Munich Residenz, Munich, Germany - SpottingHistory.com

The Munich Residenz is the former royal palace of the Bavarian monarchs of the House of Wittelsbach. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displays from the former royal collections.

The complex of buildings contains ten courtyards and displays 130 rooms. A wing of the Festsaalbau contains the Cuvilliés Theatre since the reconstruction of the Residenz after World War II. It also houses the Herkulessaal, the primary concert venue for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. The Byzantine Court Church of All Saints at the east side is facing the Marstall, the building for the former Court Riding School and the royal stables.

he Munich Residence served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918. What began in 1385 as a castle in the north-eastern corner of the city, was transformed by the rulers over the centuries into a magnificent palace, its buildings and gardens extending further and further into the town.

The rooms and art collections spanning a period that begins with the Renaissance, and extends via the early Baroque and Rococo epochs to Neoclassicism, bear witness to the discriminating taste and the political ambition of the Wittelsbach dynasty.

Much of the Residence was destroyed during the Second World War, and from 1945 it was gradually reconstructed.

References:

Munich Residence

User Reviews

Rafael Kern (10 months ago)
This is a fantastic attraction in Munich, which is why it gets 5 stars, but the management is absurd. They decided to give two options, the "long" tour and the "short" tour. Why on Earth does the short tour exclude the best rooms?? It's utterly ridiculous. The excluded Emperor's Hall is more gorgeous than anything else in the Residenz. Do not, under any circumstances, do the short tour. Ever. If for some reason you're in a hurry, do the long tour and just speed through the boring rooms. The gap is so big that I dare say that if you only went to the rooms excluded by the short tour, and no other rooms, you'd still have a better time than if you simply did the short tour. Not only would you have seen the best rooms, but you'd also have used your time much more efficiently, skipping many of the boring rooms. Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely worth it to do the long tour. But if for some reason you ever consider doing the asinine short tour instead, just do the long tour and then run past the boring rooms.

José Luís Cardoso (10 months ago)
Royal Palace in Munich. Official residence of the Kings of Bavaria. The largest palace (in a certain Urban) in Germany is one of the largest in Europe. At least 2h30 is required for the visit. The morning route differs from the afternoon tour (due to the size of the palace). Highly recommended, as well as a visit to the gardens (free admission!) where you can admire the current "palace" of Bavaria's state offices - the crystal palace (in glass so that the Bavarians can see their representatives at work).

Michael Ostrowski (16 months ago)
Massive palace with beautiful decorations. 8-9€ for admission which is very reasonable. Takes about 2-3 hours for a full tour. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is one of the staff was literally rushing people out of rooms before the Audio guide even finished, which was very rude.

Sara Orfali (16 months ago)
Huge palace for a good entry price. Too many rooms to see - would have appreciated themed tours of just some things. Very poor audioguide - it would have been better to have some stories of the people who lived there or some anecdotes rather than a dull description of the tapestry on the wall. It was sad to see it was in need of some repairs (refreshing the walls and such).

Charles “Rojer Lockless” Blacknall II (19 months ago)
The largest building I think I've ever been in. There are floors and rooms for days. It would take a week to really see everything here. It is a massive house. The old royal residence is really something to behold. Room after room of paintings wall to ceiling full of beautiful art and artifacts. Just make sure you check out the jeweled George and the Dragon it's beautiful!

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The Church of St Eustace was built between 1532-1632. St Eustace"s is considered a masterpiece of late Gothic architecture. The church’s reputation was strong enough of the time for it to be chosen as the location for a young Louis XIV to receive communion. Mozart also chose the sanctuary as the location for his mother’s funeral. Among those baptised here as children were Richelieu, Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, future Madame de Pompadour and Molière, who was also married here in the 17th century. The last rites for Anne of Austria, Turenne and Mirabeau were pronounced within its walls. Marie de Gournay is buried there.

The origins of Saint Eustache date back to 13th century. The church became a parish church in 1223, thanks to a man named Jean Alais who achieved this by taxing the baskets of fish sold nearby, as granted by King Philip Augustus. To thank such divine generosity, Alais constructed a chapel dedicated to Sainte-Agnès, a Roman martyr. The construction of the current church began in 1532, the work not being finally completed until 1637. The name of the church refers to Saint Eustace, a Roman general of the second century AD who was burned, along with his family, for converting to Christianity, and it is believed that it was the transfer of a relic of Saint Eustache from the Abbey to Saint-Denis to the Church of Saint Eustache which resulted in its naming. Jeanne Baptiste d"Albert de Luynes was baptised here.

According to tourist literature on-site, during the French Revolution the church, like most churches in Paris, was desecrated, looted, and used for a time as a barn. The church was restored after the Revolution had run its course and remains in use today. Several impressive paintings by Rubens remain in the church today. Each summer, organ concerts commemorate the premieres of Berlioz’s Te Deum and Liszt’s Christus here in 1886.

The church is an example of a Gothic structure clothed in Renaissance detail. The church is relatively short in length at 105m, but its interior is 33.45m high to the vaulting. At the main façade, the left tower has been completed in Renaissance style, while the right tower remains a stump. The front and rear aspects provide a remarkable contrast between the comparatively sober classical front and the exuberant rear, which integrates Gothic forms and organization with Classical details. The L"écoute sculpture by Henri de Miller appears outside the church, to the south. A Keith Haring sculpture stands in a chapel of the church.

The Chapel of the Virgin was built in 1640 and restored from 1801 to 1804. It was inaugurated by Pius VII on the 22nd of December, 1804 when he came to Paris for the coronation of Napoleon. The apse chapel, with a ribbed cul-de-four vault, has at its centre a sculpture of the Virgin and Child of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle that the painter Thomas Couture highlighted by three large paintings.

With 8,000 pipes, the organ is reputed to be the largest pipe organ in France, surpassing the organs of Saint Sulpice and Notre Dame de Paris. The organ originally constructed by P.-A. Ducroquet was powerful enough for the premiere of Hector Berlioz" titanic Te Deum to be performed at St-Eustache in 1855.

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