Marienplatz
The Marienplatz square has been the heart of the Bavarian capital from its first steps. It was on the site of Old Peter’s Church, that the Benedictine monks first settled in the 8th century, laying the foundation of what was to become the Bavarian capital. For many centuries this was Munich’s central marketplace with merchants & farmers selling their produce, their eggs, flour, wine & fish (today’s fish fountain-Fischbrunnen in the northeastern corner of the square is a reminder).
Only after the relocation of the market to Blumenstrasse, a few meters to the south of the square in 1854, was the square renamed to Marienplatz from the Mariensäule the Virgin’s Column that was erected in 1638 to celebrate the end of the Swedish occupation & the Bubonic plague that hit the city after the Swedish retreat in 1634. The 11 meters high column is topped with the gilded statue of the “Patroness of Bavaria” equipped with a scepter & a crown, with a crescent moon at her feet & the Christ Child in her arms symbolising faith & hope. The base of the column recalls the four plagues of the time: the heresy (snake), the war (Leo), hunger (Dragon) and the plague (Basilisk).
On the north side, the square is dominated by the 100 meters long facade & 85 meters high tower of the Neues Rathaus, the New Town Hall. Although the elaborate structure gives the impression of a building constructed in the Middle Ages it was actually built between 1867 & 1909 in Flanders Gothic Style. The impressive 400 room structure follows the NeoGothic style and is decorated with the figures of the entire line of the House of Wittelsbach in Bavaria.
The Glockenspiel in the tower balcony of the Neues Rathaus is also world famous and worth seeing. Since 1908, figurines representing stories from Munich’s history twirl on two levels daily at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. (the 5:00 p.m. show is omitted from November through February). In addition to the well-known coopers dancers, the Münchner Kindl (symbol of the city’s coat of arms), and the angel of peace also make an appearance in the almost 12-minute-long spectacle.
Today The New Town Hall is home to the city government, the Munich Tourism Office, and in the generous and richly painted cellar vault of the Neues Rathaus is the Ratskeller, a restaurant since 1867. At the top of the 85-meter-high (255 feet) tower on the city hall is an observation deck that can be accessed with an elevator and offers a grandiose bird’s eye view of the city, even as far as the Alps if the weather permits it.
On the east side of the square stands the less ostentatious predecessor, the Alte Rathaus. The Old Town Hall developed out of the old fortifications of the city in 1310 when one of its gates on the exact same spot was turned into a 56 meters tower complemented by a large hall in 1392. However in 1460, the complex was hit by a lightning & was burned to the ground.
In 1470 Jörg von Halsbach, the architect who had started the construction of Frauenkirche 2 years earlier, took over the project of the old town hall which was built in late-Gothic style. An outstanding feature of the building is the ballroom on the first floor, which is also known as the dance house. This late Gothic room with the barrel vaulted roof is one of the architectural masterpieces of Gothic Munich.
