MUNICH (Ger. München), a city of Germany, capital of the kingdom of Bavaria, and the third largest town in the German Empire. It is situated on an elevated plain, on the river Isar, 25 m. N. of the foot-hills of the Alps, about midway between Strassburg and Vienna. Owing to its lofty site (1700 ft. above the sea) and the proximity of the Alps, the climate is changeable, and its mean annual temperature, 49° to 50° F., is little higher than that of many places much farther to the north. The annual rainfall is nearly 30 in. Munich lies at the centre of an important network of railways connecting it directly with Strassburg (for Paris), Cologne, Leipzig, Berlin, Rosenheim (for Vienna) and Innsbruck (for Italy via the Brenner pass), which converge in a central station.
Munich is divided into twenty-four municipal districts, nineteen of which, including the old town, lie on the left bank of the Isar, while the suburban districts of Au, Haidhausen, Giesing, Bogenhausen and Ramersdorf are on the opposite bank. The old town, containing many narrow and irregular streets, forms a semicircle with its diameter towards the river, while round its periphery has sprung up the greater part of modern Munich, including the handsome Maximilian and Ludwig districts. The walls with which Munich was formerly surrounded have been pulled down, but some of the gates have been left. The most interesting is the Isartor and the Karlstor, restored in 1835 and adorned with frescoes. The Siegestor (or gate of victory) is a modern imitation of the arch of Constantine at Rome, while the stately Propylaea, built in 1854–1862, is a reproduction of the gates of the Athenian Acropolis.
Munich owes its architectural magnificence largely to Louis I. of Bavaria, who ascended the throne in 1825, and his successors; while its collections of art entitle it to rank with Dresden and Berlin. Most of the modern buildings have been erected after celebrated prototypes of other countries and eras, so that, as has been said by Moriz Carrière, a walk through Munich affords a picture of the architecture and art of two thousand years. In carrying out his plans Louis I. was seconded by the architect Leo von Klenze, while the external decorations of painting and sculpture were mainly designed by Peter von Cornelius, Wilhelm von Kaulbach and Schwanthaler. As opportunity offers, the narrow streets of the older city are converted into broad, straight boulevards, lined with palatial mansions and public buildings. The hygienic improvement effected by these changes, and by a new and excellent water supply, is shown by the mortality averages—40·4 per thousand in 1871–1875, 30·4 per thousand in 1881–1885, and 20·5 per thousand in 1903–1904. The architectural style which has been principally followed in the later public buildings, among them the law courts, finished in 1897, the German bank, St Martin’s hospital, as well as in numerous private dwellings, is the Italian and French Rococo, or Renaissance, adapted to the traditions of Munich architecture in the 17th and 18th centuries. A large proportion of the most notable buildings in Munich are in two streets, the Ludwigstrasse and the Maximilianstrasse, the creations of the monarchs whose names they bear. The former, three-quarters of a mile long and 40 yds. wide, chiefly contains buildings in the Renaissance style by Friedrich von Gärtner. The most striking of these are the palaces of Duke Max and of Prince Luitpold; the Odeon, a large building for concerts, adorned with frescoes and marble busts; the war office; the royal library, in the Florentine palatial style; the Ludwigskirche, a successful reproduction of the Italian Romanesque style, built in 1829–1844, and containing a huge fresco of the Last Judgment by Cornelius; the blind asylum; and, lastly, the university. At one end this street is terminated by the Siegestor, while at the other is the Feldherrenhalle (or hall of the marshals), a copy of the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence, containing statues of Tilly and Wrede by Schwanthaler. Adjacent is the church of the Theatines, an imposing though somewhat over-ornamented example of the Italian Rococo style; it contains the royal burial vault. In the Maximilianstrasse, which extends from Haidhausen on the right bank of the Isar to the Max-Joseph Platz, King Maximilian II. tried to introduce an entirely novel style of domestic architecture, formed by the combination of older forms. At the east end it is closed by the Maximilianeum, an extensive and imposing edifice, adorned externally with large sculptural groups and internally with huge paintings representing the chief scenes in the history of the world. Descending the street, towards the west are passed in succession the old buildings of the Bavarian national museum, the government buildings in which the Composite style of Maximilian has been most consistently carried out, and the mint. On the north side of the Max-Joseph Platz lies the royal palace, consisting of the Alte Residenz, the Königsbau, and the Festsaalbau. The Alte Residenz dates from 1601 to 1616; its apartments are handsomely fitted up in the Rococo style, and the private chapel and the treasury contain several crowns and many other interesting and valuable objects. The Festsaalbau, erected by Klenze in the Italian Renaissance style, is adorned with mural paintings and sculptures, while the Königsbau, a reduced copy of the Pitti Palace at Florence, contains a series of admirable frescoes from the Niebelungenlied by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Adjoining the palace are two theatres, the Residenz or private theatre, and the handsome Hoftheater, accommodating 2500 spectators. The Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, or court-church, is in the Byzantine style, with a Romanesque façade.
The Ludwigstrasse and the Maximilianstrasse both end at no great distance from the Frauenplatz in the centre of the old town. On this square stands the Frauenkirche, the cathedral church of the archbishop of Munich-Freising, with its lofty cupola capped towers dominating the whole town. It is imposing from its size, and interesting as one of the few examples of indigenous Munich art. On the adjacent Marienplatz are the old town-hall, dating from the 14th century and restored in 1865, and the new town-hall, the latter a magnificent modern Gothic erection, freely embellished with statues, frescoes, and stained-glass windows, and enlarged in 1900–1905. The column in the centre of the square was erected in 1638, to commemorate the defeat of the Protestants near Prague by the Bavarians during the Thirty Years’ War.
Among the other churches of Munich the chief place is due to St Boniface’s, an admirable copy of an early Christian basilica. It is adorned with a cycle of religious paintings by Heinrich von Hess (1798–1863), and the dome is supported by sixty-four monoliths of grey Tyrolese marble. The parish church of Au, in the Early Gothic style, contains gigantic stained-glass windows and some excellent wood-carving; and the church of St John in Haidhausen is another fine Gothic structure. St Michael’s in the Renaissance style, erected for the Jesuits in 1583–1595, contains the monument of Eugène Beauharnais by Thorwaldsen. The façade is divided into storeys, and the general effect is by no means ecclesiastical. St Peter’s is interesting as the oldest church in Munich (12th century), though no trace of the original basilica remains. Among newer churches the most noticeable are the Evangelical church of St Luke, a Transitional building, with an imposing dome, finished in 1896, and the Gothic parochial church of the Giesing suburb, with a tower 312 ft. high and rich interior decorations (1866–1884).
The valuable collections of art are enshrined in handsome buildings, mostly in the Maximilian suburb on the north side of the town. The old Pinakothek, erected by Klenze in 1826–1836, and somewhat resembling the Vatican, is embellished externally with frescoes by Cornelius and with statues of twenty-four celebrated painters from sketches by Schwanthaler. It contains a valuable and extensive collection of pictures by the earlier masters, the chief treasures being the early German and Flemish works and the unusually numerous examples of Rubens. It also affords accommodation to more than 300,000 engravings, over 20,000 drawings, and a large collection of vases. Opposite stands the new Pinakothek, built 1846–1853, the frescoes on which, designed by Kaulbach, show the effects of wind and weather. It is devoted to works by painters of the last century, among which Karl Rottmann’s Greek landscapes are perhaps the most important. The Glyptothek, a building by Klenze in the Ionic style, and adorned with several groups and
