Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Munich: Residenz München

Since we already had Mehrtagestickets to see a number of sites in Bavaria, I asked my family if we could visit the included Residenz München and Treasury, in the heart of the city.  It is the former palace of the Bavarian monarchy (from 1508-1918), and the rooms are just fascinating.  I haven't been to many palaces where you can walk through literally a hundred rooms and see different types of decoration, tapestries, art, and more.  While Schloss Nymphenburg was impressive from the outside, the Residenz takes the cake on the inside.  I just can't even imagine what it was like while it was used to live in!  It was interesting to hear that while much of the building was damaged in WWII, many of the paintings (including those on the ceiling) were taken down to protect them.  You can see some darkly painted spaces on the ceilings where the paintings were too big to remove and were destroyed beyond repair in WWII.

Exterior of the Residenz
Here are a BUNCH of photos to give you a sneak peek behind the walls of this gem.  I can't believe there weren't more people walking through it, given you can see so much more than other grand palaces I have visited.  (Bonus: it's one of the few that is okay with photos inside!)   From the outside, you'd never guess that all of this was right smack dab in the middle of Munich.

Antiquarium, built to display the Duke's sculptures

I kind of liked how paintings felt integrated into the walls.


Tapestries were all over, making rooms feel so big.  Most rooms were pretty small/narrow.


More photos after the jump, included royal jewels!



You always had to look UP.







The Treasury is a small wing that costs extra, but is included in the Bavaria ticket I mentioned earlier.  I was taken be two crowns in particular:


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2 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh--this is INSANELY gorgeous! I love historical sites where you can take pictures: yours are really, really pretty. Guess I need to add this to my European to-do list!

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  2. I didn't even photograph every room! And admission cost is low. It's in the heart of downtown Munich so it's perfect.

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