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Munich architecture

Munich is home to the Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest, which grew out of a celebration for a royal wedding in October 1810. With about 4,800 people per square kilometre, it is also the most densely populated municipality in Germany.

  • 15Landmarks
  • 1368Oldest · St. Peter's Church
  • 101 mTallest · BMW Headquarters
  • 14Architects

Before you go

  • Fly intoMunich Airport (MUC)

    Munich Airport opened in 1992 about 28.5 km north-east of the city, near Freising, and is named after former Bavarian minister-president Franz Josef Strauss. A major Lufthansa hub with two passenger terminals, it has its own S-Bahn station linking it directly with the city centre.

  • CurrencyEuro (€)
  • LanguageGerman

    Standard German is spoken everywhere, but Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area after Vienna. The Bavarian dialects are recognised as regional languages, so you may hear a friendly 'Servus' or 'Grüß Gott' instead of 'Hallo'.

  • Getting aroundU-Bahn & S-Bahn

    The U-Bahn subway, S-Bahn commuter trains, trams and buses are all run under one ticket system, the MVV. The U-Bahn was expanded rapidly for the 1972 Olympics, while the tramway is the city's oldest public transport, running since 1876.

  • Where to stayFind hotels in Munich on Expedia Vacation rentals on Vrbo

    Stamped! may earn a commission when you book through these links.

  • Tours and ticketsFind tours in Munich on GetYourGuide More tours on Viator

    Skip-the-line tickets and guided tours of the landmarks. Stamped! may earn a commission.

15 landmarks in Munich

  1. Frauenkirche
    Photo: Diliff, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

    Frauenkirche

    Frauenplatz 12, 80331 Munich, Germany

    The Frauenkirche, Munich's cathedral, is the city's best-loved symbol, with twin brick towers just over 98 metres tall topped by rounded domes. Jörg von Halsbach raised it in only about 20 years, choosing brick because there was no stone quarry nearby; work began in 1468, the towers were finished in 1488 and the church was consecrated in 1494. Plans for open-work Gothic spires were dropped, and the distinctive domes were added in the 1520s. It is the largest hall church in the world, and a city rule keeps new buildings in the centre below 99 metres so its towers stay visible.

    Built
    1494
    Architect
    Jörg von Halsbach
    Style
    Gothic
    Height
    99 m (323 ft)
    Today
    Cathedral
  2. New Town Hall
    Photo: Steffen Flor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    New Town Hall

    Marienplatz 8, 80331 Munich, Germany

    The New Town Hall fills the whole north side of Marienplatz with a riot of neo-Gothic spires, gargoyles and statues. Georg von Hauberrisser built it in stages, starting in 1867 and finishing the big extension and its tower in the early 1900s, after the city council outgrew the Old Town Hall. Its roughly 100-metre main façade carries almost the entire Wittelsbach dynasty in stone, and the 85-metre tower can be climbed by lift. Several times a day the famous Glockenspiel near the top sets its 32 figures dancing to the chime of 43 bells.

    Built
    1906
    Architect
    Georg von Hauberrisser
    Style
    Gothic Revival
    Height
    85 m (279 ft)
    Today
    City Hall
  3. St. Peter's Church
    Photo: Richard Huber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    St. Peter's Church

    Rindermarkt 1, 80331 Munich, Germany

    St. Peter's is the oldest recorded parish church in Munich and probably the very spot where the city began. A Romanesque church here was expanded in Gothic style before a great fire in 1327, and the rebuilt church was dedicated again in 1368. Its 91-metre tower, known to locals as 'Alter Peter' (Old Peter), gained its Renaissance top in the early 17th century, when a Baroque choir was also added. Climbing the tower rewards you with one of the classic views over Marienplatz and the New Town Hall.

    Built
    1368
    Architect
    Unknown (medieval builders)
    Style
    Gothic
    Height
    91 m (299 ft)
    Today
    Church
  4. Asam Church
    Photo: Wikiolo, derivative work Lämpel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Asam Church

    Sendlinger Straße, 80331 Munich, Germany

    Squeezed into a row of houses on Sendlinger Straße, the Asam Church is a jewel box of southern German Late Baroque. Brothers Egid Quirin Asam, a sculptor, and Cosmas Damian Asam, a painter, built it between 1733 and 1746 as their own private church. The plot measures just 22 by 8 metres, yet the interior overflows with gilding, stucco and frescoes. Its gently convex façade swings out between its neighbours, hinting at the drama inside.

    Built
    1746
    Architect
    Asam brothers
    Style
    Baroque / Rococo
    Today
    Church
  5. Theatine Church
    Photo: Wilfredor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Theatine Church

    Salvatorplatz 2a, 80333 Munich, Germany

    The yellow Theatine Church on Odeonsplatz brought Italian High Baroque to Munich. Elector Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy founded it in thanks for the birth of their heir, and Agostino Barelli designed it after Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome. Enrico Zuccalli added the twin towers and finished the 71-metre dome in 1690, while François de Cuvilliés completed the Rococo façade in 1768. Its Mediterranean look and warm colour became a symbol of the city and shaped Baroque building across southern Germany.

    Built
    1768
    Architect
    Agostino Barelli, Enrico Zuccalli and François de Cuvilliés
    Style
    Baroque / Rococo
    Height
    71 m (233 ft)
    Today
    Church
  6. St. Michael's Church
    Photo: Luidger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    St. Michael's Church

    Neuhauser Straße 6, 80331 Munich, Germany

    St. Michael's is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps and a monument to the Counter-Reformation. Duke William V had it built for the Jesuits between 1583 and 1597, modelled on Il Gesù in Rome. When the tower collapsed in 1590 and wrecked the new choir, the duke took it as an omen and ordered an even larger church, with Friedrich Sustris adding a new choir, transept and façade. Its barrel vault spans more than 20 metres, at the time second only to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

    Built
    1597
    Architect
    Friedrich Sustris & Wendel Dietterlin
    Style
    Renaissance
    Height
    28 m (93 ft)
    Today
    Church
  7. Nymphenburg Palace
    Photo: Original: Richard Bartz, Munich aka Makro Freak Derivative work: Crassic, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

    Nymphenburg Palace

    Schloss Nymphenburg, 80638 Munich, Germany

    Nymphenburg Palace was the summer home of Bavaria's Wittelsbach rulers, set in a vast park in the west of the city. Agostino Barelli began the central pavilion in 1664 and it was completed in 1675, built from Kelheim limestone. Later architects including Enrico Zuccalli, Giovanni Antonio Viscardi and Joseph Effner added pavilions and gallery wings, and Effner redesigned the centre façade in 1716. The finished front stretches 632 metres from north to south, even wider than Versailles.

    Built
    1675
    Architect
    Agostino Barelli
    Style
    Baroque
    Today
    Museum
  8. National Theatre
    Photo: xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    National Theatre

    Max-Joseph-Platz 2, 80539 Munich, Germany

    The National Theatre on Max-Joseph-Platz is home to the Bavarian State Opera, Orchestra and Ballet, and with about 2,100 seats it is Germany's largest opera house. Karl von Fischer's first theatre opened in 1818 but burned in 1823, and Leo von Klenze's rebuild was gutted in an air raid in 1943. The present building, opened in 1963, recreates Fischer's neoclassical design with its columned portico and pediment. Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg both premiered here.

    Built
    1963
    Architect
    Karl von Fischer & Leo von Klenze
    Style
    Neoclassical
    Today
    Opera House
  9. Glyptothek
    Photo: High Contrast, CC BY 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

    Glyptothek

    Königsplatz 3, 80333 Munich, Germany

    The Glyptothek is Munich's oldest public museum, built by Leo von Klenze between 1816 and 1830 for King Ludwig I's collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. It anchors the north side of Königsplatz, part of Ludwig's dream of a 'German Athens'. Behind its portico of Ionic columns, the outer walls hold niches with ancient statues, and thirteen galleries are arranged around a courtyard. Inside you can meet treasures such as the Barberini Faun and the figures from the Temple of Aphaea on Aegina.

    Built
    1830
    Architect
    Leo von Klenze
    Style
    Greek Revival
    Today
    Museum
  10. Feldherrnhalle
    Photo: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

    Feldherrnhalle

    Odeonsplatz, 80539 Munich, Germany

    The Feldherrnhalle is a grand open loggia closing the southern end of Ludwigstraße on Odeonsplatz. King Ludwig I commissioned it in 1841 to honour the Bavarian Army, and Friedrich von Gärtner modelled it on the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, finishing it in 1844. It replaced the old Gothic Schwabinger Tor, and its stone lions were added in 1906. In 1923 it was the scene of the clash that ended Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch, a dark chapter now part of its story.

    Built
    1844
    Architect
    Friedrich von Gärtner
    Style
    Neoclassical
    Today
    Monument
  11. Olympiastadion
    Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Olympiastadion

    Spiridon-Louis-Ring 25, 80809 Munich, Germany

    The Olympic Stadium was the main venue of the 1972 Summer Olympics and is famous for its sweeping tent roof. Günter Behnisch's firm won the competition, and engineer Frei Otto helped develop a canopy of acrylic glass held up by steel cables, used on this scale for the first time. The light, transparent roof was meant to echo the Alps and to present a democratic contrast to the 1936 Berlin Games. It went on to host the 1974 World Cup final and the Euro 1988 final.

    Built
    1972
    Architect
    Frei Otto & Günter Behnisch
    Style
    High-tech architecture
    Today
    Stadium
  12. BMW Headquarters
    Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    BMW Headquarters

    Petuelring 130, 80809 Munich, Germany

    Nicknamed the 'Four-Cylinder', BMW's headquarters is made of four round towers clustered together like the cylinders of an engine. Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer designed it, and it was completed in 1972, opening as BMW's global head office in 1973. The 101-metre tower became a protected historic building in 1999 and is often named among Munich's finest works of modern architecture. It stands next to the bowl-shaped BMW Museum and opposite the Olympic Park.

    Built
    1972
    Architect
    Karl Schwanzer
    Style
    Modernism
    Height
    101 m (331 ft)
    Stories
    22
    Today
    Office
  13. BMW Welt
    Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    BMW Welt

    Am Olympiapark 1, 80809 Munich, Germany

    BMW Welt is a swooping steel-and-glass showroom, delivery centre and event venue beside the BMW headquarters. Coop Himmelb(l)au won it in a 2001 competition, and it was built from 2003 to 2007, opening in October 2007. Its huge cloud-like roof carries an 800 kW solar plant, and buyers collecting a new car watch it rise from the floors below on a round platform in a vast glass hall. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Bavaria.

    Built
    2007
    Architect
    Coop Himmelb(l)au
    Style
    Deconstructivism
    Today
    Exhibition Center
  14. Allianz Arena
    Photo: 2015 Michael 2015, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Allianz Arena

    Franz-Beckenbauer-Platz 5, 80939 Munich, Germany

    The Allianz Arena, home of FC Bayern Munich, glows on the northern edge of the city like a giant lantern. Herzog & de Meuron wrapped it in 2,760 inflated ETFE panels, making it the first stadium in the world whose whole exterior can change colour. Built from 2003 to 2005 and opened in May 2005, it seats 75,000 for domestic matches. Locals nickname it the 'Schlauchboot' — the inflatable dinghy.

    Built
    2005
    Style
    High-tech architecture
    Today
    Stadium
  15. Pinakothek der Moderne
    Photo: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

    Pinakothek der Moderne

    Barer Straße, 80333 Munich, Germany

    The Pinakothek der Moderne gathers modern art, design, works on paper and the Technical University's architecture museum under one roof in the Kunstareal. Stephan Braunfels designed the building, which opened in September 2002 after years of debate over design and cost. Its crisp white-and-grey concrete façade, tall columns and big canopy roof lead to a central rotunda crowned by a glass dome. It is one of the most popular museums of modern art in Europe.

    Built
    2002
    Architect
    Stephan Braunfels
    Style
    Modernism
    Today
    Museum

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