Excellence for Munich! King Ludwig I wanted to concentrate education, art, and culture in Munich. That is why, immediately after taking office in 1825, he organized the relocation of Ludwig Maximilian University from Landshut to Munich. From November 1825, the nearly 1,000 students were housed by the Jesuits at St. Michael's.

The Jesuit college on what is now Neuhauser Straße served as a lecture hall. St. Michael's Church was the university church, and the Carmelite Church on Promenadeplatz was used as an auditorium. Apparently, the students felt almost too comfortable: in December 1830, they marched noisily to the Karlstor with musical instruments from the “Christkindldult”, the christmas market of the time. But when the military arrested them, excess replaced excellence. Due to several days of unrest, Ludwig I had to close the university for a short time and expelled all students who did not live in Munich.

On Ludwig's birthday on August 25, 1840, the university moved into the main building on Ludwigstraße, designed by Friedrich von Gärtner. A university on the street which carries your name – not a bad birthday present! The king also established the Georgianum seminary, the parish and university church of St. Ludwig, the court and state library, the state institute for the blind, and the educational institute for girls from higher social classes here.

World War II destroyed 70 percent of the main building, the clinics, and the natural science institutes. A third of the library's holdings were also affected. Under the most difficult conditions, LMU was able to resume operations in the summer of 1946. Unimaginable for students and building authorities today, "student construction crews" helped with the reconstruction. Until 1949, this service was a mandatory prerequisite for admission to the university.

Today, with over 500 years of history, LMU is one of Europe's leading universities of excellence. Well over 50,000 students from over 130 countries study throughout Munich. Some faculties are direct neighbors and residents of the Kunstareal. For example, in the building right next to the Museum Brandhorst on Theresienstrasse, which is also home to the Museum Mineralogia.
 

"Your Majesty will find the key enclosed." With this sentence from architect Leo von Klenze in a letter to King Ludwig I, the history of Kunstareal began. Munich's first publicly accessible museum, the Glyptothek on Königsplatz, opened in 1830. Ludwig originally had no interest in ancient sculpture.

Ludwig's father, King Max I, called the sculptures, which can, apart from Munich, only be seen in Paris, London, and New York, "broken, dirty dolls." And Ludwig was not a fan of antique sculpture at first either. But in 1805, everything changed: after seeing Antonio Canova's statue of the goddess Hebe in Venice, Ludwig pursued a mission with determination: "I want to transform Munich into a city that honours Germany so whole-heartedly that no one may claim to know Germany until they have seen Munich!" 

In 1808, Crown Prince Ludwig was certain: "Munich needs what in Rome is called 'museo'" and began planning an exhibition of antique sculptures. His librarian contributed the name. "Glyptein" (to carve, chisel) and "library" became “Glyptothek.”

Art agents were tasked with finding Greek, Roman, and Etruscan "works of outstanding beauty" for him, whatever the cost. In 1812, Ludwig used his private fortune to purchase the pediment sculptures from the Temple of Aphaia in Aegina, a highlight of the Glyptothek. Over the years, unique works from all over the world were added, such as the "Barberini Faun" and the “Drunken Old Woman.”

As the first building on Königsplatz, the Glyptothek was the cornerstone of Ludwig's idea of "Athens on the Isar" – and thus the starting signal for today's art district. To this day, it is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to ancient statues. And thanks to renovation work carried out between 2019 and 2021 based on the original plans, the façade now shines in new splendor.

While the Glyptothek looks like a Greek temple from the outside, the interior is modeled after Roman baths. There are no sauna infusions to enjoy, but visitors can experience freestanding exhibits from past eras in wonderfully natural light. 

And there is still a little bit of wellness to be had: the steps in front of the museum are a popular spot for sunbathing. If it gets too hot, you can cool off in the Glyptothek's courtyard with one of Munich's most beautiful museum cafés. Shady trees and green walls create a Greek-Italian holiday feeling.

Rubens, Rembrandt, da Vinci, and many more - the Alte Pinakothek in the heart of Kunstareal houses one of the most important collections of European painting. When it opened in 1836, it was the largest museum in the world. Here, King Ludwig I brought together exhibits from the Middle Ages to the late Rococo period from all parts of Europe.

Around 1800, the art collections of the House of Wittelsbach were scattered everywhere – not a pleasant thought for a true collector. Since “King of Collectors” Ludwig I was committed to public education, he brought together the highlights of the Renaissance in Munich. Incidentally, the Alte Pinakothek is the only museum in Germany with a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. His “Madonna with the Carnation” from 1475 has been on display there since 1889.

King Ludwig's court architect, Leo von Klenze, began constructing the Royal Pinakothek in 1826. Just ten years later, what was then the most modern museum in the world opened its doors. It has only been called the “Alte Pinakothek” since 1853, when the Neue Pinakothek opened on the opposite side.

The Second World War caused severe damage. In the 1950s, the Alte Pinakothek was rebuilt by Hans Döllgast. A bomb crater closed with unplastered bricks still reminds visitors of the “wounds” of the war.

With the web app Alte Pinakothek Unframed, visitors can plan their visit in advance, find out more about the approximately 700 exhibits, and immerse themselves in bygone eras with free audio guides.

In 1850, King Ludwig I fulfilled his dream of uniting religion and art in Munich by using income from the Andechs monastery to build a Benedictine abbey. St. Bonifaz was his most personal project. However, his great wish to be buried here alongside his wife Therese almost came to nothing.

For King Ludwig I, religion was the source of art. That is why he wanted to build a basilica modeled on an apostolic church. Surprisingly, when it came to his pet project, he decided against his house architect Leo von Klenze. In 1827, he sent the young architect Friedrich Ziebland to Italy for two years to conduct research. 

Ludwig I married Queen Therese in 1810 and started the more than 200-year-old tradition of the Munich Oktoberfest with a horse race. The foundation stone for St. Boniface was laid on their silver wedding anniversary, October 12, 1835. This was no coincidence, as this church was very special to Ludwig. He wanted to be buried here with his wife. 

However, because Therese was Protestant, there was resistance from the Catholic Church. She was therefore initially buried in the Theatinerkirche and only later transferred to St. Bonifaz. For 130 years, her grave lay inaccessible beneath that of her husband. It was not until 2002 that their sarcophagi were placed side by side.

Ludwig's sarcophagus was damaged during World War II and subsequently relocated. The report by Hans Döllgast, who designed the reconstruction of St. Bonifaz and the Alte Pinakothek, reads like a Hollywood scene. In 1950, he wrote in the daily newspaper Münchner Merkur: "On January 16, as night fell, the body of King Ludwig I was lifted from its sarcophagus in St. Bonifaz Basilica and transferred to the monks' crypt ... the faded royal blue uniform with a crimson sash. His folded hands clasp the death cross." 

The graves of Ludwig I and his wife Therese can now be found in the side aisle of the basilica. As one of the most important spiritual sites in Kunstareal, St. Boniface Abbey is still dedicated to theology, spirituality, history, culture, and art. It also provides daily support to homeless people.

North of the Royal Pinakothek, King Ludwig I wanted to literally juxtapose his collection of contemporary art with the Old Masters. In 1846, architects Friedrich von Gärtner and August von Voit began designing the new collection house, calld Neue Pinakothek. When it opened in 1853, it was the only permanent museum of contemporary art in the world.

Even as crown prince, Ludwig I used his private fortune to purchase contemporary works as part of his personal “sponsorship program” for young creative artists. This resulted in a significant collection of “paintings from this and future centuries,” as he enthused in his inaugural speech. The Neue Pinakothek was intended to secure the future of his collection and make it accessible to the general public. “The works of statesmen will long be forgotten when those of outstanding artists still inspire and delight,” he said in a speech.

For the Neue Pinakothek, Ludwig I focused on the Munich School associated with the Royal Academy of Arts and German Romanticism. And he was already the “king of influencer marketing” over 150 years ago: The main hall featured landscape paintings by Carl Rottmann depicting heroic scenes from Greece, ruled by his son King Otto. Like!
Although less damaged than the Alte Pinakothek during World War II, the Neue Pinakothek was not rebuilt. Click on “1981 Neue Pinakothek” to learn more about the unusual new building.

“Perfect for warm summer evenings... no waiting time,” is how one internet reviewer describes the Propylaea. “No waiting time” would also have pleased King Ludwig I. He had to wait 30 years until his symbol of Greek-Bavarian friendship was finally completed in 1862. Ludwig I wanted his “Athens on the Isar” to feature a gigantic gate modeled on the Acropolis in Athens, designed by his court architect Leo von Klenze. (The term ‘Propyläen’ as it is used in German comes from the Greek “Propylaia,” meaning the entrance to the Acropolis.)

However, after Ludwig's abdication in 1848, the construction was called into question. People simply saw no purpose in the functionless gate. Fortunately for today's internet portals and visitors from all over the world, Ludwig I finally paid for “his” Propylaea out of his own pocket in honor of the Greek-Wittelsbach relations and was able to inaugurate them in 1862. The irony: in the same year, his son Otto I, the first king of Greece, had to flee back to Bavaria after a Greek uprising.

The Propylaea were intended to be as magnificent as possible as the western entrance gate in the line of sight to the royal residence. To this end, architect Leo von Klenze originally wanted to design the Doric columns in bright colors. However, he could not find a solution for coloring the marble. So he designed sculptural decorations instead. The two gables on the coffered roof are particularly impressive. The west gable represents Greece's liberation, while the east gable honors Ludwig's son King Otto and Greek civilization with its arts, science, military, etc.
Originally, Munich's traffic passed right through the gate. Horses and city carriages traveled in the middle, while freight traffic passed through the two outer portals. Traffic heading out of the city was on the left, traffic heading into the city was on the right – left-hand traffic in the middle of Munich!

From 1928, the road ran around the Propylaea. After seizing power in 1933, Adolf Hitler had the Königsplatz paved with granite slabs for parades. It took until the end of the 1980s for them to be removed and the Königsplatz to be replanted. During the general renovation in the 1990s, the Propyläen regained their present beauty. One small drawback: the gable sculptures are copies. The originals are on display in the Königsplatz subway station.
To find out why the Propylaea stood on the so-called ‘Plattensee’ (that is how Lake Balaton translates into German) in the post-war period, click on “1987 Plattensee.”

Ludwig II was not only passionate about art and culture and his legendary castles Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee. The "Fairy Tale King" was also enthusiastic about science and technology. One year after visiting the 1867 Paris Exposition, he founded the "Polytechnic School in Munich" in 1868, which is now the Technical University.

Hydraulic elevators, reinforced concrete, and aluminum - Ludwig II was fascinated by inventions and wanted to "bring the spark of science to the commercial and industrial world," explained Carl Max von Bauernfeind, the first director of the polytechnic school.

The "spark" ignited a veritable "fire": for over 150 years, the Technical University has been producing innovations and Nobel Prize winners that are unique worldwide. Its famous personalities have shaped the history of natural sciences, engineering, and medicine.

Among the first professors teaching around 300 students was 26-year-old Carl Linde. As Gabriel Sedlmayr's Munich brewery wanted to keep its beer cool at all times, Linde developed a refrigeration machine and air liquefaction. In 1877, Linde registered the development of a new product with patent number 1250: refrigerators were now available to keep beer cool! Two years later, he founded what became the global corporation Linde AG.

The Technical University of Munich is now one of the world's leading universities. With over 25,500 students, it is the largest technical university in Germany in terms of numbers and is located at several sites in Munich. The main campus on Arcisstraße is located in the heart of Kunstareal and comprises the TUM School of Engineering and Design, the TUM School of Computation, Information and Technology, and the TUM School of Management. The Architecture Museum, which was long housed as a teaching collection at TUM, is now located in the Pinakothek der Moderne.

It doesn't get any more modest than this: “I plan to build a palace that will eclipse everything that has gone before, where the powerful centers of European art will be connected with the present,” wrote Franz von Lenbach in a letter. From 1890 onwards, his Tuscan-style villa adorned Königsplatz. Or vice versa.

Lenbach was the most popular portrait painter of the upper echelons of fin-de-siècle society and painted portraits of Bismarck and Pope Leo XIII, among others. The “Munich Prince of Painters” could therefore afford an impressive home. In 1887, he commissioned architect Gabriel von Seidel to design a villa and a prestigious studio building. It was equipped with the latest technology, fully electrified, and heated with steam. On top of that, he asked architect Max Kolb to design what we would today call a high-end garden. A little tip: admission to this beautiful garden with its fountain and natural stones is free.

Around 20 years after Lenbach's death in 1904, his widow Lolo sold the estate to the city of Munich, including the inventory and Lenbach's paintings. In order to exhibit works from the Munich School of the 19th century to the present day, the building was extended into a three-wing complex by architect Hans Grässel and used as a municipal gallery from 1929 onwards.

During the World War II, the collection was stored in cellars and Bavarian castles as a precaution. An explosive bomb destroyed parts of the estate, but it was soon able to be used as a museum again after the war.
The Lenbachhaus gained international renown in 1957 thanks to a donation from Gabriele Münter: her collection included works by Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc and other artists associated with artist group The Blue Rider – the largest collection in the world. It made Kunstareal's “most Munich” museum world-famous. A gift to Kunstareal in the truest sense of the word!

Since 1994, the Kunstbau on the mezzanine level of the Königsplatz subway station has complemented the Lenbachhaus with changing exhibitions, mainly of contemporary art. During the renovation from 2009 to 2013, the architectural firm Foster & Partners replaced and expanded the Lenbachhaus and designed the striking, radiant golden façade made of yellow metal and bronze tubes.

Where today Kunstareal Munich attracts tourists, there once was the center of the Nazi Party. No other city is as closely associated with the rise of National Socialism as Munich. The so-called “Brown House,” the headquarters of the Nazi Party, was located on Brienner Straße. Starting in 1933, an entire party district was built around Königsplatz. Over 60 buildings were used by the party, many of them rented, purchased, or simply “confiscated”. The leadership of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) controlled the entire party organization in the German Reich from Munich.

The site on which the party headquarters was built was already important in the 18th century. A classicist palace stood here, which changed hands several times over the years and housed prominent personalities.

The NSDAP acquired this palace. The purchase was financed by donations, membership fees, and loans from major industrialists.

After being renovated by architect Paul Ludwig Troost, the party established its headquarters here in 1931. The prestigious location reflected the National Socialists' claim to power. The democratic press mocked the building as the “Palace of Megalomania” and the “Nazi Bonzen Palace.”

The “Brown House” housed, among other things, Adolf Hitler's offices and the offices of the “Supreme SA Leadership” (Sturmabteilung), the “Reich Leadership of the SS” (Schutzstaffel) and the “Reich Press Office.”

Inside the building, there was a “flag hall” and a “standard hall.”

Ceremonies serving the cult of the party were held there. In front of the entrance, above which the phrase “Deutschland erwache” (a Nazi propaganda slogan meaning "Germany, awake") was displayed, SA men in brown uniforms stood guard around the clock, giving the building the nickname “Brown House.”

More information is available on the website of the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism. It is located on the former site of the “Brown House.” Admission is free.

In 1935, Adolf Hitler called Munich “Hauptstadt der Bewegung”, which translates to “Capital of the Movement”. This title was intended to underscore the city's central importance to the Nazi Party. The city government under Mayor Karl Fiehler sought to use this status for its own purposes, for example, to make the city attractive to tourists or to score points in urban development projects.

With the Nazis' seizure of power in 1933, the party apparatus grew enormously, which led to a high demand for space.
The Wittelsbach Palais on Brienner Straße, once the residence of Ludwig I, became the headquarters of the “Bavarian Political Police” in 1933. This was later expanded into the “Secret State Police” (Gestapo), which operated without control by the state or the judiciary.

A house prison was built where political opponents were detained and tortured, including Hans and Sophie Scholl, co-founders of the student resistance group “White Rose". They both studied at Ludwig Maximilian University.
Just a few meters away, at Karolinenplatz 4, was the Supreme Party Court of the NSDAP, which settled internal party disputes and imposed sanctions. Among other things, the proceedings of the Party Court ensured that the crimes of the November pogroms of 1938, an organized and coordinated act of violence against Jews throughout the German Reich, were covered up and the perpetrators were able to escape prosecution.

Some of the party buildings were severely damaged by air raids during the last year of the war. The Wittelsbacher Palais burned down in 1944, and the “Brown House” was completely destroyed in January 1945. Party employees in the buildings that were still intact, the so-called “Führerbau” and “administration building” on Arcisstraße, left their offices at the latest in the last days of the war – out of fear of the arrival of the Americans.

On the night before Munich's liberation, on April 30, 1945, many Munich residents looted the unguarded party buildings. The basement rooms of the “Führerbau” contained not only food reserves and wine stocks, but also around 1,500 valuable works of art, including paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens. Most of them were intended for a museum in Linz and were being stored temporarily in Munich. Many of them had previously been extorted or stolen by the Nazis from Jewish collectors. At least 650 works of art were stolen during the night of April 30, 1945. This was the largest art theft in Munich's history. 400 of these works of art remain missing to this day.

The US military government dissolved the Nazi party, NSDAP, and its affiliated organizations. However, the buildings left behind in the former party quarter were quickly put to new use. Clear references to Nazi ideology were removed. Given the acute shortage of space in the post-war period, however, a pragmatic approach was taken. The former “administration building” initially housed the Central Art Collecting Point where stolen art was gathered. Since 1946, it has been home to the Central Institute for Art History. In 1948, the first Amerikahaus was established in the former “Führerbau” at Arcisstraße 12. Today the Amerikahouse is located on Karolinenplatz. In 1957, the University of Music and Performing Arts moved into the building, where it remains to this day.

After World War II, the ruins of the Neue Pinakothek were demolished. In the 1960s, the Free State of Bavaria began planning its reconstruction. A total of 278 architects submitted bids for the project. In 1973, Alexander Freiherr von Branca was awarded the contract for his unusual concept.

Von Branca, who also designed the Marienplatz subway station, built several interlocking cubes of reinforced concrete for the collection by 1981. The administration of the Bavarian State Painting Collections and the Doerner Institute were also housed there.

Von Branca decorated the exterior of the building with historicizing arched windows, bay windows, and open staircases, among other features. What fantasy film fans love did not go down well with critics: they derided the controversial “second” Neue Pinakothek as a “fortress of images” or a “stone shirt construction” with “carpenter's decorations”.

However, due to the interior the Neue Pinakothek was considered by many to be one of the best museum buildings in post-war Germany. Large skylights illuminate the nearly 400 European works from the Enlightenment to the beginning of the 20th century. When visitors walk through the exhibition rooms in the shape of a horizontal figure eight, they automatically get a good overview. “Visitors should not have to be like boy scouts, but should ‘flow’ through the sequence of rooms following a natural ‘slope’,” explained von Branca.

The Neue Pinakothek is currently being renovated. The masterpieces from the collection can be viewed in the Alte Pinakothek and the Schack Collection during the closure.

Hungary isn't the only place with a Lake Balaton, which translates to “Plattensee” in German, pointing out that it is a large but shallow lake. Munich had one too, albeit not quite as idyllic as the original. 

In the 19th century, King Ludwig I realized his dream of "Athens on the Isar" on Königsplatz. The Glyptothek, the State Collection of Antiquities, and the Propylaea with their Doric, Corinthian, and Ionic columns were framed by green spaces, much like today. But Königsplatz had to endure a lot in between.

In the early years, Otto von Bismarck's 70th birthday and Leo von Klenze's 100th birthday were celebrated here, and Munich celebrated exuberantly on the Königsplatz decorated with garlands. 

After Hitler seized power in 1933, the green spaces and paths had to make way for 22,000 granite slabs. Königsplatz served as the so-called “forum for the movement”, where Nazi marches took place. Towards the end of the war, the Nazis camouflaged the square with nets, gravel, and stencils to simulate trees and buildings to protect it from air raids.

During the economic miracle years after World War II, the number of cars increased and more and more people simply parked on the granite square. While Munich debated what to do with Königsplatz, the city's largest car park emerged. There were even plans for an underground parking garage. 

Because rainwater kept pooling on the parking lot and the granite slabs ("Granitplatten" in German), Königsplatz became known colloquially as “Plattensee”. Hard to believe today, but in the early 1970s, someone actually had the idea of proudly printing a photo of parked cars which stood in front of the Glyptothek on a stamp for the 1972 Olympic Games.

It was not until 1981 that plans were made to restore Königsplatz to its original state. Whereas in the 19th century carriages still drove through the Propylaea, the city now laid the road around the outside. Today, the Propylaea stand on what is certainly Munich's most beautiful traffic island.

And Munich's residents are once again celebrating on Königsplatz: thousands of people regularly gather here in the center of Kunstareal for open-air concerts, summer cinema, and festivals. For Ludwig I, the inventor of “Athens on the Isar”, Königsplatz would probably be Königs' Platz again today.

Munich not only has too little space for people looking for housing, but every square meter counts for museums as well. A new property was needed. In 2002, four museums were given a new home and moved into the Pinakothek der Moderne together—quasi like a new visionary “artistic commune.”

The Free State had previously demanded private funding of ten percent of the construction costs. Fortunately, the newly founded Pinakothek der Moderne Foundation was able to raise 13 million euros for the new building.

The area in the southeast of the art district had been undeveloped for a long time. For 20 years, Circus Roncalli was a guest here on Gabelsbergerstraße before art, architecture, and design of the 20th and 21st centuries were given their rightful place. After ten years of construction, one of the largest collection houses was created with the aim of uniting various art disciplines.

Architect Stephan Braunfels designed the Pinakothek der Moderne as a gateway to the Kunstareal and wanted to create a connection between the old town and Maxvorstadt. The diagonal wall inside the building, which connects the two entrances, reinforces this impression and almost creates a direct line between the two districts. From the spacious "piazza," the so-called rotunda in the center of the building, visitors can access four museums:

MODERN ART COLLECTION

The Modern Art Collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections begins where the Neue Pinakothek ends, in the 20th century. Previously, part of the collection was exhibited in the Haus der Kunst, but in 2002, all 20,000 works of painting, sculpture, photography, and new media were moved to the Pinakothek der Moderne. The collection is also growing in importance and is continuously being expanded with important works. One example is Picasso's "Femme au violon" (purchased in 2024). 

DIE NEUE SAMMLUNG – THE DESIGN MUSEUM

As early as 1912, Munich had a collection of modern design objects called the Moderne Vorbilder Sammlung, which was initiated by the Werkbund, an association of artists, craftsmen, and manufacturers. This developed into “Die Neue Sammlung” in 1925, which was located in the garden wing of the Bavarian National Museum until 2002. With around 120,000 objects from industrial design, graphic design, computer culture, mobility, and arts and crafts, the Neue Sammlung is not only the oldest design museum in the world, but also one of the most important for applied art of the 20th and 21st centuries.

ARCHITECTURE MUSEUM OF THE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MUNICH

In 1868, various teaching collections for architectural education were established at the New Polytechnic School, now the Technical University of Munich. These were merged in 1912 to form the Architecture Collection. It was partially destroyed during the war, and it was not until 1975 that the archive was systematically converted into a scientific research archive with a museum. In 1989, the Architecture Collection was renamed the TUM Architecture Museum. Thanks to its extensive archive (one of the largest special collections in Germany) and its lively exhibition program, the TUM Architecture Museum has gained international attention and recognition.

STAATLICHE GRAPHISCHE SAMMLUNG MÜNCHEN – The Showroom

The Pinakothek der Moderne houses the showroom of the State Graphic Collection, the Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, with changing exhibitions of selected highlights. The other 400,000+ sheets from the 12th century to the present day are housed in the House of Cultural Institutes on Katharina-von-Bora-Straße. The study room there is the largest "display depot" in the city and invites visitors to study the originals. 

An "expensive hobby" that benefits everyone: Anette and Udo Brandhorst began collecting contemporary art in the 1970s. In 1999, Udo Brandhorst convinced the Free State of Bavaria to build a museum for this collection. The cost: 48 million euros. In return, the Udo and Anette Brandhorst foundation gave the Bavarian State Painting Collections over 700 works on permanent loan. The Museum Brandhorst opened in 2009 with the aim of “preserving, researching, and presenting the collection to the public.”

And the "deal" has paid off: Andy Warhol's 120 works alone make the Museum Brandhorst the largest pop art collection outside the USA. The collection includes the neo-avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s with artists such as Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, and Joseph Beuys. The critical postmodernism of the 1980s and 1990s is represented by Damien Hirst, among others. 

The Brandhorsts had another favorite: the American artist Cy Twombly. A 350-square-meter room above the museum foyer is dedicated to Twombly's main work. He originally created his "Lepanto Cycle," which depicts the Battle of Lepanto, for the 2001 Venice Biennale. Today, the twelve large-format canvases hang as a panorama in the specially rounded exhibition space.

And the Brandhorst Foundation's collection continues to grow: artists such as Alexandra Bircken, Alex Katz, and Lucy McKenzie delight visitors in the northern part of the Kunstareal.

The Factory

In 2021, the Museum Brandhorst added an art maker space called "The Factory," modeled after Andy Warhol's Factory. Initially accessible only online, it has been opened since 2023. At die Factory, children, teenagers, and adults can create their own works of art using a variety of materials and media and attend regular workshops, music events, lectures, and talks.

Munich's smallest exhibition space opened in 2010. It could have been a very large one. Originally, the building was four stories high and part of the large Prinz Arnulf Barracks, which King Max I Joseph built here until 1826.

Three thousand soldiers of the Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment were stationed in the barracks. These were located on the so-called Türkengraben, which made them popularly known as the "Turkish barracks." The building was used for military purposes until its destruction in World War II, most recently by the Nazis. In the 1960s, everything was demolished—except for the entrance, the Türkentor.

For many years, the Türkentor stood unused on Türkenstraße and was in danger of falling into disrepair. When the Museum Brandhorst opened its doors in the Kunstareal, next to the Pinakothek der Moderne in 2009, the small Türkentor needed an upgrade. Between 2008 and 2010, Berlin architects Sauerbruch Hutton, who had also designed the Museum Brandhorst, carried out the redesign and renovation. And a unique work of art was already waiting to be completed: In 2006, Anette and Udo Brandhorst, whose collection is housed in the museum of the same name, purchased the sculpture "Large Red Sphere" by American artist Walter De Maria. A 2.60-meter-high, 25-ton, high-gloss sphere made of dark red granite, which the artist regarded as a "universal symbol of the world, the heavenly bodies and the cosmic, a symbol of eternity and cyclical renewal." The "Large Red Sphere," made in Aicha vorm Wald in Lower Bavaria, found its home in the Türkentor. 

Since 2010, the work has rested on a three-step pedestal in the Türkentor. Four historic columns support beams with rusty nails and frame the artwork. They consist of remnants of the former false ceiling.

This one piece of art in the mini-museum can be viewed from various perspectives from the outside and reflects the light depending on the angle of view. With the restricted view, Walter De Maria wants to enable visitors to experience the sphere in a contemplative way, because "what seems complex is often simple – what seems simple is often complex," according to the artist.

A real success story: Munich's University of Television and Film (HFF) started out small in 1967 in an old villa on Kaulbachstraße and moved to a former bed spring factory in Giesing in 1988. In 2007, the foundation stone was laid for a new chapter – a building of its own, just in time for its 40th anniversary. 

Architect Peter Böhm wanted to "restore the urban planning of Maxvorstadt, which Leo von Klenze designed so beautifully, with the same tranquility and generosity." To this end, he designed a long, workshop-style building opposite the Alte Pinakothek.

With three cinema auditoriums, two TV studios, two film studios, and a modern production wing, the HFF moved into its current home on Bernd-Eichinger-Platz in 2011. It is dedicated to film producer Bernd Eichinger, one of the many famous HFF graduates. In fact, many more places of honor would be needed, as the list of successful HFF students is long: Wim Wenders, Roland Emmerich, Doris Dörrie, Franz Xaver Bogner, Marcus H. Rosenmüller, Caroline Link, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, and many more are now celebrating great cinema successes and are regularly represented at the Oscars.

The second leading role on Gabelsbergerstraße goes to the State Museum of Egyptian Art, or SMAEK for short. It houses one of the oldest collections of Egyptian art in Europe, dating back to 1600. At that time, Duke Albrecht of Bavaria exhibited Egyptian artifacts in an "Antiquarium" in the Residenz. 

After its first presentation in the House of Cultural Institutes in 1966, the museum moved to the Residenz in the 1970s. But the SMAEK's long history as a temporary institution got a happy ending thanks to a political decision: 

A building belonging to the Technical University, dating from 1965 and located on the southeast edge of the Kunstareal, was in dire need of renovation. It was agreed to demolish it and make the last large area in Maxvorstadt available for the University of Television and Film. But even the HFF didn't need that much space. To prevent a gap in the buildings, the SMAEK was also given a new location. And what a location!

In 2013, contemporary witnesses from 5,000 years of Egyptian art and culture moved into the building on Gabelsbergerstraße. Or, more precisely, underneath it. Peter Böhm developed the idea of placing the SMAEK underground. "It fit the theme of Egypt, where much is buried or has to be excavated," said the Cologne architect. 

The ancient Egyptian treasures are exhibited in sculpture halls up to nine meters below ground. This makes the SMAEK the only completely underground art museum in Germany. But it is much more than a museum, because research into ancient Egyptian excavation projects continues. Since 2013, for example, the remains of the ancient temple city of Naga in Sudan have been recovered. 

Since the 1980s, citizens' initiatives and history workshops have been increasingly critical of the traces of National Socialism in Munich. Following a series of exhibitions in the 1990s, the city of Munich decided in early 2000 to document and highlight its central role in National Socialism. A documentation center was to be created as a place of education and remembrance on the former site of the NSDAP party headquarters, the so-called “Brown House.” 

In 2005, the Free State of Bavaria released the site where the Nazis had set up their party headquarters in the former Barlow Palace. The remains of the “Brown House” were uncovered, documented, and removed. This allowed the foundation stone for the NS Documentation Center of the History of National Socialism to be laid in March 2012. 

On April 30, 2015, it opened exactly 70 years to the day after the US Army marched into Munich. Since then, exhibitions, art interventions, participatory projects, online offerings, a learning forum, and a library have been conveying the history of National Socialism and placing it in a current and global context. In the year of the opening, brothers Benjamin and Emanuel Heisenberg installed the permanent media artwork “Brienner 45” on Brienner Straße. On monitors that emerge from the ground like remnants of the walls, film collages juxtapose texts from key documents of the Nazi era with historical and contemporary images. 

In 2018, the square in front of the entrance was named Max-Mannheimer-Platz. The Holocaust survivor and artist was committed to fighting right-wing extremism and anti-Semitism until his death in 2016. The square commemorates his unique social commitment.

Small but perfectly designed! Pavillon 333 on Türkenstraße is a prime example of the so-called DesignBuild method. This teaching method teaches students not only to plan and design projects, but also to build them. Theatres, schools and hospitals have already been built using this cost-effective construction method. 

In 2020, the largest exhibition on the subject of DesignBuild to date was held at the Architecture Museum of the Technical University of Munich. At the same time, architecture students worked with professors Hermann Kaufmann and Florian Nagler to design a modern wooden cube based on an idea for the 2018 Biennale. But they didn't just design and plan it, they also built Pavillon 333 – entirely in keeping with the DesignBuild philosophy.

Pavillon 333 opened in summer 2021 and was named after the Maxvorstadt postcode, 80333. 

Here, people interested in architecture, art, and design come together for workshops, events, and discussions. The use of the adjacent museums brings culture to life, and the workshop atmosphere encourages experimentation. 

How practical: thanks to its design, Pavillon 333 could be dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere at any time. But why move when you're neighbors with the Pinakothek der Moderne, Museum Brandhorst, and Türkentor?