Knowledge & learning in Munich

Asamkirche

Munich

Built by the Asam brothers 1733–46 as a private church — one of the purest examples of Southern German late Baroque, dripping gold and stucco.

Haidhausen French Quarter

Munich

Neighborhood named after French cities (Pariser, Bordeauxplatz), brick tenements and a big weekly market — creative Munich.

Lenbachhaus

Munich

Franz von Lenbach's former villa houses the world's largest Blaue Reiter collection — Kandinsky, Marc, Münter.

Munich City Museum

Munich

Collection of Munich city history from the Middle Ages to today — fashion, photo, the film museum and the Moriskentänzer cabinet.

Olympiaturm

Munich

1968 transmission tower with viewing platform and revolving restaurant — clear Alpine views on Föhn days.

Pinakothek der Moderne

Munich

Stephan Braun's 2002 glass rotunda with four collections under one roof: art, design, architecture, works on paper.

Schyrenbad

Munich

Munich's oldest outdoor pool complex, neoclassical 1930s architecture, large lawn, diving tower — a local favorite.

Theatinerkirche

Munich

1690 court church with a 71 m dome and twin-tower façade after Roman models — its yellow defines the skyline.

Theresienwiese

Munich

16 days of Oktoberfest a year, otherwise a park with the Bavaria statue, the Frühlingsfest and Tollwood — Munich's biggest festival ground.

Schleißheim Palace

Munich

Baroque three-palace complex with French garden, Great Hall and old gallery — Munich's mini-Versailles.

8. November 1939 (Denkmal)

Munich

Allianz Arena

Munich

Bayern Munich's home ground, 75,000 seats wrapped in ETFE cushions that glow red, white or blue at night.

Alte Pinakothek

Munich

One of the world's largest old-master collections: Dürer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Leonardo, Titian under one roof. Built in 1836 as the first public museum at this scale.

Archaeological State Collection

Munich

The Archaeological State Collection is Bavaria's central museum for prehistory and early history, safeguarding the remains of human life in southern Germany from the Old Stone Age through the early Middle Ages. Visitors encounter around 600,000 years of history: hand axes from the Ice Age, opulent Celtic princely graves with exquisite goldwork, Roman everyday objects and tombstones, and Frankish jewelled fibulae. A dedicated section covers the Mediterranean and the Near East, illustrating how Bavaria has always been woven into a broader European cultural fabric. The museum occupies a building in central Munich and has recently modernised its permanent galleries, making the collections more accessible than ever.

Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts

Munich

The Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1948 and describes itself as the highest custodian of art in the Free State of Bavaria. It brings together eminent figures from literature, the visual arts, music and the performing arts — membership is considered one of the most prestigious cultural honours in Bavaria. The Academy is based at Max-Joseph-Platz in Munich's historic Residenz quarter and awards its own prizes, organises public readings, concerts and symposia. Founded in the immediate postwar years, it was conceived from the outset as a counterweight to state cultural policy — a place where free artistic thinking is nurtured. Today it numbers around 300 members from the German-speaking world and beyond.

Bavarian State Library

Munich

The Bavarian State Library is one of the most important research libraries in the world and serves as the cultural memory of the Free State of Bavaria. Founded in 1558 by Duke Albrecht V, it now holds around 39 million items, including one of the world's finest manuscript collections — medieval codices, ancient papyri, and early printed books. The monumental neo-Renaissance building on Ludwigstraße, completed in 1843 to designs by Friedrich von Gärtner, is itself a landmark: the entrance hall, lined with marble staircases and statues of Greek scholars, sets the intellectual tone immediately. Today, the library not only serves researchers but also opens its treasures to the general public through rotating exhibitions.

Bavarian State Painting Collections

Munich

Bayerische Alpen

Munich

Berg am Laim

Munich

Bernd-Eichinger-Platz

Munich

Bier- und Oktoberfestmuseum

Munich

BMW Headquarters

Munich

BMW Museum

Munich

The BMW Museum in Munich is one of the world's finest brand museums, tracing over 125 years of automotive history across 5,000 square metres. Housed in the iconic bowl-shaped building constructed for the 1972 Olympic Games, a spiralling ramp leads visitors through seven themed houses exploring mobility, design, and motorcycle engineering across different eras. Legendary racing cars stand alongside elegant pre-war models, concept cars of the future beside the very first BMW motorcycle. The futuristic building is itself an attraction — extensively renovated in 2008 and extended with a contemporary exhibition wing. Right next door rises the distinctive BMW four-cylinder tower, the group's headquarters.

BMW Welt

Munich

Coop Himmelb(l)au's 2007 double-cone showroom right by the Olympic Park, with delivery atrium and restaurants.

Brainlab Tower

Munich

Deutsches Museum

Munich

On the Isar's Museumsinsel — 28,000 objects from Galileo's pendulum to a U-boat — one of the world's largest science museums.

English Garden

Munich

925 acres — one of Europe's largest inner-city parks. The Eisbach standing wave at the south end, Chinese Tower with beer garden, open meadows out to Hirschau beach.

Geologisches Museum München

Munich

The Geologisches Museum München in the Maxvorstadt district is the publicly accessible showcase of the Bavarian State Collection for Palaeontology and Geology — one of the most significant geoscientific collections in Germany. The permanent exhibition displays minerals, rocks, and fossils from Bavaria and around the world, including impressive dinosaur finds from the Jurassic period. The museum is particularly renowned for its ichthyosaur skeletons and fossils from the Solnhofen limestone, one of the world's most important fossil sites. Admission is free, making it a genuine insider tip for curious visitors of all ages. The museum is located in the Maxvorstadt museum district, easily walkable from the Pinakothek galleries.

Grünwald Castle

Munich

Hellabrunn Zoo

Munich

World's first geozoo (1928): 760 species arranged by habitat instead of cage row, set in the Isar floodplain forest.