Fodor's Expert Review Hofgarten

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.