DESTINATION:
Bavaria
The largest and most traditional of Germany’s states, Bavaria’s fascinating history runs both counter to and in parallel with the rest of Germany. From its status as a duchy in the 6th century, its role in the Holy Roman Empire, its prominence as a kingdom and finally its unification with the rest of Germany as a Bundesland, Bavaria’s individuality has characterised its transition through history.
Munich is known as the ‘village with a million’ inhabitants, and combines the feel of a capital city with the intimacy of a village with its easy accessibility to outstanding countryside. Varied architecture of all periods such as the Residenz, the Nymphenburg and Asamkirche bear witness to its importance as the capital of Bavaria.
Recommended duration – 4 nights/5 days for a tour based in Munich
Munich lends itself well for further exploration in Bavaria. For Munich only we suggest 4 nights but many worthy destinations are within easy access of the city and additional nights can be arranged.
KEY VISITS (Recommended)
MUNICH
- GLYPTOTHEK – boasts a spectacular collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. Housed in Leo van Klenze’s neo-classical (1830) masterpiece of a gallery, this is Ludwig I’s collection and contains world famous pieces like the Barberini Faun – carving of such brilliance can rarely have been equalled.
- ALTE PINAKOTHEK – Munich’s Old Masters Gallery which developed out of a small private collection amassed by the Wittelsbach family in the early 1500s. The collection has grown and is today one of the most significant collections in Europe. The paintings on display represent the greatest European artists from the 14th to the 18th centuries, including Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Titian, as well as the great Northern artists van der Weyden, Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens.
- NEUE PINAKOTHEK – Munich’s gallery of 19th century art. Housed in a splendid mid-1970s building, it offers works by Goya, Manet, Monet, van Gogh, Cézanne and Gauguin, as well as Germanic 19th century artists such as Friedrich and Liebermann.
- RESIDENZ MUSEUM – located in a wonderful 14th century building, it was the home of the Wittelsbach dynasty from 1385 until 1918. The imposing palace complex gradually developed over the centuries according to the tastes of successive rulers, who also used the Residenz to house their art collections and treasures. The Antiquarium is the largest secular Renaissance interior in northern Europe, a vast ceremonial hall built for the sculpture collection and library of Duke Albrecht V. The Schatzkammer (Treasury) contains priceless Wittelsbach jewels and devotional works of art.
- CUVILLIÉS THEATRE – a beautiful rococo theatre built on the site of the original theatre, which was completely destroyed during the last war. Concerts are still held in what is an excellent and rare surviving example of a Rococo theatre.
- MICHAELSKIRCHE, built for the Jesuits by Prince Wilhelm V in the late 1580s.
- FRAUENKIRCHE – the Cathedral church was built in the 13th century, and as a key landmark is considered a symbol of the Bavarian capital city.
- HERZ-JESU CHURCH (Church of the Sacred Heart) – Constructed between 1997 and 2000 the striking architectural design comprises two ‘boxes’ of glass and wood. On the exterior, 14-metre high glass doors swing open for religious celebrations, whilst the interior includes 2000 wooden slats which allow the light inside the church to be controlled, with greater intensity near the altar.
- ASAMKIRCHE – constructed in the mid-1700s by the Assam brothers as their own private chapel, it is a masterful fusion of Baroque and Rococo.
- NYMPHENBURG PALACE – this elaborate palace is the former summer residence of the Bavarian Kings and is set in extensive parkland. Work on the palace began in 1664 and it took almost a century for the palace to be completed. Nymphenburg is one of the most architecturally unified palaces in Europe and is beautifully decorated with frescoes and tapestries.
- AMALIENBURG – This was built as a hunting lodge and the sumptuous interior was designed by François de Cuvilliés, who constructed the original Cuvilliés theatre.
In our general programme to Munich we incorporate a full day visit outside of the city to include the following:
- DIE WIES CHURCH – located in Steingaden. The church is now a designated UNESCO cultural site. Located in a secluded setting, this Rococo building features a wonderful interior created in the mid-1700s by the brothers Dominikus and Johann Baptist Zimmermann.
- OBERAMMERGAU – world famous for its folk art and passion plays. In the early 1600s the town was almost wiped out by war and plague, and the inhabitants pledged that if they were saved from extinction, they would dedicate a performance of Christ’s passion for evermore. True to their word, they stage a spectacle every 10 years in the Passionspielhaus.
- LINDERHOF – another of the castles associated with the eccentric King Ludwig II. Modelled on the Petit Trianon at Versailles, the castle was built between 1870 and 1879 and the interior is a mix of Renaissance and Baroque styles, full of mirrors, painted ceilings and gilded cherubs. The grounds include French, Italian and English style gardens, which are dotted with romantic little buildings.
ALTERNATIVE VISITS
- SCHLEISSHEIM PALACE – a complex of three individual palaces in a grand Baroque palace park. The Altes Schloss was built by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, in the late 16th century and the Lustheim was added by his son, Elector Maximilian II Emanuel, as a garden palace and hunting lodge. However the political ambitions of Elector Maximilian II Emanuel are reflected in the creation of the Neues Schloss. With the prospect of an imperial future, in 1701 he laid the foundation stone of a much grander residence, the Neues Schloss, and on returning from temporary exile in France was inspired by the splendour of Versailles and determined to rival what he had seen there. The architects Joseph Effner, Cosmas Damian Asam and artist Johann Baptist Zimmermann collaborated on the sumptuous interior and picture gallery. The court garden is still largely set out in its original design by Dominique Girard, a pupil of Le Nôtre.
- MUSEUM BRANDHORST – designed by Berlin architects Sauerbruch Hutton, it is strikingly clad with 36,000 polychromatic ceramic rods in 23 differently coloured glazes. It was opened in 2009 to house the collection of German and international modern art amassed by Anette and Udo Brandhorst in a setting of restrained modernism. Works by Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Joseph Beuys and Gerhard Richter are on show, together with more than 60 paintings by Cy Twombly.
- PASSAU – lying on the peninsula between the rivers Danube and Inn. Visits here will include St Stephen’s Cathedral, a masterpiece of Italian Baroque, the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall), dating from the 14th century, the Glasmuseum, which houses a vast collection of valuable glass, including examples of Bohemian, Austrian and Bavarian glasswork, and the Veste Oberhaus, the former castle of the prince-bishops.
- HERRENCHIEMSEE CASTLE – one of three castles built by King Ludwig II. Located on an island named Herreninsel (Island of Gentlemen) in the lovely Lake Chiemsee, it is designed as a replica of Versailles. Unfortunately funds ran out after the central portion was completed and so the castle remains unfinished. Also located in the Chiemsee Lake is the Fraueninsel (Island of Ladies). The abbey here dates back to at least AD 866, and the earliest known abbess of the cloister was St Irmengard, the great-granddaughter of Charlemagne.
- HOHENSCHWANGAU – built in the 12th century, the castle was destroyed by Napoleon and restored by Crown Prince Maximillian in the 1830s in Romanesque style.
- NEUSCHWANSTEIN – King Ludwig’s most famous castle – a wonderfully imaginative ‘fairy-tale’ castle, high above the Alpsee Lake with the Alps towering above it.
- BERCHTESGADEN – a small town in the Bavarian Alps a few miles from Salzburg. It is famous for the Kehlsteinhaus, known as the Eagle’s Nest, Hitler’s Mountain Top retreat, offering breath-taking views of the Berchtesgaden area. Visits from Berchtesgaden can also include the Salt Mine, which is the oldest active salt mine in Germany (1517), and the Konigsee, Germany’s highest lake and haven for the Bavarian Royal Family.
FURTHER AFIELD
- DACHAU – to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. The camp was set up in a 1933 by Adolf Hitler, only a few weeks after he was appointed Reich Chancellor. As the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners, it served as a model for all later concentration camps. The camp housed over 200,000 prisoners during its 12 year existence and was liberated by the American Forces in 1945.
- AUGSBURG – the third largest town in Bavaria and one of the oldest in Germany. Visits here will include the Rathaus (Town Hall), built by Elias Holl in 1615-16, and thought to be Germany’s finest example of Mannerist architecture, the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin, with its unique stained glass windows dating from 1140 and the Fuggerhäuser, an Italian style building commissioned by Jacob II Fugger in 1495 for himself and his family.