Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the
German state of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the
third-largest city in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, after
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
and
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
, and thus the largest which does not constitute its own state, as well as the
11th-largest city in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. The
city's metropolitan region is home to 6 million people.
Straddling the banks of the
River Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...
(a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
) north of the
Bavarian Alps
The Bavarian Alps (german: Bayerische Alpen) is a collective name for several mountain ranges of the Northern Limestone Alps within the German state of Bavaria.
Geography
The term in its wider sense refers to that part of the Eastern Alps that ...
, Munich is the seat of the Bavarian
administrative region
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
of
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...
, while being the
most densely populated municipality in Germany (4,500 people per km
2). Munich is the second-largest city in the
Bavarian dialect area, after the
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n capital of
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
The city was first mentioned in 1158. Catholic Munich strongly resisted the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and was a political point of divergence during the resulting
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant
Swedes
Swedes ( sv, svenskar) are a North Germanic ethnic group native to the Nordic region, primarily their nation state of Sweden, who share a common ancestry, culture, history and language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countr ...
. Once Bavaria was established as
a sovereign kingdom in 1806, Munich became a major European centre of arts, architecture, culture and science. In 1918, during the
German Revolution
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
, the ruling
house of Wittelsbach
The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...
, which had governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich and a short-lived
socialist republic
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ec ...
was declared. In the 1920s, Munich became home to several political factions, among them the
NSDAP
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
. After the Nazis' rise to power, Munich was declared their "Capital of the Movement". The city was heavily bombed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but has restored most of its traditional cityscape. After the end of postwar American occupation in 1949, there was a great increase in population and economic power during the years of ''
Wirtschaftswunder
The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social marke ...
'', or "economic miracle". The city hosted the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
and was one of the host cities of the
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
and
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
s.
Today, Munich is a global centre of
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
,
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
,
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
,
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
,
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
,
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
,
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
, and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and enjoys a very high standard and quality of living, reaching first in Germany and third worldwide according to the 2018
Mercer
Mercer may refer to:
Business
* Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925)
* Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City
* Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...
survey, and being rated the world's most liveable city by the
Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2018. Munich is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive cities in Germany in terms of real estate prices and rental costs. According to the
Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute, Munich is considered an
alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
-
world city, . It is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany. The city is home to more than 530,000 people of foreign background, making up 37.7% of its population.
Munich's economy
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
is based on
high tech,
automobiles
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
, the
service sector
The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...
and
creative industries, as well as
IT,
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
and
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
among many other sectors. It has one of the strongest economies of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of all cities in Germany with more than 1 million inhabitants. Munich is also one of the most attractive business locations in Germany. The city houses many multinational companies, such as
BMW,
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
,
MAN,
Allianz
Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management.
The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...
and
MunichRE. In addition, Munich is home to two research universities, a multitude of scientific institutions, and world-renowned technology and science museums like the
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
and
BMW Museum
The BMW Museum is an automobile museum of BMW history located near the Olympiapark in Munich, Germany. The museum was established in 1973, shortly after the Summer Olympics opened. From 2004 to 2008, it was renovated in connection with the cons ...
. Munich's numerous architectural and cultural attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annual
Oktoberfest, the world's largest
Volksfest
A Volksfest ( ; German for "people's festival")Cognate of "folk festival" in English is a large event in German-speaking countries which usually combines a beer festival or wine festival and a travelling funfair. Attractions may include amusement ...
, attract considerable
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
.
History
Etymology
The name of the city is usually interpreted as deriving from the
Old
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
/
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
form ''Munichen'', meaning "by the monks". A monk is also depicted on
the city's coat of arms.
The town is first mentioned as ''forum apud Munichen'' in the of 14 June 1158 by Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I.
The name in modern German is , but this has been variously translated in different languages: in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Spanish and various other languages as "Munich", in
Italian as "Monaco di Baviera", in
Portuguese as "Munique".
Prehistory
Archeological finds in Munich, such as in Freiham/Aubing, indicate early settlements and graves dating back to the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(7th–6th century BC).
Evidence of
Celt
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...
ic settlements from the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
have been discovered in areas around
Perlach.
Roman period
The ancient Roman road Via Julia, which connected Augsburg and Salzburg, crossed over the Isar River south of modern-day Munich, at the towns of Baierbrunn and Gauting.
A Roman settlement north-east of downtown Munich was excavated in the neighborhood of Denning/Bogenhausen.
Post-Roman settlements
In the 6th Century and beyond, various ethnic groups, such as the
Baiuvarii, populated the area around what is now modern Munich, such as in Johanneskirchen, Feldmoching, Bogenhausen and Pasing.
The first known Christian church was built ca. 815 in Fröttmanning.
Origin of medieval town
The origin of the modern city of Munich is the result of a power struggle between a military warlord and an influential Catholic bishop.
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria (d. 1195) was one of the most powerful German princes of his time. He ruled over vast territories in the German
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
from the North and Baltic Sea to the Alps. Henry wanted to expand his power in Bavaria by gaining control of the lucrative
salt trade
A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the prehistoric and historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it.
From the Bronze Age (in the 2nd m ...
, which the Catholic Church in Freising had under its control.
Bishop Otto von Freising (d. 1158) was a scholar, historian and bishop of a large section of Bavaria that was part of his
diocese of Freising
The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (german: Erzbistum München und Freising, la, Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany. .
Years earlier (the exact time is unclear, but may have been in the early 10th century),
Benedictine monks
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedic ...
helped build a toll bridge and a customs house over the
Isar River (most likely in the modern town of Oberföhring) to control the salt trade between Augsburg and Salzburg (which had existed since
Roman times
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
).
Henry wanted to control the toll bridge and its income for himself, so he destroyed the bridge and customs house in 1156. He then built a new toll bridge, customs house and a coin market closer to his home somewhat upstream (at a settlement around the area of modern oldtown Munich: Marienplatz, Marienhof and the St. Peter's Church). This new toll bridge most likely crossed the Isar where the Museuminsel and the modern Ludwigsbrücke is now located.
Bishop Otto protested to his nephew,
Emperor Frederick Barbarosa (d. 1190). However, on 14 June 1158, in Augsburg, the conflict was settled in favor of Duke Henry. The
Augsburg Arbitration mentions the name of the location in dispute as ''forum apud Munichen''. Although Bishop Otto had lost his bridge, the arbiters ordered Duke Henry to pay a third of his income to the Bishop in Freising as compensation.
14 June 1158, is considered the official 'founding day' of the city of Munich, not the date when it was first settled.
Archaeological excavations at Marienhof Square (near
Marienplatz
Marienplatz (English: Mary's Square, i.e. St. Mary, Our Lady's Square) is a central square in the city centre of Munich, Germany. It has been the city's main square since 1158.
History
During the Middle Ages, markets and tournaments were held ...
) in advance of the expansion of the S-Bahn (subway) in 2012 discovered shards of vessels from the 11th century, which prove again that the settlement of Munich must be older than the Augsburg Arbitration of 1158. The old
St. Peter's Church near Marienplatz is also believed to predate the founding date of the town.
In 1175, Munich received city status and fortification. In 1180, after Henry the Lion's fall from grace with Emperor Frederick Barbarosa, including his trial and exile,
Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria, and Munich was handed to the
Bishop of Freising
The following people were bishops, prince-bishops or archbishops of Freising or Munich and Freising in Bavaria:
Bishops of Freising
* St. Corbinian (724–730); founded the Benedictine abbey in Freising, although the diocese was not organ ...
. In 1240, Munich was transferred to
Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, when the
Duchy of Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria (German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under Fr ...
was split in two, Munich became the ducal residence of
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...
.
Duke
Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
in 1328. He strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt monopoly, thus assuring it of additional income.
On 13 February 1327, a large fire broke out in Munich that lasted two days and destroyed about a third of the town.
In 1349, the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
ravaged Munich and Bavaria.
In the 15th century, Munich underwent a revival of
Gothic arts: the Old Town Hall was enlarged, and Munich's largest
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
church – the
Frauenkirche – now a cathedral, was constructed in only 20 years, starting in 1468.
Capital of reunited Bavaria
When Bavaria was reunited in 1506 after a brief
war against the Duchy of
Landshut
Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...
, Munich became its capital. The arts and politics became increasingly influenced by the court (see
Orlando di Lasso
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...
and
Heinrich Schütz). During the 16th century, Munich was a centre of the German
counter reformation, and also of
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
arts. Duke
Wilhelm V
William V (29 September 1548 – 7 February 1626), called ''the Pious'', (German: ''Wilhelm V., der Fromme, Herzog von Bayern'') was Duke of Bavaria from 1579 to 1597.
Education and early life
William V was born in Landshut, the son of Alb ...
commissioned the Jesuit
Michaelskirche, which became a centre for the counter-reformation, and also installed the
Hofbräuhaus for brewing brown beer in 1589. The
Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609.
In 1623, during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, Munich became an electoral residence when
Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria was invested with the
electoral dignity
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...
, but in 1632 the city was occupied by
Gustav II Adolph of Sweden. When the
bubonic plague
Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...
broke out in 1634 and 1635, about one-third of the population died. Under the regency of the Bavarian electors, Munich was an important centre of
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
life, but also had to suffer under
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
occupations in 1704 and 1742.
After making an alliance with Napoleonic France, the city became the capital of the new
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
in 1806 with Elector
Maximillian Joseph becoming its first King. The state parliament (the ''
Landtag
A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non- ...
'') and the new
archdiocese of Munich and Freising were also located in the city.
During the early to mid-19th century, the old fortified city walls of Munich were largely demolished due to population expansion.
Munich's annual Beer Festival,
Oktoberfest, has its origins from a royal wedding in October 1810. The fields are now part of the 'Theresienwiese' near downtown.
In 1826,
Landshut University was moved to Munich. Many of the city's finest buildings belong to this period and were built under the first three Bavarian kings. Especially
Ludwig I
en, Louis Charles Augustus
, image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg
, caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825
, succession=King of Bavaria
, reign =
, coronation ...
rendered outstanding services to Munich's status as a centre of the arts, attracting numerous artists and enhancing the city's architectural substance with grand boulevards and buildings.
The first Munich railway station was built in 1839, with a line going to Augsburg in the west. By 1849 a newer Munich Central Train Station (
München Hauptbahnhof
München Hauptbahnhof or Munich Central Station is the main railway station in the city of Munich, Germany. It is one of the three stations with long-distance services in Munich, the others being Munich East station (''München Ost'') and Munich ...
) was completed, with a line going to Landshut and Regensburg in the north.
By the time
Ludwig II
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...
became king in 1864, he remained mostly aloof from his capital and focused more on his fanciful castles in the Bavarian countryside, which is why he is known the world over as the 'fairytale king'. Nevertheless, his patronage of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
secured his posthumous reputation, as do his castles, which still generate significant tourist income for Bavaria. Later, Prince Regent
Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Munich, enhancing its status as a cultural force of global importance (see
Franz von Stuck
Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...
and
Der Blaue Reiter).
World War I to World War II
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, life in Munich became very difficult, as the Allied blockade of Germany led to food and fuel shortages. During French air raids in 1916, three bombs fell on Munich.
In March 1916, three separate aircraft-engine and automobile companies joined to form 'Bayerische Motoren Werke' (
BMW) in Munich.
After World War I, the city was at the centre of substantial political unrest. In November 1918, on the eve of the German revolution,
Ludwig III
Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; 7 January 1845 – 18 October 1921) was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. Initially he served in the Bavarian military as a lieutenant and went on to hold the rank of Oberl ...
and his family fled the city. After the murder of the first republican
premier of Bavaria Kurt Eisner in February 1919 by
Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley
Anton von Padua Alfred Emil Hubert Georg Graf von Arco auf Valley (5 February 1897 – 29 June 1945), commonly known as Anton Arco-Valley, was a German far-right activist, Bavarian nationalism, Bavarian nationalist and nobleman. He assassina ...
, the
Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. When Communists took power,
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
, who had lived in Munich some years before, sent a congratulatory telegram, but the Soviet Republic was ended on 3 May 1919 by the
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...
. While the republican government had been restored, Munich became a hotbed of extremist politics, among which
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and the
National Socialists soon rose to prominence.
Munich's first film studio (
Bavaria Film) was founded in 1919.
In 1923, Adolf Hitler and his supporters, who were concentrated in Munich, staged the
Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...
, an attempt to overthrow the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
and seize power. The revolt failed, resulting in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
(NSDAP). The city again became important to the Nazis when they took power in Germany in 1933. The party created its first
concentration camp at
Dachau
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
, north-west of the city. Because of its importance to the rise of National Socialism, Munich was referred to as the ''Hauptstadt der Bewegung'' ("Capital of the Movement"). The NSDAP headquarters were in Munich and many ''Führerbauten'' ("''Führer'' buildings") were built around the
Königsplatz, some of which still survive.
In March 1924, Munich broadcast its first radio program. The station became '
Bayerischer Rundfunk' in 1931.
The city was the site where the 1938
Munich Agreement
The Munich Agreement ( cs, Mnichovská dohoda; sk, Mníchovská dohoda; german: Münchner Abkommen) was an agreement concluded at Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, Germany, the United Kingdom, French Third Republic, France, and Fa ...
signed between
Britain and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
as part of the Franco-British policy of
appeasement
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...
. The
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
assented to the German annexation of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
's
Sudetenland region in the hopes of satisfying Hitler's territorial expansion.
The
first airport in Munich was completed in October 1939, in the area of Riem. The airport would remain there until it was moved closer to Freising in 1992.
On November 8, 1939, shortly after the Second World War had begun, a
bomb was planted in the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler during a political party speech. Hitler, however, had left the building minutes before the bomb went off. On its site today stands the
GEMA Building, the
Gasteig Cultural Centre and the Munich City Hilton Hotel.
Munich was the base of the
White Rose, a student
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
from June 1942 to February 1943. The core members were arrested and executed following a distribution of leaflets in
Munich University
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
by Hans and Sophie Scholl.
The city was heavily damaged by
Allied bombing during World War II, with 71 air raids over five years. US troops liberated Munich on April 30, 1945.
Postwar
After US occupation in 1945, Munich was completely rebuilt following a meticulous plan, which preserved its pre-war street grid, bar a few exceptions owing to then modern traffic concepts. In 1957, Munich's population surpassed one million. The city continued to play a highly significant role in the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
economy, politics and culture, giving rise to its nickname ''Heimliche Hauptstadt'' ("secret capital") in the decades after World War II.
In Munich, Bayerischer Rundfunk began its first television broadcast in 1954.
Since 1963, Munich has been the host city for
annual conferences on international security policy.
Munich also became known on the political level due to the strong influence of Bavarian politician
Franz Josef Strauss
Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...
from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Munich Airport (built in 1992) was named in his honor.
Munich was the site of the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
, during which 11
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i athletes were murdered by
Palestinian terrorists in the
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...
, when gunmen from the Palestinian "
Black September
Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...
" group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team. Mass murders also occurred in Munich
in 1980 and 2016.
Munich also hosted the
FIFA World Cup finals
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
in 1974.
Munich is also home of the famous
Nockherberg
Nockherberg is the name of a small terrace (geology), terrace on the slope of the eastern bank of the Isar in Munich, situated in the urban district of Au (Munich), Au. An annual beer festival rich in tradition takes place there in the Paulaner Br ...
Strong Beer Festival during the Lenten fasting period (usually in March). Its origins go back to the 17th/18th century, but has become popular when the festivities were first televised in the 1980s. The fest includes comical speeches and a mini-musical in which numerous German politicians are parodied by look-alike actors.
Munich was one of the host cities for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
.
Munich was one of the host cities for the
UEFA European 2020 football championship, (which was delayed for a year due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths.
On 27 January 2020, the first case in Germany was confirmed near Munich, Bavaria. By mid February, the arising cluster of cases had been fully containe ...
).
Geography
Topography
Munich lies on the elevated plains of
Upper Bavaria
Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat o ...
, about north of the northern edge of the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
, at an altitude of about
ASL
American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...
. The local rivers are the
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...
and the
Würm.
Munich is situated in the Northern
Alpine Foreland. The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
area which is no longer affected by the
folding
Fold, folding or foldable may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure
*Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot
*Above ...
processes found in the Alps, while the southern part is covered with
morainic hills. Between these are fields of
fluvio-glacial
Fluvio refers to things related to rivers and glacial refers to something that is of ice. Fluvio-glacial refers to the meltwater created when a glacier melts. Fluvio-glacial processes can occur on the surface and within the glacier. The deposits th ...
out-wash, such as around Munich. Wherever these deposits get thinner, the
ground water can permeate the gravel surface and flood the area, leading to
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
es as in the north of Munich.
Climate
By
Köppen classification templates and updated data the climate is
oceanic
Oceanic may refer to:
*Of or relating to the ocean
*Of or relating to Oceania
**Oceanic climate
**Oceanic languages
**Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)"
Places
* Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
(''Cfb''), independent of the isotherm but with some
humid continental (''Dfb'') features like warm to hot summers and cold winters, but without permanent snow cover. The proximity to the
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
brings higher volumes of rainfall and consequently greater susceptibility to
flood problems. Studies of
adaptation to climate change
Climate change adaptation is the process of adjusting to current or expected effects of climate change.IPCC, 2022Annex II: Glossary öller, V., R. van Diemen, J.B.R. Matthews, C. Méndez, S. Semenov, J.S. Fuglestvedt, A. Reisinger (eds.) InClimat ...
and extreme events are carried out, one of them is the Isar Plan of the
EU Adaptation Climate.
The city centre lies between both climates, while the
airport of Munich has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
. The warmest month, on average, is July. The coolest is January.
Showers and thunderstorms bring the highest average monthly precipitation in late spring and throughout the summer. The most precipitation occurs in July, on average. Winter tends to have less precipitation, the least in February.
The higher elevation and proximity to the Alps cause the city to have more rain and snow than many other parts of Germany. The Alps affect the city's climate in other ways too; for example, the warm downhill wind from the Alps (
föhn wind
A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the leeward, lee (downwind side) of a mountain range.
It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped m ...
), which can raise temperatures sharply within a few hours even in the winter.
Being at the centre of Europe, Munich is subject to many climatic influences, so that weather conditions there are more variable than in other European cities, especially those further west and south of the Alps.
At Munich's official
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
s, the highest and lowest temperatures ever measured are , on 27 July 1983 in Trudering-Riem, and , on 12 February 1929 in Botanic Garden of the city.
Climate change
In Munich, the general trend of
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
with a rise of medium yearly temperatures of about 1 °C in Germany over the last 120 years can be observed as well. In November 2016 the city council concluded officially that a further rise in medium temperature, a higher number of heat extremes, a rise in the number of hot days and nights with temperatures higher than 20 °C (
tropical night
A tropical night is a term used in many European countries to describe days when the temperature does not fall under during the night time. This definition is in use in countries including the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Sweden, ...
s), a change in
precipitation patterns, as well as a rise in the number of local instances of heavy
rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
, is to be expected as part of the ongoing climate change. The city administration decided to support a joint study from its own Referat für Gesundheit und Umwelt (department for health and environmental issues) and the
German Meteorological Service
The () or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service, based in Offenbach am Main, Germany, which monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany and provides weather services for the general public and for nautical, avia ...
that will gather data on local weather. The data is supposed to be used to create a plan for action for adapting the city to better deal with climate change as well as an integrated action program for climate protection in Munich. With the help of those programs issues regarding
spatial planning and settlement density, the development of buildings and green spaces as well as plans for functioning
ventilation in a cityscape can be monitored and managed.
Demographics
From only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the city population doubled about every 30 years. It was 100,000 in 1852, 250,000 in 1883 and 500,000 in 1901. Since then, Munich has become Germany's third-largest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted, and in 1957 over 1 million.
Immigration
In July 2017, Munich had 1.42 million inhabitants; 421,832 foreign nationals resided in the city as of 31 December 2017 with 50.7% of these residents being citizens of EU member states, and 25.2% citizens in European states not in the EU (including Russia and Turkey). The largest groups of foreign nationals were
Turks (39,204),
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
(33,177),
Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
(27,340),
Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
(27,117),
Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...
(27,945),
Austrians
, pop = 8–8.5 million
, regions = 7,427,759
, region1 =
, pop1 = 684,184
, ref1 =
, region2 =
, pop2 = 345,620
, ref2 =
, region3 =
, pop3 = 197,990
, ref3 ...
(21,944), and
Romanians
The Romanians ( ro, români, ; dated exonym ''Vlachs'') are a Romance languages, Romance-speaking ethnic group. Sharing a common Culture of Romania, Romanian culture and Cultural heritage, ancestry, and speaking the Romanian language, they l ...
(18,085).
Religion
About 45% of Munich's residents are not affiliated with any religious group; this ratio represents the fastest growing segment of the population. As in the rest of Germany, the Catholic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous decline in membership. As of 31 December 2017, 31.8% of the city's inhabitants were
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, 11.4%
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, 0.3%
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, and 3.6% were members of an Orthodox Church (
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
or
Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
). About 1% adhere to other Christian denominations. There is also a small
Old Catholic parish and an English-speaking parish of the
Episcopal Church in the city. According to Munich Statistical Office, in 2013 about 8.6% of Munich's population was
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
.
Government and politics
As the capital of Bavaria, Munich is an important political centre for both the state and country as a whole. It is the seat of the
Landtag of Bavaria, the
State Chancellery
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, and all state departments. Several national and international authorities are located in Munich, including the
Federal Finance Court of Germany
The Federal Fiscal Court (''Bundesfinanzhof'') is one of five federal supreme courts of Germany, established according to Article 95 of the Basic Law. It is the federal court of appeal for tax and customs matters in cases which have already bee ...
, the
German Patent Office
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (german: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena. In 2006 it employed 2556 people, of which abo ...
and the
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation .
Mayor
The current mayor of Munich is
Dieter Reiter
Dieter Reiter (born 19 May 1958) is a German politician and the mayor of Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party.
Career
Reiter was born in Rain, Swabia. He studied at the Fachhochschule für ö ...
of the centre-left
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPD), who was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020. Munich has a much stronger left-wing tradition than the rest of the state, which has been dominated by the conservative
Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) on a federal, state, and local level since the establishment of the Federal Republic in 1949. Munich, by contrast, has been governed by the SPD for all but six years since 1948. As of the 2020 local elections, green and centre-left parties also hold a majority in the city council (''Stadtrat'').
The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 March 2020, with a runoff held on 29 March, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate
! rowspan=2, Party
! colspan=2, First round
! colspan=2, Second round
, -
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Dieter Reiter
Dieter Reiter (born 19 May 1958) is a German politician and the mayor of Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party.
Career
Reiter was born in Rain, Swabia. He studied at the Fachhochschule für ö ...
, align=left,
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
, 259,928
, 47.9
, 401,856
, 71.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Kristina Frank
, align=left,
Christian Social Union
, 115,795
, 21.3
, 158,773
, 28.3
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Katrin Habenschaden
, align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
, 112,121
, 20.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Wolfgang Wiehle
, align=left,
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
, 14,988
, 2.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Tobias Ruff
, align=left,
Ecological Democratic Party
The Ecological Democratic Party (german: Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei, ÖDP) is a conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982.
The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in ...
, 8,464
, 1.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Jörg Hoffmann
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism.
Current parties with that name include:
*Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
, 8,201
, 1.5
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Thomas Lechner
, align=left,
The Left
, 7,232
, 1.3
, -
, bgcolor=#007E82,
, align=left, Hans-Peter Mehling
, align=left,
Free Voters of Bavaria
, 5,003
, 0.9
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Moritz Weixler
, align=left,
Die PARTEI
, 3,508
, 0.6
, -
,
, align=left, Dirk Höpner
, align=left, Munich List
, 1,966
, 0.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Richard Progl
, align=left,
Bavaria Party
The Bavaria Party (german: Bayernpartei, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative political party in the state of Bavaria, Germany. The party was founded in 1946, describes itself as patriotic Bavarian and advocates Bavarian independence ...
, 1,958
, 0.4
, -
,
, align=left, Ender Beyhan-Bilgin
, align=left, FAIR
, 1,483
, 0.3
, -
,
, align=left, Stephanie Dilba
, align=left, mut
, 1,267
, 0.2
, -
,
, align=left, Cetin Oraner
, align=left, Together Bavaria
, 819
, 0.2
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 542,733
! 99.6
! 560,629
! 99.7
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 1,997
! 0.4
! 1,616
! 0.3
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 544,730
! 100.0
! 562,245
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 1,110,571
! 49.0
! 1,109,032
! 50.7
, -
, colspan=7, Source: Wahlen München
1st round
City council
The Munich city council (''Stadtrat'') governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 15 March 2020, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Party
! Lead candidate
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens
Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
(Grüne)
, align=left, Katrin Habenschaden
, 11,762,516
, 29.1
, 12.5
, 23
, 10
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Christian Social Union (CSU)
, align=left, Kristina Frank
, 9,986,014
, 24.7
, 7.8
, 20
, 6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(SPD)
, align=left,
Dieter Reiter
Dieter Reiter (born 19 May 1958) is a German politician and the mayor of Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party.
Career
Reiter was born in Rain, Swabia. He studied at the Fachhochschule für ö ...
, 8,884,562
, 22.0
, 8.8
, 18
, 7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Ecological Democratic Party
The Ecological Democratic Party (german: Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei, ÖDP) is a conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982.
The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in ...
(ÖDP)
, align=left, Tobias Ruff
, 1,598,539
, 4.0
, 1.4
, 3
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(AfD)
, align=left, Iris Wassill
, 1,559,476
, 3.9
, 1.4
, 3
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism.
Current parties with that name include:
*Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
(FDP)
, align=left, Jörg Hoffmann
, 1,420,194
, 3.5
, 0.1
, 3
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
The Left (Die Linke)
, align=left, Stefan Jagel
, 1,319,464
, 3.3
, 0.8
, 3
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=#007E82,
, align=left,
Free Voters of Bavaria (FW)
, align=left, Hans-Peter Mehling
, 1,008,400
, 2.5
, 0.2
, 2
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Volt Germany (Volt)
, align=left, Felix Sproll
, 732,853
, 1.8
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
, align=left, Marie Burneleit
, 528,949
, 1.3
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=deeppink,
, align=left, Pink List (Rosa Liste)
, align=left, Thomas Niederbühl
, 396,324
, 1.0
, 0.9
, 1
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, Munich List
, align=left, Dirk Höpner
, 339,705
, 0.8
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Bavaria Party
The Bavaria Party (german: Bayernpartei, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative political party in the state of Bavaria, Germany. The party was founded in 1946, describes itself as patriotic Bavarian and advocates Bavarian independence ...
(BP)
, align=left, Richard Progl
, 273,737
, 0.7
, 0.2
, 1
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, mut
, align=left, Stephanie Dilba
, 247,679
, 0.6
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, FAIR
, align=left, Kemal Orak
, 142,455
, 0.4
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Together Bavaria (ZuBa)
, align=left, Cetin Oraner
, 120,975
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, BIA
, align=left, Karl Richter
, 86,358
, 0.2
, 0.5
, 0
, ±0
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 531,527
! 97.6
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 12,937
! 2.4
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 544,464
! 100.0
!
! 80
! ±0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 1,110,571
! 49.0
! 7.0
!
!
, -
, colspan=8, Source
Wahlen München
State Landtag
In the
Landtag of Bavaria, Munich is divided between nine constituencies. After the
2018 Bavarian state election
The 2018 Bavarian state election took place on 14 October 2018 to elect the 180 members of the 18th Landtag of Bavaria. The outgoing government was a majority of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), led by Minister President Markus Söder.
...
, the composition and representation of each was as follows:
Federal parliament
In the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
, Munich is divided between four constituencies. In the
20th Bundestag, the composition and representation of each was as follows:
Sister cities
Munich is
twinned with the following cities (date of agreement shown in parentheses):
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland
''(1954)'',
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
, Italy
''(March 17, 1960)'',
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, France
''(1964)'',
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
, Japan
''(1972)'',
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio, United States
''(1989)'',
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine
''(1989)'',
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
, Zimbabwe
''(1996)'' and
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, Israel
''(2022)''.
Subdivisions
Since the administrative reform in 1992, Munich is divided into 25
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
s or ''Stadtbezirke'', which themselves consist of smaller quarters.
Allach-Untermenzing (23),
Altstadt-Lehel (1),
Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied
Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied (Central Bavarian: ''Aubing-Lochhausn-Langwied'') is the 22nd borough of the Germany, German city of Munich. The districts Aubing, Lochhausen and Langwied were incorporated together in 1942, thus forming the largest boro ...
(22),
Au-Haidhausen
Au-Haidhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Au-Haidhausn'') is the 5th borough of the German city of Munich, Bavaria. It is formed by the Au and Haidhausen districts.
Location
Au lies opposite the Altstadt of the city on the easterly plain tract of th ...
(5),
Berg am Laim
Berg am Laim (Central Bavarian: ''Berg am Loam'') is a southeastern borough of Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
Notable landmarks
*Das Kartoffelmuseum
*Erzbruderschaft St. Michael
*Innsbrucker Ring
*Innsbrucker-Ring-Tunnel
*Kultfabrik
*Leuchtenbergrin ...
(14),
Bogenhausen
Bogenhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Bognhausn'') is the 13th borough of Munich, Germany. It is the geographically largest borough of Munich and comprises the city's north-eastern quarter, reaching from the Isar on the eastern side of the Englischer ...
(13),
Feldmoching-Hasenbergl
Feldmoching-Hasenbergl (Central Bavarian: ''Fejdmoching-Hosnbeagl'') is a borough in the northern part of the city of Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It contains the S-Bahn railway station of München-Feldmoching.
Location
Feldmoching-Hasenbergl ...
(24),
Hadern
Hadern is the 20th borough of the Bavarian city of Munich in Germany.
Location
Located in the south-west of Munich, Hadern's borders are the Autobahn Munich-Garmish in the south, ''Fürstenriederstrasse'' in the east and ''Senftenauerstrasse'' ...
(20),
Laim
Laim (Central Bavarian: ''Loam'') is a district of Munich, Germany, forming the 25th borough of the city. Inhabitants: c. 49.000 (2005)
History
Originally its own independent locality, Laim was in existence before Munich. It was first documented ...
(25),
Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt (2),
Maxvorstadt (3),
Milbertshofen-Am Hart
Milbertshofen (Central Bavarian: ''Muibatshofa''), Am Riesenfeld and Am Hart (Central Bavarian: ''Am Hoart'') are three boroughs situated in the north of Munich in Germany. Jointly, they form the city district 11 Milbertshofen-Am Hart. , the t ...
(11),
Moosach
Moosach is a municipality in the Upper Bavarian district of Ebersberg and a member of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' (administrative community) of Glonn.
Geography
The community lies in a picturesque setting in an ice-age moraine landscape a ...
(10),
Neuhausen-Nymphenburg (9),
Obergiesing
Obergiesing (Central Bavarian: ''Obagiasing'') is a borough of Munich, about 3 miles south-east of the city center. The larger part is residential or a mix of business and residential, but there are also a number of recreational facilities.
Educa ...
(17),
Pasing-Obermenzing
Pasing-Obermenzing, is a borough of Munich. It is located west of the city center and has a population of about 74.000. It consists of the two districts Pasing
Pasing is a district in the city of Munich, Germany, and part of the borough Pasing-Ob ...
(21),
Ramersdorf-Perlach
Ramersdorf-Perlach is a borough of Munich. It is located south-east of the city center and is the most populous of Munich's boroughs with a population of about 116,000. It consists of the five districts Ramersdorf, Balanstraße West, Altperlach, ...
(16),
Schwabing-Freimann
Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 100 ...
(12),
Schwabing-West
Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 10 ...
(4),
Schwanthalerhöhe (8),
Sendling (6),
Sendling-Westpark Sendling-Westpark is the 7th borough of Munich.
Location
Sendling-Westpark is located south west of Munich and expands into the North/South extension from the 8th borough Schwanthalerhöhe as far as Obersendling (Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forste ...
(7),
Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln
Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln (Central Bavarian: ''Thoikircha-Obasendling-Forstnriad-Fiastnriad-Soin'') is the 19th borough of Munich, Germany, comprising the extreme southern part of the city on the west bank of the riv ...
(19),
Trudering-Riem
Trudering-Riem (Central Bavarian: ''Trudaring-Ream'') is the 15th borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Munich, Bavaria, consisting of the quarters (''Stadtteile'') Trudering and Riem. This area is the former location of Munich's old airport, Riem Airpo ...
(15) and
Untergiesing-Harlaching
Untergiesing-Harlaching (Central Bavarian: ''Untagiasing-Harlaching'') is the 18th borough of Munich, Germany, mostly the districts of Untergiesing and Harlaching. The borough's western border is the river Isar, in the south it borders on Grü ...
(18).
Architecture
The city has an eclectic mix of historic and modern architecture because historic buildings destroyed in World War II were reconstructed, and new landmarks were built. A survey by the Society's Centre for Sustainable Destinations for the
National Geographic Traveller
''National Geographic Traveler'' is a magazine published by NG Media in Armenia, Belgium, the Netherlands, China, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Latin America, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. The US ...
chose over 100 historic destinations around the world and ranked Munich 30th.
Inner city
At the centre of the city is the
Marienplatz
Marienplatz (English: Mary's Square, i.e. St. Mary, Our Lady's Square) is a central square in the city centre of Munich, Germany. It has been the city's main square since 1158.
History
During the Middle Ages, markets and tournaments were held ...
– a large open square named after the
Mariensäule
The Mariensäule (lit. 'Mary's Column') is a Marian column located on the Marienplatz in Munich, Germany. Mary is revered here as '' Patrona Bavariae'' (Latin: Protector of Bavaria).
History
It was erected in 1638 to celebrate the end of Swedis ...
, a
Marian column in its centre – with the
Old
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
and the
New Town Hall. Its tower contains the
Rathaus-Glockenspiel
The Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Munich is a tourist attraction clock in Marienplatz, the heart of Munich, Germany.
History
Part of the second construction phase of the New Town Hall, it dates from 1908. Every day at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. (as well as ...
. Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification survive – the
Isartor
The Isartor at the Isartorplatz in Munich is one of four main gates of the medieval city wall. It served as a fortification for the defence and is the most easterly of Munich's three remaining gothic town gates (''Isartor'', '' Sendlinger Tor'' a ...
in the east, the
Sendlinger Tor
The Sendlinger Tor (translated: ''Sendling Gate'') is a city gate at the southern extremity of the historic old town area of Munich. It served as a fortification for defence and is one of Munich's three remaining gothic town gates (the other tw ...
in the south and the
Karlstor
Karlstor in Munich (called Neuhauser Tor until 1791) is one of what used to be Munich's famed city wall from the medieval ages till late into the 18th century. It served as a major defensive fortification and checkpoint.
It is located at the w ...
in the west of the inner city. The Karlstor leads up to the
Stachus
Stachus is a large square in central Munich, Bavaria. The square was officially named Karlsplatz in 1797 after the unpopular Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria. Munich natives seldom use that name, calling the square instead ''Stachus'', afte ...
, a square dominated by the
Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) and a fountain.
The
Peterskirche
The ''Peterskirche'' ( en, St. Peter's Church) is a Baroque Catholic Church, Roman Catholic parish church in Vienna, Austria. It was transferred in 1970 by the Archbishop of Vienna Franz König, Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus ...
close to Marienplatz is the oldest church of the inner city. It was first built during the
Romanesque period, and was the focus of the early monastic settlement in Munich before the city's official foundation in 1158. Nearby St. Peter the Gothic hall-church
Heiliggeistkirche (The Church of the Holy Spirit) was converted to baroque style from 1724 onwards and looks down upon the
Viktualienmarkt
The Viktualienmarkt is a daily food market and a square in the center of Munich, Germany. It has been held daily since 1807, except on Sundays and public holidays.
The Viktualienmarkt developed from an original farmers' market to a popula ...
.
The
Frauenkirche serves as the cathedral for the
Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The nearby
Michaelskirche is the largest
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
church north of the Alps, while the
Theatinerkirche is a
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
in Italianate high baroque, which had a major influence on Southern German
baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
architecture. Its dome dominates the
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, t ...
. Other baroque churches in the inner city include the
Bürgersaalkirche
The Bürgersaal (English: "Citizen's Hall") is a historical building in Munich, Germany. Also known as ''Bürgersaalkirche'' since the consecration of the altar on May 13, 1778, it is the prayer and meeting room of the Marian Men Congregation " ...
, the
Trinity Church and the
St. Anna Damenstiftskirche. The
Asamkirche was endowed and built by the Brothers
Asam, pioneering artists of the rococo period.
The large
Residenz
Residenz () is a German word for "place of living", now obsolete except in the formal sense of an official residence. A related term, Residenzstadt, denotes a city where a sovereign ruler resided, therefore carrying a similar meaning as the modern ...
palace complex (begun in 1385) on the edge of Munich's Old Town, Germany's largest urban palace, ranks among Europe's most significant museums of interior decoration. Having undergone several extensions, it contains also the treasury and the splendid rococo
Cuvilliés Theatre
The Cuvilliés Theatre (german: link=no, Cuvilliés-Theater) or Old Residence Theatre (''Altes Residenztheater'') is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
History
Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg. ...
. Next door to the Residenz the neo-classical opera, the
National Theatre was erected. Among the baroque and neoclassical mansions which still exist in Munich are the
Palais Porcia
The Palais Porcia is a Baroque mansion in Munich, southern Germany, which served as residence for Count Fugger. It is Munich's oldest still existing Baroque style palace.
Building style
Enrico Zuccalli built the mansion in Italian baroque ...
, the
Palais Preysing
The Palais Preysing is a late- Baroque mansion in Munich, southern Germany, which served as residence for the Counts of Preysing. To distinguish it from the nearby Palais Neuhaus-Preysing, it is also called the ''Elder Palais Preysing''.
Joseph ...
, the
Palais Holnstein
Holnstein Palace''The Encyclopedia Americana: the international reference work, Volume 19''. (1962), Americana Corp., p. 564. ISBN. (german: Palais Holnstein) is an historic building in Munich, Southern Germany, which has been the residence of th ...
and the
Prinz-Carl-Palais
The Prinz Carl Palais in Munich is a mansion built in the style of early Neoclassicism in 1804–1806. It was also known as the Palais Salabert and the Palais Royal, after its former owners.
The Prinz-Carl-Palais was planned in 1803 by the young ...
. All mansions are situated close to the Residenz, same as the
Alte Hof, a medieval castle and first residence of the Wittelsbach dukes in Munich.
Lehel, a middle-class quarter east of the Altstadt, is characterised by numerous well-preserved townhouses. The
St. Anna im Lehel is the first
rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
church in Bavaria.
St. Lukas is the largest Protestant Church in Munich.
Royal avenues and squares
Four grand royal avenues of the 19th century with official buildings connect Munich's inner city with its then-suburbs:
The neoclassical
Brienner Straße, starting at
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, t ...
on the northern fringe of the Old Town close to the Residenz, runs from east to west and opens into the
Königsplatz, designed with the "
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
"
Propyläen
''Die Propyläen'' was a periodical begun in July 1798 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and his friend Johann Heinrich Meyer.
Impetus
During the journal's short, three-year existence its various contributors and editors, for example, shown in essay ...
, the "
Ionic"
Glyptothek
The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I to house his collection of Ancient Greek art, Greek and Roman art, Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculp ...
and the "
Corinthian"
State Museum of Classical Art, behind it
St. Boniface's Abbey was erected. The area around Königsplatz is home to the
Kunstareal
The Kunstareal (, "art district") is a museum quarter in the city centre of Munich, Germany.
Area of arts
It consists of the three "Pinakotheken" galleries (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne), the Glyptothek, the Sta ...
, Munich's gallery and museum quarter (as described
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
*Bottom (disambiguation)
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
).
Ludwigstraße
The Ludwigstraße in Munich is one of the city's four royal avenues next to the Brienner Straße, the Maximilianstraße and the Prinzregentenstraße. Principal was King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the avenue is named in his honour. The city's grandest ...
also begins at
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, t ...
and runs from south to north, skirting the
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
, the
St. Louis church, the
Bavarian State Library and numerous state ministries and palaces. The southern part of the avenue was constructed in Italian renaissance style, while the north is strongly influenced by Italian Romanesque architecture. The
Siegestor
The Siegestor ( en, Victory Gate) in Munich is a three-arched memorial arch, crowned with a statue of Bavaria with a lion-quadriga. The monument was originally dedicated to the glory of the Bavarian army. Since its restoration following World Wa ...
(gate of victory) sits at the northern end of Ludwigstraße, where the latter passes over into Leopoldstraße and the district of
Schwabing begins.
The neo-Gothic
Maximilianstraße starts at
Max-Joseph-Platz
Max-Joseph-Platz is a large square in central Munich which was named after King Maximilian Joseph. Max-Joseph-Platz serves as the western starting point of the royal avenue Maximilianstraße. Architecture
The square was constructed with the erect ...
, where the Residenz and the National Theatre are situated, and runs from west to east. The avenue is framed by elaborately structured neo-Gothic buildings which house, among others, the
Schauspielhaus, the Building of the district government of Upper Bavaria and the
Museum of Ethnology. After crossing the river Isar, the avenue circles the
Maximilianeum
The Maximilianeum, a palatial building in Munich, was built as the home of a gifted students' foundation but since 1949 has housed the Bavarian State Parliament. It sits grandly and as a focal point on the bank of the Isar River above Maximilian ...
, which houses the
state parliament. The western portion of Maximilianstraße is known for its designer shops, luxury boutiques, jewellery stores, and one of Munich's foremost five-star hotels, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.
Prinzregentenstraße runs parallel to Maximilianstraße and begins at
Prinz-Carl-Palais
The Prinz Carl Palais in Munich is a mansion built in the style of early Neoclassicism in 1804–1806. It was also known as the Palais Salabert and the Palais Royal, after its former owners.
The Prinz-Carl-Palais was planned in 1803 by the young ...
. Many museums are on the avenue, such as the
Haus der Kunst
The ''Haus der Kunst'' (, ''House of Art'') is a non-collecting modern and contemporary art museum in Munich, Germany. It is located at Prinzregentenstraße 1 at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten, Munich's largest park.
History
Na ...
, the
Bavarian National Museum and the
Schackgalerie
The Schackgalerie is a museum in Munich. It is one of the noted galleries in this city. The museum is under supervision of the Bavarian State Picture Collection.
Collection
In 1855, Adolf Friedrich von Schack settled in Munich and became a member ...
. The avenue crosses the Isar and circles the
Friedensengel monument, then passing the
Villa Stuck and Hitler's old apartment. The
Prinzregententheater is at Prinzregentenplatz further to the east.
Other boroughs
In
Schwabing and
Maxvorstadt, many beautiful streets with continuous rows of
Gründerzeit buildings can be found. Rows of elegant town houses and spectacular urban palais in many colours, often elaborately decorated with ornamental details on their façades, make up large parts of the areas west of
Leopoldstraße (Schwabing's main shopping street), while in the eastern areas between Leopoldstraße and
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 Count ...
similar buildings alternate with almost rural-looking houses and whimsical mini-castles, often decorated with small towers. Numerous tiny alleys and shady lanes connect the larger streets and little plazas of the area, conveying the legendary artist's quarter's flair and atmosphere convincingly like it was at the turn of the 20th century. The wealthy district of
Bogenhausen
Bogenhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Bognhausn'') is the 13th borough of Munich, Germany. It is the geographically largest borough of Munich and comprises the city's north-eastern quarter, reaching from the Isar on the eastern side of the Englischer ...
in the east of Munich is another little-known area (at least among tourists) rich in extravagant architecture, especially around Prinzregentenstraße. One of Bogenhausen's most beautiful buildings is
Villa Stuck, famed residence of painter
Franz von Stuck
Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...
.
Two large Baroque palaces in
Nymphenburg and
Oberschleissheim are reminders of Bavaria's royal past. Schloss Nymphenburg (
Nymphenburg Palace), some north west of the city centre, is surrounded by an park and is considered to be one of Europe's most beautiful royal residences. northwest of Nymphenburg Palace is Schloss Blutenburg (
Blutenburg Castle
Blutenburg Castle is an old ducal country seat in the west of Munich, Germany, on the banks of river Würm.
History
The castle was built between two arms of the River Würm for Duke Albert III, Duke of Bavaria in 1438–39 as a hunting-lodge, ...
), an old ducal country seat with a late-Gothic palace church. Schloss Fürstenried (
Fürstenried Palace), a baroque palace of similar structure to Nymphenburg but of much smaller size, was erected around the same time in the south west of Munich.
The second large Baroque residence is Schloss Schleissheim (
Schleissheim Palace
The Schleißheim Palace (german: Schloss Schleißheim) comprises three individual palaces in a grand Baroque park in the village of Oberschleißheim, a suburb of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The palace was a summer residence of the Bavarian rulers ...
), located in the suburb of
Oberschleissheim, a palace complex encompassing three separate residences: Altes Schloss Schleissheim (the old palace), Neues Schloss Schleissheim (the new palace) and Schloss Lustheim (Lustheim Palace). Most parts of the palace complex serve as museums and art galleries.
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
's Flugwerft Schleissheim flight exhibition centre is located nearby, on the Schleissheim Special Landing Field. The
Bavaria statue before the neo-classical
Ruhmeshalle
The Ruhmeshalle (literally " hall of fame") is a Doric colonnade with a main range and two wings, designed by Leo von Klenze for Ludwig I of Bavaria. Built in 1853, it is situated on an ancient ledge above the Theresienwiese in Munich and wa ...
is a monumental, bronze sand-cast 19th-century statue at
Theresienwiese
Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizing ...
. The
Grünwald castle Grünwald (transliterated Gruenwald) is German for "green forest" and may refer to:
Places
* Grünwald, Austria, town in Aigen-Schlägl municipality, Rohrbach, Austria
* Grünwald, Bavaria, municipality south of Munich, Germany
People
* Alfred Gr ...
is the only medieval castle in the Munich area which still exists.
St Michael in Berg am Laim is a church in the suburbs. Another church of
Johann Michael Fischer
Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period.
Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...
is St George in Bogenhausen. Most of the boroughs have parish churches that originate from the Middle Ages, such as the church of pilgrimage
St Mary in Ramersdorf. The oldest church within the city borders is
Heilig Kreuz in Fröttmaning next to the Allianz Arena, known for its Romanesque fresco. Moosach features one of the oldest churches,
Alt-St. Martin, but a larger one was built in 1925.
Especially in its suburbs, Munich features a wide and diverse array of modern architecture, although strict culturally sensitive height limitations for buildings have limited the construction of skyscrapers to avoid a loss of views to the distant Bavarian Alps. Most high-rise buildings are clustered at the northern edge of Munich in the skyline, like the
Hypo-Haus, the
Arabella High-Rise Building
The Arabella-Hochhaus is a 23-storey, , hotel/apartment building at Arabellapark, in the Bogenhausen neighborhood in eastern Munich, Germany
History
The building was designed by architect Toby Schmidbauer and constructed from 1966 to 1969 by . Un ...
, the
Highlight Towers
Highlight Towers is a twin tower office skyscraper complex completed in 2004 in Munich, Germany, planned by architects Murphy/Jahn of Chicago. Tower I is tall with 33 storeys, and Tower II is tall with 28 storeys, which make them among the h ...
,
Uptown Munich
Uptown may refer to:
Neighborhoods or regions in several cities
United States
* Uptown, entertainment district east of Downtown and Midtown Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina
* Uptown, area surrounding the University of C ...
, Münchner Tor and the
BMW Headquarters
The BMW Headquarters (german: BMW-Vierzylinder, ), also known as the BMW Tower (German: ''BMW-Turm'' or ''BMW-Hochhaus''), is a high-rise building located in the Am Riesenfeld area of Munich, Germany. The building has served as the global corp ...
next to the
Olympic Park. Several other high-rise buildings are located near the city centre and on the
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
campus in southern Munich. A landmark of modern Munich is also the architecture of the sport stadiums (as described
below
Below may refer to:
*Earth
*Ground (disambiguation)
*Soil
*Floor
*Bottom (disambiguation)
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or ...
).
In Fasangarten is the former
McGraw Kaserne
The McGraw Kaserne is a former military installation in southern Munich, Germany, which was used by the U.S. Military during the occupation of Germany after World War II. The main building (building number 7; 110 m × 85 m and 18&nbs ...
, a former US army base, near
Stadelheim Prison
Stadelheim Prison (german: Justizvollzugsanstalt München), in Munich's Giesing district, is one of the largest Prisons in Germany, prisons in Germany.
Founded in 1894, it was the site of many executions, particularly by guillotine during the Nazi ...
.
Parks
Munich is a densely-built city but has numerous public parks. In 1789, 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 Count ...
was created just north of Munich's old city center. Covering an area of , it is larger than Central Park in New York City, and it is one of the world's largest urban public parks. It contains a
naturist (nudist) area, numerous bicycle and jogging tracks as well as bridle-paths. It was designed and laid out by
Benjamin Thompson
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, FRS (german: Reichsgraf von Rumford; March 26, 1753August 21, 1814) was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th-century revolu ...
, Count Rumford, both for pleasure and as a work area for the city's vagrants and homeless. Nowadays it is entirely a park, its southern half being dominated by wide-open areas, hills, monuments and beach-like stretches (along the streams Eisbach and Schwabinger Bach). In contrast, its less-frequented northern part is much quieter, with many old trees and thick undergrowth. Multiple
beer garden
A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.
Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
s can be found in both parts of the Englischer Garten, the most well-known being located at the
Chinese Pagoda.
Other large green spaces are the modern
Olympiapark
The Olympiapark (English: Olympic Park) in Munich, Germany, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Located in the Oberwiesenfeld neighborhood of Munich, the Park continues to serve as a venue for cultural, social, ...
, the
Westpark, and the parks of
Nymphenburg Palace (with the
Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg
The Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg (21.20 hectares) is a botanical garden and arboretum located at Menzinger Str. 65, Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is open daily, except on 24 and 31 December; an admission fee is charged.
Histo ...
to the north), and
Schleissheim Palace
The Schleißheim Palace (german: Schloss Schleißheim) comprises three individual palaces in a grand Baroque park in the village of Oberschleißheim, a suburb of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The palace was a summer residence of the Bavarian rulers ...
. The city's oldest park is the
Hofgarten, near the Residenz, dating back to the 16th century. The site of the largest beer garden in town, the former royal Hirschgarten was founded in 1780 for deer, which still live there.
The city's
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
is the
Tierpark Hellabrunn
Hellabrunn Zoo (or Tierpark Hellabrunn in German) is a 40 hectare (99 acre) zoological garden in the Bavarian capital of Munich. The zoo is situated on the right bank of the river Isar, in the southern part of Munich near the quarter of Thalkirc ...
near the Flaucher Island in the Isar in the south of the city. Another notable park is
Ostpark located in the
Ramersdorf-Perlach
Ramersdorf-Perlach is a borough of Munich. It is located south-east of the city center and is the most populous of Munich's boroughs with a population of about 116,000. It consists of the five districts Ramersdorf, Balanstraße West, Altperlach, ...
borough which also houses the Michaelibad, the largest water park in Munich.
Sports
Football
Munich is home to several professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
teams including
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
, Germany's most successful club and a multiple
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
winner. Other notable clubs include
1860 Munich
, commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football.
1860 Munich was one of the founding members of ...
, who were long time their rivals on a somewhat equal footing, but currently play in the 3rd Division
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
, and former Bundesliga club
SpVgg Unterhaching, who currently play in the
Regionalliga Bayern, in Germany's 4th division.
Basketball
FC Bayern Munich Basketball
FC Bayern München Basketball GmbH, commonly referred to as Bayern Munich, is a professional basketball club, a part of the FC Bayern Munich sports club, based in Munich, Germany. The club competes domestically in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) ...
is currently playing in the Beko Basket Bundesliga. The city hosted the final stages of the FIBA
EuroBasket 1993, where the
German national basketball team won the gold medal.
Ice hockey
The city's ice hockey club is
EHC Red Bull München
Eishockeyclub Red Bull München (or EHC Red Bull München; English: ''Munich Red Bulls Ice Hockey Club'') is a professional ice hockey team based in Munich, Germany. The club is a member of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), the highest level of pl ...
who play in the
Deutsche Eishockey Liga
The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...
. The team has won three DEL Championships, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Olympics
Munich hosted the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
; the
Munich Massacre
The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian people, Palestinian militant organization Black September Organization, Black September, who i ...
took place in the
Olympic village
An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...
. It was one of the host cities for the
2006 Football World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
, which was not held in Munich's
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
, but in a new
football specific stadium, the
Allianz Arena. Munich bid to host the
2018 Winter Olympic Games
, nations = 93
, athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women)
, events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening =
, closing =
, opened_by = President Moon Jae-in
, cauldron = Kim Yun-a
, stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium
, winte ...
, but lost to
Pyeongchang
Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seou ...
. In September 2011 the
DOSB President
Thomas Bach
Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former Olympic foil fencer and Olympic gold medalist, serving as the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee since 10 September 2013. He is also a former memb ...
confirmed that Munich would bid again for the Winter Olympics in the future. These plans were abandoned some time later.
Road running
Regular annual road running events in Munich are the
Munich Marathon
The Munich Marathon (german: München Marathon) (also known as Generali Munich Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon road running event hosted by the city of Munich, Germany, usually in October, since 1983. The event features ...
in October, the Stadtlauf end of June, the company run B2Run in July, the New Year's Run on 31 December, the
Spartan Race
Spartan Race is a series of obstacle races of varying distance and difficulty ranging from 3 miles to marathon distances. These races are held in the United States and have been franchised to 30 countries, including Canada, South Korea, Austra ...
Sprint, the Olympia Alm Crosslauf and the Bestzeitenmarathon.
Swimming
Public sporting facilities in Munich include ten indoor swimming pools
and eight outdoor swimming pools,
which are operated by the
Munich City Utilities (SWM) communal company.
Popular indoor swimming pools include the
Olympia Schwimmhalle
The Olympia Schwimmhalle is an aquatics centre located in the Olympiapark in Munich, Germany. It hosted the swimming, diving, water polo, and the swimming part of the modern pentathlon events at the 1972 Summer Olympics. At the Olympics, the st ...
of the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
, the wave pool Cosimawellenbad, as well as the Müllersches Volksbad which was built in 1901. Further, swimming within Munich's city limits is also possible in several artificial lakes such as for example the
Riemer See
The Riemer See lake in Riemer Park, was a part of the Bundesgartenschau 2005, and is an artificial lake in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
The Riemer Park which is located in the new Messestadt Riem, was planned by the French landscape architect Gill ...
or the
Langwieder lake district
The Langwieder lake district (German: Langwieder Seenplatte) is composed of three lakes west of Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It opened in the year 2000 as a recreational area enclosing the Langwieder See, the Lußsee, and the Birkensee. The entire s ...
.
River surfing
Munich has a reputation as a surfing hotspot, offering the world's best known
river surfing spot, the
Eisbach wave, which is located at the southern edge of 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 Count ...
park and used by surfers day and night and throughout the year. Half a kilometre down the river, there is a second, easier wave for beginners, the so-called Kleine Eisbachwelle. Two further surf spots within the city are located along the river
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...
, the wave in the Floßlände channel and a wave downstream of the Wittelsbacherbrücke bridge.
Other Sports
Starting in 2023, Munich will have a team enter into the
European League of Football, a professional
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
league with teams throughout Europe.
Culture
Language
The
Bavarian dialects
Bavarian (german: Bairisch , Bavarian: ''Boarisch'') or alternately Austro-Bavarian, is a West Germanic language, part of the Upper German family, together with Alemannic and East Franconian.
Bavarian is spoken by approximately 12 million peo ...
are spoken in and around Munich, with its variety West Middle Bavarian or Old Bavarian (''Westmittelbairisch'' / ''Altbairisch''). Austro-Bavarian has no official status by the Bavarian authorities or local government, yet is recognised by the
SIL
SIL, Sil and sil may refer to:
Organizations
* Servis Industries Limited, Pakistan
* Smithsonian Institution Libraries
* SIL International, formerly Summer Institute of Linguistics
* Apex Silver Mines (former American Stock Exchange ticker symb ...
and has its own ISO-639 code.
Museums
The
Deutsches Museum
The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science and technology, with about 28,000 exhibited objects from ...
or German Museum, located on an island in the River Isar, is the largest and one of the oldest science museums in the world. Three redundant exhibition buildings that are under a protection order were converted to house the Verkehrsmuseum, which houses the land transport collections of the Deutsches Museum. Deutsches Museum's Flugwerft Schleissheim flight exhibition centre is located nearby, on the Schleissheim Special Landing Field. Several non-centralised museums (many of those are public collections at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität) show the expanded state collections of
palaeontology
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
, geology,
mineralogy
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the proces ...
,
zoology
Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
, botany and anthropology.
The city has several important
art galleries, most of which can be found in the
Kunstareal
The Kunstareal (, "art district") is a museum quarter in the city centre of Munich, Germany.
Area of arts
It consists of the three "Pinakotheken" galleries (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne), the Glyptothek, the Sta ...
, including the
Alte Pinakothek, the
Neue Pinakothek
The Neue Pinakothek (, ''New Pinacotheca'') is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th centuries, and it is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world. Together with th ...
, the
Pinakothek der Moderne
The Pinakothek der Moderne (, '' Pinakothek of the Modern'') is a modern art museum, situated in central Munich's ''Kunstareal''. Locals sometimes refer to it as the ''Dritte'' ("third") ''Pinakothek'' after the Old and New. It is one of the world' ...
and the
Museum Brandhorst
The Brandhorst Museum was opened in Munich on 21 May 2009. It displays about 200 exhibits from collection of modern art of the heirs of the Henkel trust Udo and Anette Brandhorst. In 2009 the Brandhorst Collection comprises more than 700 works.
...
. The Alte Pinakothek contains a treasure trove of the works of European masters between the 14th and 18th centuries. The collection reflects the eclectic tastes of the Wittelsbachs over four centuries and is sorted by schools over two floors. Major displays include
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
's Christ-like
''Self-Portrait'' (1500), his ''
Four Apostles'',
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
's paintings ''
The Canigiani Holy Family'' and ''
Madonna Tempi'' as well as
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
large ''Judgment Day''. The gallery houses one of the world's most comprehensive Rubens collections. The
Lenbachhaus
The Lenbachhaus () is a building housing an art museum in Munich's '' Kunstareal''.
The building
The Lenbachhaus was built as a Florentine-style villa for the painter Franz von Lenbach between 1887 and 1891 by Gabriel von Seidl and was expa ...
houses works by the group of Munich-based modernist artists known as
Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider).
An important collection of Greek and Roman art is held in the
Glyptothek
The Glyptothek () is a museum in Munich, Germany, which was commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig I to house his collection of Ancient Greek art, Greek and Roman art, Roman sculptures (hence γλυπτο- ''glypto-'' "sculp ...
and the
Staatliche Antikensammlung (State Antiquities Collection). King Ludwig I managed to acquire such pieces as the
Medusa Rondanini, the
Barberini Faun and figures from the
Temple of Aphaea on
Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...
for the Glyptothek. Another important museum in the
Kunstareal
The Kunstareal (, "art district") is a museum quarter in the city centre of Munich, Germany.
Area of arts
It consists of the three "Pinakotheken" galleries (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne), the Glyptothek, the Sta ...
is the
Egyptian Museum.
The gothic
Morris dancers of
Erasmus Grasser are exhibited in the
Munich City Museum in the old gothic arsenal building in the inner city.
Another area for the arts next to the Kunstareal is the
Lehel quarter between the old town and the river Isar: the
Museum Five Continents
The Museum Five Continents or Five Continents Museum (german: Museum Fünf Kontinente), located in Munich, Germany, is a museum for non-European artworks and objects of cultural value. Its name until 9 September 2014 was Bavarian State Museum of E ...
in Maximilianstraße is the second largest collection in Germany of artefacts and objects from outside Europe, while the
Bavarian National Museum and the adjoining
Bavarian State Archaeological Collection
The Bavarian State Archaeological Collection (german: Archäologische Staatssammlung, until 2000 known as the ''Prähistorische Staatssammlung'', State Prehistoric Collection) in Munich is the central museum of prehistory of the State of Bavaria, ...
in Prinzregentenstraße rank among Europe's major art and cultural history museums. The nearby
Schackgalerie
The Schackgalerie is a museum in Munich. It is one of the noted galleries in this city. The museum is under supervision of the Bavarian State Picture Collection.
Collection
In 1855, Adolf Friedrich von Schack settled in Munich and became a member ...
is an important gallery of German 19th-century paintings.
The former
Dachau concentration camp
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
is outside the city.
Arts and literature
Munich is a major international cultural centre and has played host to many prominent composers including
Orlando di Lasso
Orlande de Lassus ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palest ...
,
W.A. Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
,
Carl Maria von Weber,
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
,
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
,
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
,
Max Reger
Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, as a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University ...
and
Carl Orff. With the
Munich Biennale founded by
Hans Werner Henze, and the ''
A*DEvantgarde
The A•DEvantgarde festival was founded in 1991 by Sandeep Bhagwati and Moritz Eggert. A•DEvantgarde is a music festival held every 2 years in Munich, Germany.
In 2007 the theme of the festival was on totalitarianism where the festival debuted ...
'' festival, the city still contributes to modern music theatre. Some of classical music's best-known pieces have been created in and around Munich by composers born in the area, for example, Richard Strauss's tone poem ''
Also sprach Zarathustra'' or Carl Orff's ''
Carmina Burana''.
At the
Nationaltheater several of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's operas were premiered under the patronage of
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...
. It is the home of the
Bavarian State Opera and the
Bavarian State Orchestra. Next door, the modern
Residenz Theatre was erected in the building that had housed the
Cuvilliés Theatre
The Cuvilliés Theatre (german: link=no, Cuvilliés-Theater) or Old Residence Theatre (''Altes Residenztheater'') is the former court theatre of the Residenz in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
History
Elector of Bavaria Maximilian III Joseph (reg. ...
before World War II. Many operas were staged there, including the premiere of
Mozart's ''
Idomeneo'' in 1781. The
Gärtnerplatz Theatre is a ballet and musical state theatre while another opera house, the
Prinzregententheater, has become the home of the Bavarian Theatre Academy and the
Munich Chamber Orchestra
The Munich Chamber Orchestra (german: Münchener Kammerorchester, links=no, italic=no, or MKO) is a German chamber orchestra based in Munich. Its primary concert venue is the Prinzregententheater, Munich. The MKO also gives concerts in Munich at s ...
.
The modern
Gasteig
Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the Fi ...
centre houses the
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The third orchestra in Munich with international importance is the
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...
. Its primary concert venue is the Herkulessaal in the former city royal residence, the
Munich Residenz
The Residenz (, ''Residence'') in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displ ...
. Many important conductors have been attracted by the city's orchestras, including
Felix Weingartner
Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.
Life and career
Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. T ...
,
Hans Pfitzner,
Hans Rosbaud,
Hans Knappertsbusch,
Sergiu Celibidache
Sergiu Celibidache (; 14 August 1996) was a Romanian conductor, composer, musical theorist, and teacher. Educated in his native Romania, and later in Paris and Berlin, Celibidache's career in music spanned over five decades, including tenures as ...
,
James Levine,
Christian Thielemann,
Lorin Maazel
Lorin Varencove Maazel (, March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in th ...
,
Rafael Kubelík,
Eugen Jochum, Sir
Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...
,
Mariss Jansons,
Bruno Walter,
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...
,
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mehta's father was the foun ...
and
Kent Nagano. A stage for shows, big events and musicals is the
Deutsche Theater. It is Germany's largest theatre for guest performances.
Munich's contributions to modern popular music are often overlooked in favour of its strong association with classical music, but they are numerous: the city has had a strong music scene in the 1960s and 1970s, with many internationally renowned bands and musicians frequently performing in its clubs.
Furthermore, Munich was the centre of
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
in southern Germany, with many important bands such as
Amon Düül II,
Embryo
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...
or
Popol Vuh hailing from the city. In the 1970s, the
Musicland Studios developed into one of the most prominent recording studios in the world, with bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen (band), Queen recording albums there. Munich also played a significant role in the development of electronic music, with genre pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who invented synth disco and electronic dance music, and Donna Summer, one of disco music's most important performers, both living and working in the city. In the late 1990s, Electroclash was substantially co-invented if not even invented in Munich, when DJ Hell introduced and assembled international pioneers of this musical genre through his International DeeJay Gigolo Records label here.
Other notable musicians and bands from Munich include Konstantin Wecker, :de:Willy Astor, Willy Astor, Spider Murphy Gang, Münchener Freiheit (band), Münchener Freiheit, Lou Bega, Megaherz, FSK (band), FSK, Colour Haze and Sportfreunde Stiller.
Music is so important in the Bavarian capital that the city hall gives permissions every day to ten musicians for performing in the streets around Marienplatz. This is how performers such as Olga Kholodnaya and Alex Jacobowitz are entertaining the locals and the tourists every day.
Next to the Bavarian Staatsschauspiel in the Residenz Theatre (Residenztheater), the Munich Kammerspiele in the Schauspielhaus is one of the most important German-language theatres in the world. Since Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's premieres in 1775 many important writers have staged their plays in Munich such as Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Henrik Ibsen and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
The city is known as the second-largest publishing centre in the world (around 250 publishing houses have offices in the city), and many national and international publications are published in Munich, such as Arts in Munich, LAXMag and Prinz.
At the turn of the 20th century, Munich, and especially its suburb of
Schwabing, was the preeminent cultural metropolis of Germany. Its importance as a centre for both literature and the fine arts was second to none in Europe, with numerous German and non-German artists moving there. For example, Wassily Kandinsky chose Munich over Paris to study at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, and, along with many other painters and writers living in Schwabing at that time, had a profound influence on modern art.
Prominent literary figures worked in Munich especially during the final decades of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the so-called ''Prinzregentenzeit'' (literally "prince regent's time") under the reign of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, a period often described as a cultural Golden Age for both Munich and Bavaria as a whole. Some of the most notable were Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, Paul Heyse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ludwig Thoma, Fanny zu Reventlow, Oskar Panizza, Gustav Meyrink, Max Halbe, Erich Mühsam and Frank Wedekind.
For a short while, Vladimir Lenin lived in Schwabing, where he wrote and published his most important work, ''What Is to Be Done?'' Central to Schwabing's bohemian scene (although they were actually often located in the nearby Maxvorstadt quarter) were ''Künstlerlokale'' (artist's cafés) like Café Stefanie or Kabarett Simpl (Munich), Simpl, whose liberal ways differed fundamentally from Munich's more traditional localities. The Simpl, which survives to this day (although with little relevance to the city's contemporary art scene), was named after Munich's anti-authoritarian satirical magazine ''Simplicissimus'', founded in 1896 by Albert Langen and Thomas Theodor Heine, which quickly became an important organ of the ''Schwabinger Bohème''. Its caricatures and biting satirical attacks on Wilhelminism, Wilhelmine German society were the result of countless of collaborative efforts by many of the best visual artists and writers from Munich and elsewhere.
The period immediately before World War I saw continued economic and cultural prominence for the city. Thomas Mann wrote in his novella ''Gladius Dei'' about this period: "München leuchtete" (literally "Munich shone"). Munich remained a centre of cultural life during the Weimar period, with figures such as Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertolt Brecht, Peter Paul Althaus, Stefan George, Ricarda Huch, Joachim Ringelnatz, Oskar Maria Graf, Annette Kolb, Ernst Toller, Hugo Ball and Klaus Mann adding to the already established big names. Karl Valentin was Germany's most important cabaret performer and comedian and is to this day well-remembered and beloved as a cultural icon of his hometown. Between 1910 and 1940, he wrote and performed in many absurdist sketches and short films that were highly influential, earning him the nickname of "Charlie Chaplin of Germany". Many of Valentin's works wouldn't be imaginable without his congenial female partner Liesl Karlstadt, who often played male characters to hilarious effect in their sketches. After World War II, Munich soon again became a focal point of the German literary scene and remains so to this day, with writers as diverse as Wolfgang Koeppen, Erich Kästner, Eugen Roth, Alfred Andersch, Elfriede Jelinek, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Michael Ende, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Gerhard Polt and Patrick Süskind calling the city their home.
From the Gothic to the Baroque era, the fine arts were represented in Munich by artists like
Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Johann Baptist Straub, Ignaz Günther, Hans Krumpper, Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, Ludwig von Schwanthaler, Cosmas Damian Asam, Egid Quirin Asam, Johann Baptist Zimmermann,
Johann Michael Fischer
Johann Michael Fischer (18 February 1692 – 6 May 1766) was a German architect in the late Baroque period.
Fischer was born in Burglengenfeld, Upper Palatinate. He is a major representative of south German Baroque architects. He studied in Bohem ...
and François de Cuvilliés. Munich had already become an important place for painters like Carl Rottmann, Lovis Corinth, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Carl Spitzweg, Franz von Lenbach,
Franz von Stuck
Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...
, Karl Piloty and Wilhelm Leibl when
Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of expressionist artists, was established in Munich in 1911. The city was home to the Blue Rider's painters Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc, August Macke and Alfred Kubin. Kandinsky's first abstract painting was created in Schwabing.
Munich was (and in some cases, still is) home to many of the most important authors of the New German Cinema movement, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Edgar Reitz and Herbert Achternbusch. In 1971, the Filmverlag der Autoren was founded, cementing the city's role in the movement's history. Munich served as the location for many of Fassbinder's films, among them ''Ali: Fear Eats the Soul''. The Hotel Deutsche Eiche near Gärtnerplatz was somewhat like a centre of operations for Fassbinder and his "clan" of actors. New German Cinema is considered by far the most important artistic movement in German cinema history since the era of German Expressionism in the 1920s.
In 1919, the Bavaria Film Studios were founded, which developed into one of Europe's largest film studios. Directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, John Huston, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Claude Chabrol, Fritz Umgelter, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wolfgang Petersen and Wim Wenders made films there. Among the internationally well-known films produced at the studios are ''The Pleasure Garden (1925 film), The Pleasure Garden'' (1925) by Alfred Hitchcock, ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) by John Sturges, ''Paths of Glory'' (1957) by Stanley Kubrick, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' (1971) by Mel Stuart and both ''Das Boot'' (1981) and ''The Neverending Story (film), The Neverending Story'' (1984) by Wolfgang Petersen. Munich remains one of the centres of the German film and entertainment industry.
Festivals
Annual "High End Munich" trade show.
Starkbierfest
March and April, city-wide:
Starkbierfest is held for three weeks during Lent, between Carnival and Easter,
celebrating Munich's “strong beer”. Starkbier was created in 1651 by the local Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Paulaner monks who drank this 'Flüssiges Brot', or ‘liquid bread’ to survive the fasting of Lent.
It became a public festival in 1751 and is now the second largest beer festival in Munich.
Starkbierfest is also known as the “fifth season”, and is celebrated in beer halls and restaurants around the city.
Frühlingsfest
April and May,
Theresienwiese
Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizing ...
:
Held for two weeks from the end of April to the beginning of May,
Frühlingsfest celebrates Spring (season), spring and the new local spring beers, and is commonly referred to as the "little sister of Oktoberfest". There are two beer tents, Hippodrom and Festhalle Bayernland, as well as one roofed
beer garden
A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.
Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
, Münchner Weißbiergarten.
There are also roller coasters, Funhouse, fun houses, Playground slide, slides, and a Ferris wheel. Other attractions of the festival include a flea market on the festival's first Saturday, a “Beer Queen” contest, a Vintage (design), vintage Auto show, car show on the first Sunday, fireworks every Friday night, and a "Day of Traditions" on the final day.
Auer Dult
May, August, and October, Mariahilfplatz:
Auer Dult is Europe's largest jumble sale, with fairs of its kind dating back to the 14th century.
The Auer Dult is a traditional market with 300 stalls selling handmade crafts, household goods, and local foods, and offers carnival List of amusement rides, rides for children. It has taken place over nine days each, three times a year. since 1905.
Kocherlball
July, English Garden (Munich), English Garden:
Traditionally a Ballroom dance, ball for Munich's Domestic worker, domestic servants, cooks, Nanny, nannies, and other household staff, Kocherlball, or ‘cook’s ball’ was a chance for the Social class, lower classes to take the morning off and dance together before the families of their households woke up.
It now runs between 6 and 10 am the third Sunday in July at the Chinese Tower in Munich's English Garden.
Tollwood
July and December, Olympia Park: For three weeks in July, and then three weeks in December, Tollwood Festival, Tollwood showcases fine and performing arts with live music, List of circus skills, circus acts, and several lanes of booths selling handmade crafts, as well as Organic food, organic Fusion cuisine, international cuisine.
According to the festival's website, Tollwood's goal is to promote
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
and the Environmentalism, environment, with the main themes of "wikt:tolerance, tolerance, internationality, and openness".
To promote these ideals, 70% of all Tollwood events and attractions are free.
Oktoberfest
September and October,
Theresienwiese
Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizing ...
:
The largest beer festival in the world, Munich's
Oktoberfest runs for 16–18 days from the end of September through early October.
Oktoberfest is a celebration of the wedding of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n Crown prince, Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (district), Hildburghausen which took place on 12 October 1810.
In the last 200 years the festival has grown to span 85 acres and now welcomes over 6 million visitors every year.
There are 14 beer tents which together can seat 119,000 attendees at a time,
and serve beer from the six major Brewery, breweries of Munich: Augustiner-Bräu, Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu Brewery, Löwenbräu, Paulaner Brewery, Paulaner, Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu, Spaten and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München, Staatliches Hofbräuhaus.
Over 7 million liters of beer are consumed at each Oktoberfest.
There are also over 100 rides ranging from bumper cars to full-sized roller coasters, as well as the more traditional Ferris wheels and Swing ride, swings.
Food can be bought in each tent, as well as at various stalls throughout the fairgrounds. Oktoberfest hosts 144 Catering, caterers and employees 13,000 people.
Christkindlmarkt
November and December, city-wide:
Munich's Christmas Markets, or Christmas market, Christkindlmärkte, are held throughout the city from late November until Christmas Eve, the largest spanning the
Marienplatz
Marienplatz (English: Mary's Square, i.e. St. Mary, Our Lady's Square) is a central square in the city centre of Munich, Germany. It has been the city's main square since 1158.
History
During the Middle Ages, markets and tournaments were held ...
and surrounding streets.
There are hundreds of stalls selling handmade goods, Christmas ornaments and Christmas decoration, decorations, and Bavarian Christmas foods including Pastry, pastries, roasted Peanut, nuts, and Mulled wine, gluwein.
Mini-Munich
Late-July to mid-August, city-wide
Mini-Munichprovides kids ages 7–15 with the opportunity to participate in a ''Spielstadt'', the German term for a miniature city composed almost entirely of children. Funded b
Kultur & Spielraum this play city is run by young Germans performing the same duties as adults, including voting in city council, paying taxes, and building businesses. The experimental game was invented in Munich in the 1970s and has since spread to other countries like Egypt and China.
Coopers' Dance
The Coopers' Dance (german: Schäfflertanz) is a guild dance of cooper (profession), coopers originally started in Munich. Since early 1800s the custom spread via journeyman, journeymen in it is now a common tradition over the Old Bavaria region. The dance was supposed to be held every 7 years.
["Gründungsmythos der Schäffler: So wahr wie die offiziellen Abgaswerte der Autoindustrie"]
, ''Sueddeutsche Zeitung'' ("Cooper's founding myth: As true as the official emissions values of the automotive industry"), February 19, 2017
Cultural history trails and bicycle routes
Since 2001, historically interesting places in Munich can be explored via the List of cultural history trails in Munich, cultural history trails (''KulturGeschichtsPfade''). Sign-posted cycle routes are the Outer ''Äußere Radlring'' (outer cycle route) and the ''RadlRing München''.
Cuisine and culinary specialities
The Munich cuisine contributes to the Bavarian cuisine. Munich Weisswurst ("white sausage", ''German: Münchner Weißwurst'') was invented here in 1857. It is a Munich speciality. Traditionally eaten only before noon – a tradition dating to a time before refrigerators – these morsels are often served with sweet mustard and freshly baked pretzels.
Munich offers 11 restaurants that have been awarded one or more Michelin Guide#Stars, Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide of 2021.
Beers and breweries
Munich is known for its breweries and the ''Weissbier'' (or ''Weißbier'' / ''Weizenbier'', wheat beer) is a speciality from Bavaria. Helles, a pale lager with a translucent gold colour is the most popular Munich beer today, although it's not old (only introduced in 1895) and is the result of a change in beer tastes. Helles has largely replaced Munich's dark beer, Dunkel, Dunkles, which gets its colour from roasted malt. It was the typical beer in Munich in the 19th century, but it is now more of a speciality. Starkbier is the strongest Munich beer, with 6%–9% alcohol content. It is dark amber in colour and has a heavy malty taste. It is available and is sold particularly during the Lenten ''Starkbierzeit'' (strong beer season), which begins on or before St. Joseph's Day (19 March). The beer served at
Oktoberfest is a special type of Märzen beer with a higher alcohol content than regular Helles.
There are countless ''Wirtshäuser'' (traditional Bavarian ale houses/restaurants) all over the city area, many of which also have small outside areas. ''Biergärten'' (
beer garden
A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees.
Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
s) are popular fixtures of Munich's gastronomic landscape. They are central to the city's culture and serve as a kind of melting pot for members of all walks of life, for locals, expatriates and tourists alike. It is allowed to bring one's own food to a beer garden, however, it is forbidden to bring one's own drinks. There are many smaller beer gardens and around twenty major ones, providing at least a thousand seats, with four of the largest in 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 Count ...
: Chinesischer Turm (Munich's second-largest beer garden with 7,000 seats), Seehaus, Hirschau and Aumeister. Nockherberg, Hofbräukeller (not to be confused with the
Hofbräuhaus) and Löwenbräukeller are other beer gardens. Hirschgarten is the largest beer garden in the world, with 8,000 seats.
There are six main breweries in Munich: Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräuhaus, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (separate brands Spaten and Franziskaner, the latter of which mainly for Weissbier).
Also much consumed, though not from Munich and thus without the right to have a tent at the Oktoberfest, are Tegernseer and Schneider Weisse, the latter of which has a major beer hall in Munich. Smaller breweries are becoming more prevalent in Munich, such as Giesinger Bräu. However, these breweries do not have tents at Oktoberfest.
Circus
The Circus Krone based in Munich is one of the largest circuses in Europe. It was the first and still is one of only a few in Western Europe to also occupy a Circus Krone Building, building of its own.
Nightlife
Nightlife in Munich is located mostly in the city centre (
Altstadt-Lehel) and the boroughs
Maxvorstadt,
Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt,
Au-Haidhausen
Au-Haidhausen (Central Bavarian: ''Au-Haidhausn'') is the 5th borough of the German city of Munich, Bavaria. It is formed by the Au and Haidhausen districts.
Location
Au lies opposite the Altstadt of the city on the easterly plain tract of th ...
and
Schwabing. Between
Sendlinger Tor
The Sendlinger Tor (translated: ''Sendling Gate'') is a city gate at the southern extremity of the historic old town area of Munich. It served as a fortification for defence and is one of Munich's three remaining gothic town gates (the other tw ...
and Maximiliansplatz lies the so-called Feierbanane (party banana), a roughly banana-shaped unofficial party zone spanning along Sonnenstraße, characterised by a high concentration of clubs, bars and restaurants. The Feierbanane has become the mainstream focus of Munich's nightlife and tends to become crowded, especially at weekends. It has also been the subject of some debate among city officials because of alcohol-related security issues and the party zone's general impact on local residents as well as day-time businesses.
Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt's two main quarters, Gärtnerplatzviertel and Glockenbachviertel, are both considered decidedly less mainstream than most other nightlife hotspots in the city and are renowned for their many hip and laid back bars and clubs as well as for being Munich's main centres of gay culture. On warm spring or summer nights, hundreds of young people gather at Gärtnerplatz to relax, talk with friends and drink beer.
Maxvorstadt has many smaller bars that are especially popular with university students, whereas
Schwabing, once Munich's first and foremost party district with legendary clubs such as ''Big Apple'', ''PN hit-house'', ''Domicile'', ''Hot Club'', ''Piper Club'', ''Tiffany'', Germany's first large-scale disco Blow Up (club), Blow Up and the underwater nightclub Yellow Submarine (club), Yellow Submarine,
as well as many bars such as Schwabinger 7 or ''Schwabinger Podium'', has lost much of its nightlife activity in the last decades, mainly due to gentrification and the resulting high rents. It has become the city's most coveted and expensive residential district, attracting affluent citizens with little interest in partying.
Since the mid-1990s, the ''Kunstpark Ost'' and its successor ''Kultfabrik'', a former industrial complex that was converted to a large party area near München Ostbahnhof in
Berg am Laim
Berg am Laim (Central Bavarian: ''Berg am Loam'') is a southeastern borough of Munich, Bavaria, Germany.
Notable landmarks
*Das Kartoffelmuseum
*Erzbruderschaft St. Michael
*Innsbrucker Ring
*Innsbrucker-Ring-Tunnel
*Kultfabrik
*Leuchtenbergrin ...
, hosted more than 30 clubs and was especially popular among younger people from the metropolitan area surrounding Munich and tourists.
The Kultfabrik was closed at the end of the year 2015 to convert the area into a residential and office area. Apart from the Kultfarbik and the smaller ''Optimolwerke'', there is a wide variety of establishments in the urban parts of nearby Haidhausen (Munich), Haidhausen. Before the Kunstpark Ost, there had already been an accumulation of internationally known nightclubs in the remains of the abandoned former Munich-Riem Airport#Reuse, Munich-Riem Airport.
Munich nightlife tends to change dramatically and quickly. Establishments open and close every year, and due to gentrification and the overheated housing market many survive only a few years, while others last longer. Beyond the already mentioned venues of the 1960s and 1970s, nightclubs with international recognition in recent history included ''Tanzlokal Größenwahn'', ''Atomic Cafe'' and the techno clubs Babalu Club, Ultraschall, , , , ''Die Registratur'' and ''Bob Beaman''.
From 1995 to 2001, Munich was also home to the Union Move, one of the largest technoparades in Germany.
Munich has two directly connected gay quarters, which basically can be seen as one: Gärtnerplatzviertel and Glockenbachviertel, both part of the
Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt district. From 1979 to 1985 Freddie Mercury lived near the Gärtnerplatz and is known for his role in Munich's gay nightlife of the 1980s, including his 39th birthday party at the club ''Old Mrs. Henderson''.
Transsexual icon Romy Haag had a club in the city centre for many years.
Munich has the highest density of music venues of any German city, followed by Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin.
Within the city's limits are more than 100 nightclubs and thousands of bars and restaurants.
Some notable nightclubs are: popular techno clubs are Blitz Club, ''Harry Klein'', ''Rote Sonne'', Bahnwärter Thiel (club), Bahnwärter Thiel, ''Pimpernel'', ''Charlie'', ''Palais'' and ''Pathos''.
Popular mixed music clubs are ''Call me Drella'', ''Wannda Circus'', ''Tonhalle'', ''Backstage'', ''Muffathalle'', ''Ampere'', ''Pacha'', ''P1'', Zenith (building), Zenith, ''Minna Thiel'' and the party ship Alte Utting. Some notable bars (pubs are located all over the city) are ''Schumann's Bar'', ''Havana Club'', ''Sehnsucht'', ''Bar Centrale'', ''Holy Home'', ''Negroni'', ''Die Goldene Bar'' and ''Bei Otto''.
Education
Colleges and universities
Munich is a leading location for science and research with a long list of Nobel Prize laureates from Wilhelm Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1901 to Theodor W. Hänsch, Theodor Hänsch in 2005. Munich has become a spiritual centre already since the times of Emperor Louis IV when philosophers like Michael of Cesena, Marsilius of Padua and William of Ockham were protected at the emperor's court. The Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) and the Technische Universität München (TUM), were two of the first three German universities to be awarded the title ''elite university'' by a selection committee composed of academics and members of the Ministries of Education and Research of the Federation and the German states (Länder). Only the two Munich universities and the Technical University of Karlsruhe (now part of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) have held this honour, and the implied greater chances of attracting research funds, since the first evaluation round in 2006.
* Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), founded in 1472 in Ingolstadt, moved to Munich in 1826
* Technical University of Munich (TUM), founded in 1868
* Academy of Fine Arts Munich, Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, founded in 1808
* Bundeswehr University Munich, founded in 1973 (located in Neubiberg)
* German School of Journalism, Deutsche Journalistenschule, founded in 1959
* Bayerische Akademie für Außenwirtschaft, founded in 1989
* Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, founded in 1830
* International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, founded in 2005
* International School of Management, Germany, International School of Management, founded in 1990
* Katholische Stiftungsfachhochschule München, founded in 1971
* Munich Business School (MBS), founded in 1991
* Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), founded in 2003
* Munich School of Philosophy, founded in 1925 in Pullach, moved to Munich in 1971
* Munich School of Political Science, founded in 1950
* Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM), founded in 1971
* New European College, founded in 2014
* Ukrainian Free University, founded in 1921 (from 1945 – in Munich)
* University of Television and Film Munich (''Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film''), founded in 1966
Primary and secondary schools
Grundschulen in Munich:
* Grundschule an der Gebelestraße
* Grund- und Mittelschule an der Hochstraße
* Grundschule an der Kirchenstraße
* Grundschule Flurstraße
* Grundschule an der Stuntzstraße
* Ernst-Reuter-Grundschule
* Grundschule Gertrud Bäumer Straße
* Grundschule an der Südlichen Auffahrtsallee
Gymnasien in Munich:
* Pestalozzi-Gymnasium München, Pestalozzi-Gymnasium
* Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium
* Gymnasium Max-Josef-Stift
* Luitpold Gymnasium
* Edith-Stein-Gymnasium der Erzdiözese München und Freising
* Maximiliansgymnasium
* Oskar-von-Miller-Gymnasium
* Städtisches St.-Anna-Gymnasium
* Wilhelmsgymnasium (Munich), Wilhelmsgymnasium
* Städtisches Luisengymnasium
* Wittelsbacher-Gymnasium München, Wittelsbacher Gymnasium
* Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium
Realschulen in Munich:
* Städt. Fridtjof-Nansen-Realschule
* Städtische Adalbert-Stifter-Realschule
* Maria Ward Mädchenrealschule
* Städtische Ricarda-Huch-Realschule
* Isar Realschule München
* Städtische Hermann-Frieb Realschule
International schools in Munich:
* Lycée Jean Renoir (Munich), Lycée Jean Renoir (French school)
* Japanische Internationale Schule München
* Bavarian International School
* Munich International School
* European School, Munich
Scientific research institutions
Max Planck Society
The Max Planck Society, an independent German non-profit research organisation, has its administrative headquarters in Munich. The following institutes are located in the Munich area:
* Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching bei München, Garching
* Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Martinsried
* Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching bei München, Garching
* Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Social Law, München
* Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, München
* Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, Martinsried
* Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Andechs-Erling, Germany, Erling (Biological Rhythms and Behaviour), Radolfzell, Seewiesen (Reproductive Biology and Behaviour)
* Max Planck Institute for Physics (Max Planck Institute for Physics, Werner Heisenberg Institute), München
* Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik, Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, Garching bei München, Garching (also in Greifswald)
* Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München
* Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research, München (closed)
* Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching bei München, Garching
Fraunhofer Society
The Fraunhofer Society, the German non-profit research organization for applied research, has its headquarters in Munich. The following institutes are located in the Munich area:
* Applied and Integrated Security
AISEC* Embedded Systems and Communication
* Modular Solid-State Technologies
* Building Physics
* Process Engineering and Packaging
Other research institutes
* Botanische Staatssammlung München, a notable herbarium
* Ifo Institute for Economic Research, theoretical and applied research in economics and finance
* Doerner Institute
* European Southern Observatory
* Helmholtz Zentrum München
* Zoologische Staatssammlung München
* German Aerospace Center (GSOC), Oberpfaffenhofen, Oberpfaffenhofen bei München
Economy
Munich has the strongest economy of any German city according to a study
and the lowest unemployment rate (5.4% in July 2020) of any German city of more than a million people (the others being
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
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, utc_offset1_DST = +2
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and Cologne). Munich List of German cities by GDP, ranks third on the list of German cities by gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, it is one of the most attractive business locations in Germany.
The city is also the economic centre of southern Germany. Munich topped the ranking of the magazine ''Capital'' in February 2005 for the economic prospects between 2002 and 2011 in 60 German cities.
Munich is a financial center and global city that holds the headquarters of many companies. This includes more companies listed by the DAX than any other German city, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as McDonald's and Microsoft. One of the best-known newly established Munich companies is Flixbus.
Manufacturing
Munich holds the headquarters of Siemens, Siemens AG (electronics),
BMW (car), MAN SE, MAN AG (truck manufacturer, engineering), MTU Aero Engines (aircraft engine manufacturer), The Linde Group, Linde (gases) and Rohde & Schwarz (
electronics
The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...
). Among German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, purchasing power is highest in Munich (€26,648 per inhabitant) . In 2006, Munich blue-collar workers enjoyed an average hourly wage of €18.62 (ca. $20).
The breakdown by cities proper (not metropolitan areas) of Global 500 cities listed Munich in 8th position in 2009. Munich is also a centre for
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
, software and other Tertiary sector of the economy, service industries. Furthermore, Munich is the home of the headquarters of many other large companies such as the injection moulding machine manufacturer Krauss-Maffei, the camera and lighting manufacturer Arri, the semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies (headquartered in the suburban town of Neubiberg), lighting giant Osram, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as Microsoft.
Finance
Munich has significance as a Munich's financial community, financial centre (second only to Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt), being home of HypoVereinsbank and the Bayerische Landesbank. It outranks Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt though as home of insurance companies such as Allianz (insurance) and Munich Re (Reinsurance, re-insurance).
Media
Munich is the largest publishing city in Europe and home to the ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'', one of Germany's biggest daily newspapers. The city is also the location of the programming headquarters of Germany's largest public broadcasting network, ARD (broadcaster), ARD, while the largest commercial network, ProSieben, Pro7-Sat1 Media AG, is headquartered in the suburb of Unterföhring. The headquarters of the German branch of Random House, the world's largest publishing house, and of Hubert Burda Media, Burda publishing group are also in Munich.
The Bavaria Film Studios are located in the suburb of Grünwald, Bavaria, Grünwald. They are one of Europe's biggest film production studios.
Quality of life
Most Munich residents enjoy a high quality of life. Mercer HR Consulting consistently rates the city among the top 10 cities with the highest quality of life worldwide – a 2011 survey ranked Munich as 4th. In 2007 the same company also ranked Munich as the 39th most expensive in the world and most expensive major city in Germany. Munich enjoys a thriving economy, driven by the information technology, biotechnology, and publishing sectors. Environmental pollution is low, although the city council is concerned about levels of particulate matter (PM), especially along the city's major thoroughfares. Since the enactment of particulate#EU legislation, EU legislation concerning the concentration of particulate in the air, environmental groups such as Greenpeace have staged large protest rallies to urge the city council and the State government to take a harder stance on pollution. Due to the high standard of living in and the thriving economy of the city and the region, there was an influx of people and Munich's population surpassed 1.5 million by June 2015, an increase of more than 20% in 10 years.
Transport
Munich has an extensive public transport system consisting of an underground metro, trams, buses and high-speed rail. In 2015, the transport modal share in Munich was 38 percent public transport, 25 percent car, 23 percent walking, and 15 percent bicycle.
Its public transport system delivered 566 million passenger trips that year.
Munich is the hub of a well-developed regional transportation system, including the second-largest airport in Germany and the Berlin–Munich high-speed railway, which connects Munich to the German capital city with a journey time of about 4 hours. The trade fair Transport Logistic, transport logistic is held every two years at the ''Neue Messe München'' (Messe München International). Flixmobility which offers intercity coach service is headquartered in Munich.
Public transport
For its urban population of 2.6 million people, Munich and its closest suburbs have a comprehensive network of public transport incorporating the Munich U-Bahn, Munich U-Bahn (underground railway), the Munich S-Bahn, Munich S-Bahn (suburban trains), trams and buses. The system is supervised by the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (''Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH''). The Munich tramway is the oldest existing public transportation system in the city, which has been in operation since 1876. Munich also has an extensive network of bus lines.
The extensive network of subway and tram lines assists and complement pedestrian movement in the city centre. The 700m-long Kaufinger Straße, which starts near the Main train station, forms a pedestrian east–west spine that traverses almost the entire centre. Similarly, Weinstraße leads off northwards to the Hofgarten. These major spines and many smaller streets cover an extensive area of the centre that can be enjoyed on foot and bike. The transformation of the historic area into a pedestrian priority zone enables and invites walking and biking by making these active modes of transport comfortable, safe and enjoyable. These attributes result from applying the principle of Permeability (spatial and transport planning), "filtered permeability", which selectively restricts the number of roads that run through the centre. While certain streets are discontinuous for cars, they connect to a network of pedestrian and bike paths, which permeate the entire centre. In addition, these paths go through public squares and open spaces increasing the enjoyment of the trip (see image). The logic of filtering a mode of transport is fully expressed in a comprehensive model for laying out neighbourhoods and districts – the Fused Grid.
Statistics
The average amount of time people spend commuting to and from work with public transit in Munich on a weekday is 56 min. 11% of public transit users, spend more than two hours travelling each day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is ten minutes, whilst 6% of passengers wait for over twenty minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 9.2 km, while 21% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.
Cycling
Cycling has a strong presence in the city and is recognised as a good alternative to motorised transport. The growing number of Segregated cycle facilities, bicycle lanes are widely used throughout the year. Cycle paths can be found alongside the majority of sidewalks and streets, although the newer and/or renovated ones are much easier to tell apart from pavements than older ones. The cycle paths usually involve a longer route than by the road, as they are diverted around objects, and the presence of pedestrians can make them quite slow.
A modern Call a Bike, bike hire system is available within the area bounded by the ''Mittlerer Ring''.
München Hauptbahnhof
München Hauptbahnhof
München Hauptbahnhof or Munich Central Station is the main railway station in the city of Munich, Germany. It is one of the three stations with long-distance services in Munich, the others being Munich East station (''München Ost'') and Munich ...
is the main railway station located in the city centre and is one of three long-distance stations in Munich, the others being München Ost railway station, München Ost (to the east) and München-Pasing railway station, München-Pasing (to the west). All stations are connected to the public transport system and serve as transportation hubs.
München Hauptbahnhof serves about 450,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in Germany, such as Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. It and München Ost are two of the 21 stations in Germany classified by Deutsche Bahn as a German railway station categories, category 1 station. The mainline station is a terminal station with 32 platforms. The subterranean Munich S-Bahn, S-Bahn with 2 platforms and Munich U-Bahn, U-Bahn stations with 6 platforms are through stations.
Intercity-Express, ICE highspeed trains stop at Munich-Pasing and Munich-Hauptbahnhof only. InterCity and EuroCity trains to destinations east of Munich also stop at Munich East. Since 28 May 2006 Munich has been connected to Nuremberg via Ingolstadt by the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway line. In 2017, the Berlin–Munich high-speed railway opened, providing a journey time of less than 4 hours between the two German cities.
Autobahns
Munich is an integral part of the Autobahn, motorway network of southern Germany. Motorways from Stuttgart (W), Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt and Berlin (N), Deggendorf and Passau (E), Salzburg and Innsbruck (SE), Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Garmisch Partenkirchen (S) and Lindau (SW) terminate at Munich, allowing direct access to the different parts of Germany, Austria and Italy.
Traffic, however, is often very heavy in and around Munich. Traffic jams are commonplace during rush hour as well as at the beginning and end of major holidays in Germany. There are few "green waves" or roundabouts, and the city's prosperity often causes an abundance of obstructive construction sites. Other contributing factors are the extraordinarily high rates of car ownership per capita (multiple times that of Berlin), the city's historically grown and largely preserved centralised urban structure, which leads to a very high concentration of traffic in specific areas, and sometimes poor planning (for example bad traffic light synchronisation and a less than ideal ring road).
Munich International Airport
Munich Airport, Franz Josef Strauss International Airport (International Air Transport Association, IATA: MUC, International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO: EDDM) is the second-largest airport in Germany and seventh-largest in Europe after London Heathrow Airport, London Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt International Airport, Frankfurt, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Amsterdam, Barajas Airport, Madrid and Atatürk International Airport, Istanbul Atatürk. It is used by about 46 million passengers a year, and lies some north east of the city centre. It replaced the smaller Munich-Riem Airport, Munich-Riem airport in 1992. The airport can be reached by suburban train lines from the city. From the München Hauptbahnhof, main railway station the journey takes 40–45 minutes. An express train will be added that will cut down travel time to 20–25 minutes with limited stops on dedicated tracks. A maglev (transport), magnetic levitation train (called Transrapid), which was to have run at speeds of up to from the central station to the airport in a travel time of 10 minutes, had been approved, but was cancelled in March 2008 because of cost escalation and after heavy protests. Lufthansa opened its second hub at the airport when Terminal 2 was opened in 2003.
Other airports
In 2008, the Bavarian state government granted a licence to expand Oberpfaffenhofen Air Station located west of Munich, for commercial use. These plans were opposed by many residents in the Oberpfaffenhofen area as well as other branches of local Government, including the city of Munich, which took the case to court. However, in October 2009, the permit allowing up to 9725 business flights per year to depart from or land at Oberpfaffenhofen was confirmed by a regional judge.
Despite being from Munich, Memmingen Airport has been advertised as Airport Munich West. After 2005, passenger traffic of nearby Augsburg Airport was relocated to Munich Airport, leaving the Augsburg region of Bavaria without an air passenger airport within close reach.
Around Munich
Nearby towns
The Munich agglomeration sprawls across the plain of the Foothills, Alpine foothills comprising about 2.6 million inhabitants. Several smaller traditional Bavarian towns and cities like Dachau, Bavaria, Dachau, Freising, Erding, Starnberg, Landshut and Moosburg are today part of the Greater Munich Region, formed by Munich and the surrounding districts, making up the Munich Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about 6 million people.
File:Dachau Altstadt Konrad Adenauer Straße.JPG, Dachau, Bavaria, Dachau
File:Erding Schoener Turm.jpg, Erding
File:Freising Dom St. Maria & Korbinian Fassade 1.JPG, Freising
File:Klosterkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt Fuerstenfeld Fuerstenfeldbruck-13.jpg, Fürstenfeldbruck
File:Landsberg Burgberg 2.JPG, Landsberg am Lech, Landsberg
File:Ensemble Altstadt Landshut.JPG, Landshut
File:Moosburg Stadtplatz mit St. Johannes.jpg, Moosburg
File:Starnberg, HB-08.jpg, Starnberg
File:Wasserburg am Inn Kellerbergweg.jpg, Wasserburg am Inn
Recreation
South of Munich, there are numerous nearby freshwater lakes such as Lake Starnberg, Ammersee, Chiemsee, Walchensee, Kochelsee, Tegernsee (lake), Tegernsee, Schliersee (lake), Schliersee, Simssee, Staffelsee, Wörthsee, Kirchsee (Bavaria), Kirchsee and the Osterseen (Easter Lakes), which are popular among Munich residents for recreation, swimming and watersports and can be quickly reached by car and a few also by Munich's Munich S-Bahn, S-Bahn.
File:Starnberger See, HB-03.jpg, Lake Starnberg
File:Ammersee.JPG, Ammersee
File:Chiemsee010.jpg, Chiemsee
File:Walchensee-Teilausschnitt.jpg, Walchensee
File:Gmund Kaltenbrunn Südausblick.JPG, Tegernsee (lake), Tegernsee
File:Osterseen Gewitterabend Grosser Ostersee 02.jpg, Osterseen, Großer Ostersee
File:Kirchsee in der Abendsonne.jpg, Kirchsee (Bavaria), Kirchsee
File:Simssee Suedufer Wendelstein Beuerberg Riedering-1.jpg, Simssee
File:Wörthsee +.jpg, Wörthsee
Notable people
Born in Munich
Notable residents
Twin towns and sister cities
Munich is Sister city, twinned with:
*
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, United Kingdom (1954)
*
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
, Italy (1960)
*
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, France (1964)
*
Sapporo
( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...
, Japan (1972)
*
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, United States (1989)
*
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, Ukraine (1989)
*
Harare
Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...
, Zimbabwe (1996)
*
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, Israel (2021)
See also
* Outline of Munich
Notes
References
External links
Official website for the City of MunichMünchen Wiki– open city wiki for Munich with more than 15,000 articles
Munichfound– magazine for English speaking Münchners
Destination Munich– online guide
Historical Atlas of Munich
Photos
Europe Pictures – MunichGeocoded Pictures of Munich
– panoramic views and virtual tpurs
– travel tips
Tales from Toytown– photos of Munich
Munich photo gallery
{{Authority control
Munich, Munich