Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Definite highlights are the Bavarian crown insignia and the ruby-and-dia-
mond-encrusted jewellery of Queen Therese.
THEATRE
Cuvilliés-Theater
(adult/child €3.50/free; 2-6pm Mon-Sat, from 9am Sun Apr-Jul & mid-Sep-mid-Oct,
9am-6pm daily Aug-mid-Sep, shorter hours mid-Oct-Mar)
Commissioned by Maximilian
III in the mid-18th century, François Cuvilliés fashioned one of Europe's finest rococo
theatres. Famous for hosting the premiere of Mozart's opera
Idomeneo
, restoration work
in the mid-naughties revived the theatre's former glory and its stage once again hosts
high-brow musical and operatic performances.
Access is limited to the auditorium where you can take a seat and admire the four tier of
loggia, dripping with rococo embellishment, at your leisure.
Hofgarten
(enter from Odeonsplatz)
Office workers catching some rays during their lunch break,
stylish mothers pushing prams, seniors on bikes, a gaggle of chatty nuns -
everybody
comes to the Hofgarten. The formal court gardens with fountains, radiant flower beds,
lime-tree-lined gravel paths and benches galore sits just north of the Residenz. Paths con-
verge at the
Dianatempel
, a striking octagonal pavilion honouring the Roman goddess of
the hunt.
Bavaria's governor keeps his office in the humongous
Bayerische Staatskanzlei
,
which takes up the entire eastern flank of the Hofgarten. It's a strikingly modern glass
palace built around the restored centre section of the Army Museum that for years stood
as a ruined antiwar memorial.
GARDEN
MUSEUM
Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst
(Egyptian Art Museum;
www.aegyptisches-museum-muenchen.de
)
This old-school mu-
seum of late 19th-century Egyptian finds was closed at the time of research, but due to re-
open in a purpose-built structure at Gabelsbergerstrasse 35 (near the Alte Pinakothek) in
the summer of 2013.
ODEONSPLATZ & AROUND
Odeonsplatz marks the beginning of the Maxvorstadt, a 19th-century quarter built to link
central Munich with Schwabing to the north. Leo von Klenze masterminded its overall
