The Hofgarten (Court Garden) is a garden in the center of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany, located between the

Residenz ''Residenz'' () is a German word for "domicile", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, ''Residenzstadt'', denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, and thus carries a similar meaning to the contemp ...

and the

Englischer Garten The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Coun ...

History

The garden was built in 1613–1617 by

Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria Maximilian I (17 April 157327 September 1651), occasionally called the Great, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, ruled as Duke of Bavaria from 1597. His reign was marked by the Thirty Years' War during which he obtained the title of a prince- ...

in the style of

Italian Renaissance garden The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the land ...

. In the center of the garden is a

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

for the goddess Diana, built-in 1615 by Heinrich Schön the elder. A path leads from each of the eight arches. On the roof of the Diana pavilion, is the replica of a sculpture of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

by Hubert Gerhard, created in 1623. The original is in the Kaisersaal of the Residenz. Facing the Hofgarten on the east side is the Bavarian Staatskanzlei ("State Chancellery"), housed in the former Army Museum, with the addition of glass wings left and right of the original building. The repurposed building was completed in 1993. A few steps more eastwards the Hofgartenkaserne was located from 1801 to 1899. In front of the Staatskanzlei, the Kriegerdenkmal ("war memorial") is located, built for commemoration of the Munich people killed in action in World War I. In the north east corner, a square black granite memorial stands to the

White Rose The White Rose (, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Munich ...

group, whose members were executed for a nonviolent campaign against Hitler's regime. The south side towards the Residenz includes flowers in a design by Carl Effner from 1853, with arcades to the west and the north, including many wall paintings related to the

history of Bavaria The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest Human settlement, settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empire to its status as an independent kingdom and finally as a large ''S ...

. To the west, the Hofgartentor ("Court Garden Gate") leads towards the Theatinerkirche. Built in 1816, it is the first work in Munich by

Leo von Klenze Leo von Klenze (born Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784 – 26 January 1864) was a German architect and painter. He was the court architect of Ludwig I of Bavaria. Von Klenze was a devotee of Neoclassicism and one of the mo ...

. The garden was destroyed during World War II, and was rebuilt with a partial redesign which compromised between the

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "Landscape architecture, landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, r ...

character it had acquired in the nineteenth century and the original formal design of the seventeenth century. Nowadays the garden is open to the public, and is very popular with both residents and tourists alike. The nearest

Munich U-Bahn The Munich U-Bahn () is an Railway electrification system, electric rail Rapid transit, rapid transit network in Munich, Germany. The system began operation in 1971, and is operated by the municipally owned Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG; Mun ...

station is

Odeonsplatz The Odeonsplatz is a large square in central Munich which was developed in the early 19th century by Leo von Klenze and is at the southern end of the Ludwigstraße, developed at the same time. The square is named for the former concert hall, ...

, located directly west of the garden.

External links

Munich Court Garden
Information in English by the Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung

The installation "Replika" in the Hofgarten, 20.07. - 21.10.2012
{{Authority control Urban public parks Gardens in Bavaria Parks in Germany Busking venues Parks and open spaces in Munich Renaissance architecture in Munich