27 Best Sights in Altstadt, Munich

Perhaps Munich's most ostentatious church, it has a suitably extraordinary entrance, framed by raw rock foundations. The insignificant door, crammed between its craggy shoulders, gives little idea of the opulence and lavish detailing within the small 18th-century church (there are only 12 rows of pews). Above the doorway St. Nepomuk, the 14th-century Bohemian monk and patron saint of Bavaria who drowned in the Danube, is being led by angels from a rocky riverbank to heaven. The church's official name is Church of St. Johann Nepomuk, but it's more popularly known as the Asamkirche for its architects, the brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam. The interior of the church is a prime example of true southern German late-Baroque architecture. Frescoes by Cosmas Damian Asam and rosy marble cover the walls. The sheer wealth of statues and gilding is stunning—there's even a gilt skeleton at the sanctuary's portal.

Munich's Dom (cathedral) is a distinctive late-Gothic brick structure with two huge towers, each 99 meters (325 feet) high (a Munich landmark to climb but currently closed with no set reopening date). The main body of the cathedral was completed in 20 years (1468–88)—a record time in those days—and the distinctive onion-dome-like cupolas were added by 1525. Shortly after the original work was completed in 1488, Jörg von Halspach, the Frauenkirche's architect, died, but he managed to see the project through. In 1944–45, the building suffered severe damage during Allied bombing raids and was restored between 1947 and 1957. Inside, the church combines most of von Halspach's plans with stark, clean modernity and simplicity of line. As you enter the church, look on the stone floor for the dark imprint of a large foot—the so-called Teufelstritt (Devil's Footprint). The cathedral houses the elaborate marble tomb of Duke Ludwig IV (1282–1347), who became Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian in 1328. One of the Frauenkirche's great treasures is the collection of wooden busts by Erasmus Grasser.

Chagall, Magritte, and Rothko, as well as contemporary artists like Peter Lindbergh and Robert Mapplethorpe have been featured at this exhibition space in the middle of the shopping pedestrian zone. It is set within the upscale Fünf Höfe shopping mall, designed by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron, who also designed London's Tate Modern. Exhibitions at the Kunsthalle rarely disappoint, making it one of Germany's most interesting art venues.

Bordered by the Neues Rathaus, shops, and cafés, this square is named after the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary that has watched over it for more than three centuries. It was erected in 1638 at the behest of Elector Maximilian I as an act of thanksgiving for the city's survival of the Thirty Years' War, the cataclysmic, partly religious struggle that devastated vast regions of Germany. When the statue was taken down from its marble column for cleaning in 1960, workmen found a small casket in the base containing a splinter of wood said to be from the cross of Christ. On the fifth floor of a building facing the Neues Rathaus is Café Glockenspiel. It overlooks the entire square and provides a perfect view of the glockenspiel. Entrance is around the back.

Munich's present neo-Gothic town hall was built in three sections and two phases between 1867 and 1905. It was a necessary enlargement on the nearby Old Town Hall, but city fathers also saw it as presenting Munich as a modern city, independent from the waning powers of the Bavarian Wittelsbach royal house. Architectural historians are divided over its merits, although its dramatic scale and lavish detailing are impressive. The main tower's 1908 glockenspiel (a chiming clock with mechanical figures), the largest in Germany, plays daily at 11 am and noon, with an additional performance at 5 pm March–October. As chimes peal out over the square, the clock's doors flip open and brightly colored dancers and jousting knights act out two events from Munich's past: a tournament held in Marienplatz in 1568 and the Schäfflertanz (Dance of the Coopers), which commemorated the end of the plague of 1515–17. You, too, can travel up there, by elevator, to an observation point near the top of one of the towers. On a clear day the view across the city with the Alps beyond is spectacular.

The Altstadt's oldest parish church (called locally Alter Peter, or Old Peter) traces its origins to the 11th century, and has been restored in various architectural styles, including Gothic, baroque, and rococo. The rich baroque interior has a magnificent high altar and aisle pillars decorated with exquisite 18th-century figures of the apostles. In clear weather it's well worth the long climb up the approximately 300-foot-high tower, with a panoramic view of the Alps.

One of Germany's true treasures, Munich's royal Residenz (Residence) began in 1385 as the modest Neuveste (New Fortress) on the northeastern city boundary. By the time the Bavarian monarchy fell in 1918, the palace could compare favorably with the best in Europe. With the Residenz's central location, it was pretty much inevitable that the Allied bombing of 1944–45 would cause immense damage, and subsequent reconstruction took decades. For tourists today, however, it really is a treasure chamber of delights. A wander around the Residenz can last anywhere from three hours to all day. The 16th-century, 216-foot-long arched Antiquarium, built for Duke Albrecht V's collection of antiques, is recognized as one of the most impressive Renaissance creations outside Italy (today it's used chiefly for state receptions). There are a number of halls and courtyards that show concerts, from the postwar Neuer Herkulessaal to the outdoor Brunnenhof. And particular favorites for visitors are the re-creations of many private royal chambers and apartments. The accumulated Wittelsbach treasures are on view in several museums that comprise the Residenz. At a corner of the Residenz's Apothekenhof (courtyard) is the incomparable Rococo Cuvilliés-Theater where Mozart's opera Idomeneo premiered in 1781. The Schatzkammer (Treasury) and Staatliche Münzsammlung (State Coin Museum) are also here.

The Residenzmuseum comprises everything in the Residenz apart from the Schatzkammer (Treasury), Staatliche Münzsammlung, and the Cuvilliés-Theater, which have separate admission charges.

The Schatzkammer comprises many hundreds of masterworks, including a host of treasures from the Wittelsbach royal crown jewels. A highlight is the crown belonging to Bavaria's first king, Maximilian I Joseph, created in Paris in 1806–07. The Schatzkammer collection has a staggering centerpiece—a renowned 50-cm-high (20-inch-high) Renaissance statue of St. George studded with diamonds, pearls, and rubies.

The city's open-air market really is the beating heart of downtown Munich. Around 140 stalls and shops sell everything from produce to meat to coffee to baked goods, as well as German and international specialties. All kinds of people come here for a quick bite, from well-heeled businesspeople and casual tourists to local workers. It's also the realm of the garrulous, sturdy market women who run the stalls with dictatorial authority; do not try to select your pickings by hand: ask, and let it be served to you. There's a great beer garden (open pretty much whenever the sun is shining), where you can enjoy your snacks with cold local beer. A sign above the counter tells you what's on tap. The choice rotates throughout the year among the six major Munich breweries, which are displayed on the maypole. These are also the only six breweries officially allowed to serve their wares at the Oktoberfest.

Alter Hof was the original home of the Wittelsbach dynasty of Bavaria (not to be confused with the adjacent Residenz). Established in 1180, the Münchner Kaiserburg (Imperial Palace) at Alter Hof now serves various functions. Its Infopoint is a tourist-information center for Bavaria's castles and museums. In the vaulted hall beneath is a multimedia presentation about the palace's history. 

Much of the work on Munich's first town hall was done in the 15th century, though various alterations were made through the centuries. Its great hall—destroyed in 1943–45 but now fully restored—was the work of the renowned architect Jörg von Halspach. Postwar, the tower was rebuilt as it looked in the 15th century and now it's used for official receptions and is not usually open to the public. The tower provides a fairy-tale-like setting for the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum), accessible via a winding staircase. Its toys, dolls, and teddy bears are on display, together with a collection of Barbies from the United States.

This stunning example of a rococo theater, originally called the New Opera House but now called Cuvilliés-Theater or Altes Residenz-Theater, was originally built by court architect François Cuvilliés between 1751 and 1753 and it soon became the most famous in Germany. In 1781 it premiered Mozart's Idomeneo, commissioned by the Elector of Bavaria, Karl Theodor. The lavish rococo style went out of fashion with the emergence of the less ostentatious, more elegant period of 18th-century classicism. But in 1884 it became the first theater in Germany to be fitted out with electric lighting and in 1896 the first to have a revolving stage. As with so much of the Altstadt, it was destroyed during Allied bombing raids, although some of the original rococo decoration had been removed. A new theater, the Neues Residenz-Theater (now the Bavarian State Drama Theatre Company) was built (1948–51) in a different location. In 1956–58, using some of the original rococo furnishings, Cuvilliés's lavish theater was rebuilt at a corner of the Residenz's Apothekenhof (courtyard).

This quirky museum is in the enormous former St. Augustus Church, and it contains a large collection of fishhooks, taxidermy animals (including a 6½-foot-tall brown bear and a grizzly from Alaska), and a 12,000-year-old megaloceros (giant deer) skeleton. You'll even find the Wolpertinger, a mythical creature with body parts of various animals. There are also rotating special exhibitions exploring native wildlife, as well as the history of hunting and fishing.

Built to commemorate Bavaria's part in the War of Spanish Succession, further motivation for the construction of this church was a prophecy from the devout Maria Anna Lindmayr that if the city survived the war intact and a church was not erected in thanks, the city was doomed. The city was saved and a church was built between 1711 and 1718. It has a striking baroque exterior, and its interior is brought to life by frescoes by Cosmas Damian Asam depicting various heroic scenes. Remarkably, it is the only church in the city's Altstadt spared destruction in the war.

Erected in 1841–44, this open pavilion, fronted with three huge arches, was modeled on the 14th-century Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. From Odeonsplatz, it faces Ludwigstrasse, with Siegestor in the distance, and was built to honor Bavarian military leaders and the Bavarian army. Two huge Bavarian lions are flanked by the larger-than-life statues of Count Johann Tserclaes Tilly, who led Catholic forces in the Thirty Years' War, and Prince Karl Philipp Wrede, hero of the 19th-century Napoleonic Wars. It was turned into a militaristic shrine in the 1930s and '40s by the Nazis, to whom it was significant because it marked the site of Hitler's failed coup, or Putsch, in 1923. Hitler installed a memorial in 1933 to commemorate the Nazis killed that day, and during the Third Reich, all who passed the guarded memorial had to give the Nazi salute. Viscardigasse, a passageway behind Feldherrnhalle linking Residenzstrasse and Theatinerstrasse, which became known as Drückebergergasse (Shirkers' Lane), was used as a bypass by those who didn't want to salute the memorial. The memorial was removed in 1945.

Duke Wilhelm V founded Munich's Hofbräuhaus (court brewery) in 1589; it's been at its present location since 1607, where the golden beer is consumed from a one-liter mug called a Mass. If the cavernous ground-floor hall or beer garden is too noisy, there’s a quieter restaurant upstairs. Visitors to the city far outnumber locals, who regard HBH as a tourist trap. The brass band that performs here most days adds modern pop and American folk music to the traditional German numbers.

The formal court garden dates back to 1613 when it lay outside the Residenz moat. It's now bordered on two sides by arcades designed in the 19th century. On the east side of the garden is the state chancellery (office of the Bavarian prime minister), built in 1990–93 around the ruins of the 19th-century Army Museum and incorporating the remains of a Renaissance arcade. Bombed during World War II air raids, the museum stood untouched for almost 40 years as a reminder of the war. In front of the chancellery stands one of Europe's most unusual—some say, most effective—war memorials. Instead of looking up at a monument, you are led down to a sunken crypt covered by a massive granite block. In the crypt lies a German soldier from World War I. The crypt is a stark contrast to the memorial that stands unobtrusively in front of the northern wing of the chancellery: a simple cube of black marble bearing facsimiles of handwritten anti-Nazi manifestos.

The striking Jewish Center at St.-Jakobs-Platz has transformed a formerly sleepy area into an elegant, busy modern square. The buildings signify the return of the Jewish community to Munich's City Center, six decades after the end of the Third Reich. The center includes a museum focusing on Jewish history in Munich and the impressive Ohel Jakob Synagogue, with its rough slabs topped by a lattice-like cover, manifesting a thought-provoking sense of permanence. The third building is a community center, which includes the kosher Einstein restaurant ( 089/2024–00332). 

In 1728, Eustachius Föderl opened an inn and beer garden here, which might be how the square came to be called Stachus—it's still called that by the locals although both are long gone. One of Munich's most popular fountains is here. It’s a magnet on hot summer days and makes way for an ice-skating rink in winter. Karlsplatz is a bustling meeting point, even more so because of the underground shopping center.

Munich's most expensive and exclusive shopping street was named after King Maximilian II, who wanted to break away from the Greek-influenced classical architecture favored by his father, Ludwig I. He thus created this broad boulevard lined with majestic buildings culminating on a rise above the River Isar at the stately Maximilianeum. Finished in 1874, this building was conceived as an elite education foundation for the most talented young people across Bavaria, regardless of status or wealth. It is still home to an education foundation, but its principal role is as the grand, if slightly confined, home to the Bavarian state parliament. Rather than take the tram to see the Maximilianeum, the whole walk along Maximilianstrasse (from Max-Joesph-Platz) is rewarding. You'll pass various boutiques, plus the five-star Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, the Upper Bavarian Parliament, the Museum Fünf Kontinente (Museum Five Continents), and cross the picturesque River Isar. Five minutes past the Maximilianeum, on the charming Wiener Platz, is the Hofbräukeller and its excellent beer garden.

A curious story explains why this hugely impressive Renaissance church, adjoining a former extensive Jesuit college, has no tower. Seven years after the start of construction, in 1583, the main tower collapsed. Its patron, pious Duke Wilhelm V, regarded the disaster as a heavenly sign that the church wasn't big enough, so he ordered a change in the plans—this time without a tower. Completed in 1597, the barrel vaulting of St. Michael's is second in size only to that of St. Peter's in Rome. The duke is buried in the crypt, along with 40 other Wittelsbach family members, including the eccentric King Ludwig II. A severe neoclassical monument in the north transept contains the tomb of Napoléon's stepson, Eugène de Beauharnais, who married a daughter of King Maximilian I and died in Munich in 1824. Once again a Jesuit church, Michaelskirche serves as a venue for church music performances. 

This museum is as eclectic inside as the architecture is outside. The buildings facing St.-Jakobs-Platz date to the 15th century, though they were destroyed in WWII and rebuilt. It houses the fabulous Typical Munich! exhibition, charting a riotous history few other cities can match: royal capital, brewery center, capital of art and classical music, and now wealthy, high-tech, and cultural center par excellence. There is also a separate, permanent exhibition dealing with the city's Nazi past. The museum is home to a puppet theater, a film museum showing rarely screened movies, and numerous photo and other temporary exhibitions. Check out the museum shop, servus.heimat, with the great and good of Munich kitsch and souvenirs. 

Originally built between 1563 and 1567, the ground floor was home to Duke Albrecht V's stables, the second floor to living quarters for the servants, and the third to the ducal collection of high art and curiosities (6,000 pieces by 1600). Between 1809 and 1983 it housed the Bavarian mint, and a neoclassical facade, with allegories of copper, silver, and gold, was added in 1808–09. Today, with its slightly garish green exterior on three sides, it can appear to be little more than the somewhat undistinguished home to the Bavarian Land Bureau for the Conservation of Historic Monuments, but step inside the inner arcade to see a jewel of German Renaissance architecture.

Bavaria's original National Theater at Max-Joseph-Platz didn't last long. Opened in 1818, it burned to the ground in 1823 before it was completely finished. By 1825 it was rebuilt with its eight-column portico, and went on to premiere Richard Wagner's world-famous Tristan und Isolde (1865), Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868), Rheingold (1869), and Walküre (1870). Allied bombs destroyed much of the interior in 1943, and its facade and elements of its interior were rebuilt as it was prewar. It finally reopened in 1963. Today, it is one of Europe's largest opera houses and contains some of the world's most advanced stage technologies. As the principal home to the Bavarian State Opera, it is considered one of the world's outstanding opera houses. Family opera is also available for children under 18 with an accompanying adult. The Munich Opera Festival takes place in late June and July, including performances, free open-air Opera for All events, and live streaming opera online with Staatsoper TV.

The Residenzmuseum comprises everything in the Residenz apart from the Schatzkammer (Treasury) and the Cuvilliés-Theater. Paintings, tapestries, furniture, and porcelain are housed in various rooms and halls. One highlight is the Grüne Galerie (Green Gallery), named after its green silk decoration, and its opulence and outstanding paintings are captivating. Also impressive is the Ahnengalerie (Ancestral Gallery) at the end of the tour, which demonstrates the Wittelsbach royal family lineage.

More than 300,000 coins, banknotes, medals, and precious stones, some 5,000 years old, are among the treasures of the Bavarian State Coin Collection.

This glorious baroque church owes its Italian appearance to its founder, Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, who commissioned it in gratitude for the long-awaited birth of her son and heir, Max Emanuel, in 1662. A native of Turin, the princess mistrusted Bavarian architects and builders and thus summoned Agostino Barelli, a master builder from Bologna, to construct her church. It is modeled on Rome's Sant'Andrea della Valle. Barelli worked on the building for 12 years, but he was dismissed as too quarrelsome. It was another 100 years before the building was finished in a style similar to today's. Its striking yellow facade stands out, and its two lofty towers, topped by delightful cupolas, frame the entrance, with the central dome at the back. The superb stucco work on the inside has a remarkably light feeling owing to its brilliant white color. The expansive Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle and Theatinerkirche is often used for outdoor stage events.