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Borough of Munich
Photo: digital cat, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Maxvorstadt is the arts and university district of Munich, just north of Altstadt the historic city centre.
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This houses King Ludwig I's huge collection of Greek and Roman sculpture: he was determined to make Munich into a new Athens, if necessary by removing the original Athens piece by piece. The principal sculptures are the Aeginetes, excavated in the 19th century from the temple on the island of Aegina. The building, in neo-classical style of course, was completed in 1830. It was bombed out during the Second World War but the sculptures had been taken to safety. There's an attractive courtyard with cafe.
Antikensammlungen
This began as an exhibition venue but is now effectively an annexe of Glyptothek, housing yet more of Ludwig I's vast collection. The focus here is on "minor arts" and it has huge numbers of Greek and Etruscan vases.
A large Italianate villa completed in 1891, with a striking modern extension of metal tubes, this houses modern and contemporary art. They take up the story in the mid 19th century with Gothic and romantic paintings, moving on to the Expressionists, with a strong showing by the Der Blaue Reiter group which included Kandinsky. And lots more from later, such as Beuys.
Lots of fossils including Archaeopteryx, Triceratops and Saber-toothed Cat. The museum itself is an interesting building, on three floors but an hour is plenty to see it all.
Contains hundreds of great European masterworks dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries, including the largest Rubens collection in the world. Café Klenze is its pleasant bakery cafe.
Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst
Museum with classical Egyptian antiquities.
Wonderful collection including 19th-century big-name European paintings and sculptures. Closed for renovation until 2029.
Documenting the deeds of the Nazis in Munich - it's a sort of inverse Yad Vashem, ensuring that the names and acts of the perpetrators are faithfully chronicled for all time. It's text-heavy, with translations, so it's an immersive collection if you're comfortable with that style.
Huge display of 20th and 21st century art and design.
Museum of industrial design.
Museum Reich der Kristalle
A collection of minerals including gemstones and meteorites.
Opened in 2009, this has a permanent collection of modern and contemporary paintings, sculptures and installations, especially by Andy Warhol and Cy Twombly.
Abtei St Bonifaz
This Benedictine abbey was founded in 1835 by King Ludwig I to renew his realm's spiritual life, while in no way impeding his liaison with dancing girls. Bombed during World War II, it was only partially rebuilt. The church holds regular services and the king is buried here, as is his queen Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
This Roman Catholic church is opposite the main building of the University of Munich (LMU Munich). It's in Romanesque style, and features the second-largest altar fresco in the world. No, they didn't sanctify the king, the dedication is to Saint Louis IX of France, patron saint of Bavaria, and "Louis" in German is Ludwig.
This neo-Romanesque church was completed in 1895, one of a trio commissioned for the expanding district of Maxvorstadt. It was bombed in wartime but rebuilt to the original design. Outside, St Benno himself teeters on a column, and the statue of a fish with a key in its mouth recalls his days as 11th century Bishop of Meissen. He kept siding with the wrong king and the wrong pope, and when ousted hurled the cathedral keys into the Elbe. But later they turned up in his fish supper, whereupon regal order, apostolic succession and church access were serenely restored.
ARRI cinema
Plush repertory cinema within the building of camera manufacturer ARRI.
Top choice for anglophones, as it only screens original version English language films.
This is the winter venue for this spectacular circus troupe. In summer they tour Germany, and other concerts and events are staged here.
Trad restaurant in the university quarter with a student and arty atmosphere.
Decent enough Italian, but it's trading on its hour of fame (as are some of its older clientele) as the setting for Rossini the 1997 film comedy of vanities. This is definitely not to be confused with Rossini the 1942 film musical about the composer.
Trad Bavarian cuisine plus your standard burgers and fries. Atmosphere and prices are aimed at students.
Fast food place with good Belgian fries and burgers.
Small cafe-bar by the university with a surprising selection of food.
Small restaurant serving snacks, burgers and desserts.
Serving trad food at budget prices for students, and their Schnitzels are huge.
This tiny cafe barely holds ten people. The soups are delicious and the place is popular with students of the nearby TUM, so expect to wait a few minutes in line.
This ramen restaurant has moved round the block from its former abode on Heßstraße. It's a tiny place and waits of an hour to get in are common. They go heavy on the miso, shoyu or shio so some customers find meals over-salty.
Value-for-money Italian, with standard pizza, pasta and fish.
Trad fare including late breakfasts.
This brewery was first documented in 1328, within the Augustinian monastery next to Frauenkirche, where they nowadays run a restaurant. The monastery was dissolved in 1803 (no, not in the beer) and the business has mostly been in private ownership since, on various near-centre sites - they've not followed the modern trend of an edge-of-city industrial park. Their beers are popular in south Germany but little is exported, so tuck in here. Augustiner took over an existing beer garden here in 1862 and expanded it into a 5000-seater: this is open April-Oct, while the beer hall and restaurant are year-round. No brewery tours, they no longer use an ox-driven winch to hoist the beer barrels, and there are no more public hangings of army deserters, so you'll just have to gawp at your phone if conversation fails.
This brewery was founded in 1383, perhaps on Löwengrube near Frauenkirche - "Löwen" means lions. From 1826 to 1851 production migrated to its present site, with the Bräukeller across the street opened in 1883. The company grew by acquisition and has always exported strongly, with some brewing under license elsewhere, so it's the best-known German brand abroad. The traditional beer garden and beer hall seats 2000 and draws many foreign visitors. Brewery tours available, see "Do".
A bar with a unique interior - motorcycles on the wall, red velvet couches in the corners and bras hanging from the ceiling lights. It fills up fast at weekends, so get here early.
Lively friendly cafe-bar, popular with those staying in the nearby hostel strip, and it gets very full after dark.
Cozy retro bar decorated with living room and industrial items. Some staff think "cool" means unpleasant.
Themed on a dockland pub. It's mostly an event venue, booked out to private parties, individual visitors have variable experience.
The bar is a blend of a live club with an art gallery, with Russian snacks.
Pub with a vintage interior and inexpensive food and drink.
Lively football pub, mobbed when Bayern Munich or UEFA Champions League games are on.
Legendary techno club, many complaints of aggressive bouncers.
This fashionable techno and house club is the Munich franchise of the Pacha brand.
Arty club with live performances all night long. Dress to impress, age minimum 22. There's a quieter outside area for conversation.
Small and cozy electronic music club decked with hundreds of colorful light bulbs in the basement of Enter The Dragon Vietnamese restaurant.
Daytime this is a coffee shop, vegan cafe and bookshop. Around 20:00 it morphs into a live performance venue with jazz, rock, blues and electro.
Small canopied beer-garden centred on an old railbus, along with a cargo container and telephone booth, with live music and DJs.
Popular techno club with plushy red charm. Free entry until midnight, and it only starts getting populated then.
The clue's in the name: it's hot and steamy, with people packed together. Music is 1980s and 90s.
Underground punk club, a rarity in Munich, with clientele to match the music.
Clean well-run hostel in good central location. The hostel has its own bar and bike rental.
Basic but well-run chain hostel, good value for what you're paying.
Great reviews for comfort and welcome at this B&B next to the Siegestor.
This remains closed in 2022.
Older hotel near the university, some fittings tatty or broken.
Small hotel convenient for the university.
Excellent place by the main railway station, saves you when you're stranded.
Reliable Accor chain hotel 150 m north of the main railway station.
formerly Top Hotel
This comfy four-star gets good reviews. With underground car park.
Modern, comfortable and reasonably priced aparthotel. Parking is expensive, but that's inevitable this close to the city centre.
Clean friendly place a short walk to Old Town. Not to be confused with King's Hotel Center 100 m further west.
High standards at this Rocco Forte luxury hotel and spa, facing the Old Botanical Garden.
This large store is the place to get gussied up in traditional Bavarian outfits - they stock men's stuff such as Lederhosn and trad dresses (Dirndl). The range is from economical to top-notch.
This is the largest English-language book shop in Germany. Mostly second hand but they also stock new titles.
If you want some fine art for yourself, or to watch an auction where prices routinely exceed €100,000, then visit this auctioneer.
Large range of second hand sporting goods, especially used bikes, skis and snowboards.
This store just off Ludwigstraße has a good selection of English fiction and non-fiction titles. Some reckon the Readery (above) is better on price and range.
By tram
By bus
Munich Central Bus Station (ZOB: Zentraler Omnibus Bahnhof) is south edge of this of district next to Hackerbrücke S-Bahn station.
By road
It's easy to reach this area by car outside of rush hour, just follow signs for city centre and Hauptbahnhof. But parking is notoriously scarce for non-residents, check ahead with your accommodation.
Walking is almost always the best option, as most places of interest are within a one-km strip between Königsplatz and the university.
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