectangular plaza. Each structure represents a different order of classical Greek architecture: the Doric Propylaea gate, the Ionic Glyptothek, and…

4. Alte Pinakothek

The Alte Pinakothek is distinguished by its long, low-slung facade featuring sections of exposed, unrendered brickwork that stand out against the surrounding masonry. Opened in eighteen thirty-six, this museum was commissioned by King…

5. Pinakothek der Moderne

The Pinakothek der Moderne is a sprawling building of white and gray concrete defined by its central glass rotunda, a dome thirty meters in diameter that acts as the entry point for four independent museums housed under one roof. Opened in…

6. Museum Brandhorst

Museum Brandhorst is immediately recognizable by its long, rectangular structure wrapped in a skin of thirty-six thousand vertical ceramic rods. These rods are glazed in twenty-three different colors, creating a vibrant, shifting facade…

7. Geschwister-Scholl-Platz

Geschwister-Scholl-Platz is a semi-circular square defined by a central fountain that sits directly in front of the main building of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. Created during the nineteenth century under King Ludwig the First, the…

8. Siegestor

The Siegestor is a three-arched limestone monument crowned with a bronze statue of Bavaria riding a chariot drawn by four lions. Built between eighteen forty-three and eighteen fifty-two, it was commissioned by King Ludwig the First and…

The audio tour continues in the Mira app →