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History of the festival, in a townhouse of 1340. The "Himmelsleiter" is its characteristic early staircase, a straight flight with no corners.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Avant garde theatre, often with surprising modern interpretations of the classics. Some performances are in English, and all have English subtitles.
Museum of Five Continents
Omitting Europe and Antarctica, the former Museum für Völkerkunde is a global ethnological collection.
Shows ballet and opera performances almost every night.
Munich City Museum
Extensive museum, occupying most of a city block; absorbing but signage is only in German. The oldest part of the building is an armory of 1500, the newest is the former Uhlfelder department store (all bombed in wartime, but the collections had been taken to safety), and it's growing still. The permanent exhibitions are "Typically Munich!" (how the city acquired its identity), Migration, National Socialism (the movement was launched here), Puppets and Fairground, and Music. "Collections" (whose highlights may figure in exhibitions) include photography, applied arts, graphics, textiles and music. Temporary exhibitions are generally on site for a year or so. There's also a film museum and theatre with daily screenings. Check ahead online for gallery closures, and search the online catalogue.
Church of Our Lady
This huge church defines the Munich skyline with its twin onion-domed towers, a shade over 98 m tall - the money ran out for the planned spires. It's the Roman Catholic cathedral, but always known locally as Frauenkirche. It was built from 1469 to 1488 in brick because of a lack of suitable local stone; the towers were only completed in 1525, cleverly anticipating a law of 2004 that no structure within Altstadt may exceed 99 m in height. Although its style is Gothic, it's fairly simple outside and in, without the usual ornamentation of that style. Eleven kings or archdukes of Bavaria are interred here. The church was bombed in wartime and full restoration took until 1994. Its three naves are of equal height, creating a single hall soaring so high that you can't see the windows, and light floods in from no visible source. This is in legend is the feature that caused the devil to stamp in pique, leaving a black footprint (Teufelstritt) within a yellow flagstone just inside the entrance. You can climb the south tower.
Modern art museum, no permanent collection but rotating exhibitions. It's funded by HypoVereinsbank.