Germany Guide
Munich
The Frauenkirche
Address: Frauenplatz
Opening time: Mon– Wed & Sat 7am–7pm, Thurs 7am–8.30pm, Fri 7am–6pm
Just to the northwest of Marienplatz is the Frauenkirche, whose 98-metre-high twin pepperpot towers (1524–45) soar above the surrounding buildings and are the visual symbols of the city; you can climb the southern tower for yet more views over the city (April– Oct Mon– Sat 10am–5pm; €3). Dating from 1468 to 1488, it was the last big Gothic hall church to be built in the Wittelsbachs' domains, and its austere brick elevations and whitewashed interior – much simplified since its postwar restoration – are pleasingly coherent and simple in a city where fussy Baroque ornament is the usual ecclesiastical style. The onion domes atop the twin towers were intended as a reference to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem – actually a mosque, but believed at the time to be King Solomon's Temple. Inside, a mysterious black footprint in the floor beneath the towers is said to have been left by the Devil, stamping in rage after architect Jörg von Halsbach won a wager with him to build a church without visible windows – by pointing out a spot where pillars hid every one.