MARIENPLATZ

Description

Essentials about Marienplatz in brief

Marienplatz (Mary Square) is the world-famous center and heart of the city of Munich. For centuries, the square at the intersection of two important trade routes has been the urban center of Munich. There is always something going on on the square, which is a good 100 meters long and 50 meters wide, around the Mariensäule (St. Mary’s Column): tourists marveling at the New Town Hall with its carillon; locals doing their shopping in the department stores and stores; soccer fans flocking to the square (almost) every year for FC Bayern Munich’s championship celebration and people from all over the world visiting Munich’s most famous Christmas market in winter. In addition, Marienplatz is probably the best starting point for a sightseeing tour. The most important sights of the Bavarian capital can be reached on foot from the square in just a few minutes.

The history and architecture of Marienplatz

Since the founding of Munich in 1158 by Henry the Lion, Marienplatz has been the center of the city. This is where the important east-west axis of the so-called “Salt Road”, which led from Salzburg to Switzerland, and the north-south axis, which connected the old villages of Schwabing and Sendling, once crossed. Monks settled at this crossroads, to whom the new village owes its name (“apud munichen” – “by the monks”).

In 1315, the later Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian granted Munich the freedom to hold markets on the condition that Marienplatz, then called “market square”, would remain undeveloped “for eternity”. Thus, from the beginning, various markets for eggs, grain, wine and fish were held here, so that for centuries Marienplatz was simply called “market” or “square”.

In addition to its function as a marketplace, however, Marienplatz also served as a place of execution, a venue for knights’ tournaments and a festive reception room for the city, for example during the emperors’ visits in the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1481, the buildings on the square were demolished, creating a rectangular free square.

In 1566, with the construction of the Landschaftshäuser (Landscape Houses), where the representatives of the estates and landscapes had their seats with the Bavarian duke, Marienplatz became a place of political activity, which it has remained to this day. The political significance of Marienplatz was also intensively linked to religious motifs. In 1638, Elector Maximilian I had St. Mary’s Column erected in thanks for sparing the city during the Swedish occupation in the Thirty Years’ War.

After the grain market was relocated in 1853, the square was renamed “Marienplatz” in 1854. With this, the magistrate wanted to entrust the city of Munich to the Mother of God Mary as the patron saint of Bavaria, in order to protect it from the cholera epidemic of the same year.

The biggest change architecturally was the construction of the New Town Hall on the north side of the square between 1867 and 1909. A total of 21 town houses, whose arcades and fine stucco facades had characterized Marienplatz until then, had to make way for the neo-Gothic colossal building.

During the Second World War, the buildings around Marienplatz were severely damaged. Now the historic buildings on the south side were also lost. The ruins were subsequently demolished and Marienplatz was enlarged by several meters. In the post-war years, the gaps were filled by commercial buildings.

Marienplatz underwent another decisive change in 1972 when it was transformed into a pedestrian zone. The Mariensäule was subsequently moved more to the center of the square. The last above-ground change to Marienplatz took place in the 1970s when the tower of the Old Town Hall was rebuilt on the east side of the square according to a historical model.

Marienplatz today

Today, Marienplatz is one of the most important traffic junctions in Munich. The lines of the subway and the S-Bahn cross here. The underground station is one of the most important transfer stations in the city.

The best view of Marienplatz is, of course, from the top. To do this, you either climb (or take the elevator) up the tower of the New Town Hall or make your way to St. Peter’s Church, from whose 50-meter-high tower you also have a great panoramic view.