Munich Residenz

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

Address

Residenzstraße 1, Munich, Germany

Details

Founded: 1508
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Germany
Historical period: Habsburg Dynasty (Germany)