Hi friends, welcome back to my Germany and Austria series. I’m continuing today with the second half of our day in Munich. Besides the glockenspiel at Marienplatz, touring the Residnez Complex was the only item on our itinerary for the day. I wasn’t sure how tired we’d feel so I left the day pretty open. I was originally deciding between visiting the Nymphenburg Palace and the Residenz, but ultimately chose the Residenz because it’s in the city center while Nymphenburg Palace requires a short train ride.
Outside the Residenz is the Max Joseph Platz featuring a statue of Maximilian I, one of the kings of Bavaria. He was well regarded and opened the National Theater behind his statue in 1818. Nowadays the Bavarian State Opera and Bavarian State Orchestra perform here.
The Residenz Palace was originally constructed in 1385 as a small castle and mote for the ruling Wittelsbach family. From about 1550 to 1650 the main building was built, and the gorgeous exterior was constructed to look like Pritti Palace in Florence. The Residenz was heavily bombed in WWII, so most of what we saw was reconstructed.
There are three areas to tour here, and each spot requires a separate ticket. Jon and I only toured the Residenz Museum featuring 90 rooms, but you can also tour the Residenz Treasury with the crown jewels, and the Cuvillies Theater. There’s an audioguide included with admission, however we were too exhausted to grab one. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the lavish rooms.
This banquet hall is the oldest room in the palace and spans 220 feet. The size of this room was very impressive, you could fit almost two and a half basketball courts in here!
This chapel hosted the funeral of Mad King Ludwig II (more on him in future posts) after his mysterious drowning in Lake Starnberg.
During WWII some of the paintings were cut off the walls and hidden. The room was roped off but we could vaguely see the cut marks which was pretty neat.
The Residenz reminded me quite a bit of touring Versailles, but nobody can top Louis XIV and his life of luxury. This museum was a lot larger than we expected, it seemed like the rooms went on forever. It was a nice escape from the heat outside and Jon and I enjoyed touring this palace a lot more than we thought we would. We’d highly recommend visiting if you’re in Munich. If I ever make it back to Munich I want to see the crown jewels and Nymphenburg Palace.
For dinner Jon and I tried to go to the famous Oktoberfest beer hall called Hofbräuhaus, but as you can imagine on a Friday night, this place was PACKED! We went to Ayinger am Platzl across the street and had a delicious German meal of pork roast, potato dumplings, bread dumplings, coleslaw, and our first beer and pretzels of the trip. Beer is usually not my drink of choice, but a must in Germany. I ordered a light beer and it was very large, refreshing, and delicious.
Despite our extreme tiredness, Jon and I had a great first day of our trip! When we got back to our hotel, it started storming and I’d never seen such constant lightning before. We both crashed hard and when the alarm went off the next morning, I slept so deep that it took me quite a while to figure out where I was! Stay tuned for our adventures to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GaPa) up next!
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Germany
Ahhhh, the opulence and ostentation of wealth and royalty. It is no wonder that the common man could not identify and grew resentful. Beautiful palace to be sure Lyssy. As we found in Germany and at many German restaurants since, you will never feel hungry after a hearty German meal. No matter how I tried to get Patty to like beer during our trip to Germany, it never worked. All I did was ruin my beer with sweet syrup. Thanks for sharing. Allan
It is amazing to be able to see how the .0001% lived back in the day. German food was very filling! We never went hungry there, and having a pretzel for a snack was perfect for me. Easy for picky eaters 🙂 It seems like a crime to not have beer in Germany, but I can understand.
I have not yet been to Germany, but will one day. It’s where most of my family came from and I’d really like to see it.
You’ll love Germany! I think it’s a very underrated destination. I am part German too.
Love your Lederhosen Lyssy!
Thank you!
Wow! It is hard for me to wrap my head around such opulence! This is a place that I would love to visit. Did it take you all day to see all 90 rooms?
I agree! I think we spent about 2.5 hours here. We didn’t read/listen about each room, but you could easily spend more time.
An enjoyable read!! And those are simply stunning ceilings!!
Thank you! It was a very extravagant place. I love that everywhere you look, up and down left and right is beautiful.
It looked marvellous! 🙂
The Residenz Palace and museum looks so beautiful, and has gorgeous halls! The German food and pretzel look very delicious as well.
It was so beautiful! We did enjoy the German food, especially the pretzels.
Another very informative post Lyssy. The palace looks so opulent and the food delicious. Beer isn’t my first choice drink either but in Germany I always order it.
The palace was very opulent! I like ordering the lighter beer so it’s not so strong. Jon is a bit more adventurous.
OH wow that palace is incredible!
It was awesome to walk through!
As others have said, this is some serious opulence overdrive. So rich in colour and scope. Beer and pretzel was a good choice, sometimes you just gotta do what you just gotta do.
Opulence overdrive indeed! I think I had a pretzel almost every day of the trip, they are so delicious! Can’t go wrong with a big pint of beer either.
Wow, that’s so luxurious. Ridiculously so, actually. But beautiful for sure!
Ridiculously luxurious indeed! Glad I don’t have to pay the utility bill 🙂
Great post! The palace also reminded me of Versailles and I’m really impressed by all these rooms and their lavish decorations – how stunning! I noticed that there seemed to be very few people outside on the streets but I guess they were all at the Oktoberfest then ahah – experiencing it there must be quite something!
Thank you! It was so stunning! I think this area is less crowded than closer to city center. The city center was so filled with people, so this was a nice break. I think they were all probably heading to their tables at Oktoberfest too! I think I would like to experience it for about an hour haha
Wow! The interior inside the Residenz Palace is beautiful! It’s so luxurious.
It was so beautiful to wander through!
The scale of the banquet hall blows me away Lissy, so much so I can’t begin to picture the furniture and the hundreds of people who would fill it back in the day. The photo just before the banquet hall is also interesting – like so many little iPhone photos framed on the wall. Finally, I’ve never been a fan of those decorative covers jutting out above chairs and thrones which were common in palaces. It makes me think it’s going to rain on the person sitting there when in fact the throne is indoors. I guess they’re designed to bring an even greater sense of authority to the person on the seat.
They must’ve had hundreds of people dining there. I bet it would’ve been a lot of fun! The little photos I believe were how they showed off who they knew/heritage. A wall that says look how much more elite I am than you haha. The decorative covers aren’t my favorite either, seems like it would be dark under there. I think it is all for show.
Beautiful, I love the Residenz and especially the theatre inside. It’s a shame you didn’t have time for Nymphenburg Palace, but maybe next time. Excited for Garmisch 🙂
It was very hard only having one day, but I’d love to explore the little towns north of Munich one day, so then I could visit Nymphenburg Palace. Be ready for picture overload ha! 🙂
Brilliant pictures 🙂
Thank you!
The visit of the Residenz is quite impressive, it gives an idea of the luxury in which the princes of the time lived. The decoration is however a little too heavy for my taste. I have never visited it, preferring to walk in the streets during my too short stays in Munich. On the other hand I visited Nymphenburg, I think I remember that one had to wear slippers not to damage the parquet floors, there indeed that reminded me of Versailles.