Germany Guide
Munich
Marienplatz
When Munich has something to celebrate – from Christmas markets to Christopher Street Day – the focus of the festivities is Marienplatz, the small and irregularly shaped piazza at the heart of the Altstadt. As public squares go, it's an amorphous space, with historic buildings scattered around in no particular order, though the gilded Madonna and Child atop the Mariensäule column, erected in 1638 by the Elector Maximilian I in thanks for the sparing of the city by its Swedish occupiers during the Thirty Years' War, provides a central focus. Monumentality comes courtesy of the immense Neues Rathaus, a sooty pile in Flemish Gothic style that has dominated the square since the late nineteenth century. Its Glockenspiel draws crowds for the mechanical dancers that perform at 11am, noon and (March– Oct only) at 5pm; to musical accompaniment, jerky musicians and jousting knights perform before the newly-wed Wilhelm V and Renata von Lothringen – who actually married in 1568 – while coopers dance to celebrate the passing of the plague in 1517. You can climb the Rathaus tower (May– Oct Mon– Fri 9am–7pm, Sat & Sun 10am–7pm; Nov– April Mon– Fri 10am–5pm; €2) for views of the city. Immediately to the east, the tall gate tower and Gothic hall of the Altes Rathaus originally date from 1470 to 1480, but were largely destroyed by bombs during World War II and not fully rebuilt until the 1970s. Overlooking Marienplatz from the south is central Munich's oldest church, St Peter, popularly known as Alter Peter. The oldest parts of the church date from 1368, though much of its present appearance is the result of a later Baroque rebuild, including the altar which provides an elaborate setting for the late Gothic, seated figure of St Peter by Erasmus Grasser (1492). Its tower (Mon– Sat 9am–6pm, Sat & Sun 10am–7pm; €1.50) offers better views than the Neues Rathaus tower – not least because you can see the Rathaus itself. St Peter's near neighbour, the Heilig-Geist-Kirche, hides its Gothic origins behind an even more radical Baroque remodelling.