The Propylaea (german: Propyläen) is a city gate in

Munich 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 ...

at the west side of Königsplatz.

History

The building, constructed in

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

, was completed by

Leo von Klenze Leo von Klenze (Franz Karl Leopold von Klenze; 29 February 1784, Buchladen (Bockelah / Bocla) near Schladen – 26 January 1864, Munich) was a German neoclassicist architect, painter and writer. Court architect of Bavarian King Ludwig I, Le ...

in 1862 and evokes the monumental entrance of the Propylaea for the

Athenian Acropolis The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...

. The gate was created as a memorial for the accession to the throne of

Otto of Greece Otto (, ; 1 June 181526 July 1867) was a Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from the establishment of the monarchy on 27 May 1832, under the Convention of London, until he was deposed on 23 October 1862. The second son of King Ludw ...

, a son of King

Ludwig I of Bavaria 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 ...

. As early as 1816, the Propylaea was in the early planning stages, but 30 years passed before the order was issued for its construction. Klenze painted a picture of the planned Propylaea, to promote the project. After King Ludwig I abdicated in 1848, the project was called into question, as, by that time, Munich no longer needed a city gate. Finally, Ludwig I financed the building from his private resources as a symbol of the friendship between

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and

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 ...

, as well as a monument to the Greek War of Independence. The Propylaea was opened shortly before King Otto was forced to resign as the Bavarian king of Greece. While on a visit to the Peloponnese in 1862, a coup was launched in

, a provisional Government was set up and a National Convention summoned . Ambassadors of the Great Powers urged King Otto not to resist, and the king and queen took refuge on a British warship and returned to

. It can be said that the Propylaea is also a monument to the failed secundogeniture of the

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 ...

Architecture

Each of the two towers of the gate is a powerful block with a large portal and an open room upstairs. The two portals of the towers were used for freight transport. The monumental gate in the middle of the Propylaea was reserved for riders and city cars. The ceilings of the towers were

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...

ed. While the exterior shows Doric columns, inside the structure, Ionic columns support the Propylaea. The

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

shows that the basement of the building could be traversed by stairs, platforms and passageways. The

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

s celebrating the Bavarian prince and the Greek War of Independence were created by

Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler, later ennobled as Ritter von Schwanthaler (26 August 1802 – 14 November 1848), was a German sculptor who taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. Biography Schwanthaler was born in Munich. His family had been ...

Notes

{{coord, 48.1461, 11.5642, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures completed in 1862 Buildings and structures in Munich Neoclassical architecture in Munich Tourist attractions in Munich Triumphal arches Triumphal arches in Germany Greek Revival architecture in Germany Works about the Greek War of Independence Terminating vistas in Germany Leo von Klenze buildings Gates in Germany 1862 establishments in Bavaria Gates Munich

History

Architecture

See also

Notes