Grand Munich

Munich is one of the grand old European capitals from the 18th century along with Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, and Venice. Bavarian royalty made Munich their home and because of that they built grand palaces from which to rule and project their power.

Among those was the Residenz, a gorgeous palace located in central Munich just a 5 minute walk from the Marienplatz.

Much of the original Residenz was destoyed during the Allied bombing in 1944 but it was restored over the following 50-60 years and the Residenz welcomes visitors once again.

Some treasures were saved by storage, others were destroyed and remade or a blank slate now occupies the space until they are able to remake the treasure.

The Residenz also contains a porcelain museum that was a quick sidenote to the main event.

If you are into porcelain of all sorts – plates, dishes, hummels, figurines, etc. then this is a stop you won’t want to miss.

Adjacent to the Residenz is the Cuvillés Theatre. The theatre was originally built in the 18th century but was also destroyed in the 1944 bombing.

The boxes were saved by dismantling them and storing them until after the war. They were then reassembled in the rebuilt theatre during the 1950s. It hosts operas and other events today.

Just on the edge of the city is the Schlöss Nymphenburg.

The palace was commissioned by Ferdinand Emmanuel and his wife Henrietta Adelaide in 1664. Over the next 100 years it was remodeled and expanded and now looks like this.

Most of the palace is fairly routine in appearance with the exception of the grand entrance.

So light and airy and fancy!

A unique and interesting part of the tour is the sleighs and coaches that the royals used to travel in and around Munich.

Oddly enough this is the second coach museum we’ve been to this year (the other was in Lisbon), but the sleighs were a different angle.

A lovely stop in Munich!