Munich

History

Etymology

Munich was a tiny 10th-century monastic settlement, which was named zu den Munchen ("to the monks"). The Old High German Munche served as the base for the modern German city name München.

Early history

The river Isar was a prehistoric trade route and in the Bronze Age Munich was among the largest raft ports in Europe. Bronze Age settlements up to four millennia old have been discovered. Evidence of Celtic settlements from the Iron Age have been discovered in areas around Ramersdorf-Perlach.

The ancient Roman road Via Julia, which connected Augsburg and Salzburg, crossed over the Isar south of Munich, at the towns of Baierbrunn and Gauting. A Roman settlement north-east of Munich was excavated in the neighborhood of Denning.

Starting in the 6th century, the Baiuvarii populated the area around what is now modern Munich, such as in Johanneskirchen, Feldmoching, Bogenhausen and Pasing. The first known Christian church was built ca. 815 in Fröttmanning.

Middle Ages

The first medieval bridges across the river Isar were located in current city areas of Munich and Landshut. Henry the Lion, the Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, founded the town of Munich in his territory to control the salt trade, after having burned down the town of Föhring and its bridges over the Isar. Historians date this event at about 1158.

Henry built a new toll bridge, customs house and a coin market closer to his home, somewhat upstream, at a settlement around the area of modern old town Munich. This new toll bridge most likely crossed the Isar where the Museuminsel and the modern Ludwigsbrücke are now located.

Otto of Freising protested to his nephew, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. However, on 14 June 1158, in Augsburg, the conflict was settled in favor of Duke Henry. The Augsburg Arbitration mentions the name of the location in dispute as forum apud Munichen. Although Bishop Otto had lost his bridge, the arbiters ordered Duke Henry to pay a third of his income to the Bishop in Freising as compensation.

14 June 1158 is considered the official founding day of the city of Munich. Archaeological excavations at Marienhof Square (near Marienplatz) in advance of the expansion of the S-Bahn (subway) in 2012 discovered shards of vessels from the 11th century, which prove again that the settlement of Munich must be older than the Augsburg Arbitration of 1158. The old St. Peter's Church near Marienplatz is also believed to predate the founding date of the town.

In 1175, Munich received city status and fortification. In 1180, after Henry the Lion's fall from grace with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, including his trial and exile, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria, and Munich was handed to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split in two, Munich became the ducal residence of Upper Bavaria.

Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt monopoly with staple rights, thus assuring it of additional income.

Capital of reunited Bavaria

When Bavaria was reunited in 1506 after the War of the Succession of Landshut against the Duchy of Bavaria-Landshut, Munich became its capital. During the 16th century Munich became a centre of the Counter-Reformation. The Renaissance movement beset Munich and the Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach under Duke Albrecht V who bolstered their prestige by conjuring up a lineage that reached back to classical antiquity. In 1568 Albrecht V built the Antiquarium to house the Wittelsbach collection of Greek and Roman antiquities in the Munich Residenz. Albrecht V appointed the composer Orlando di Lasso as director of the court orchestra and tempted numerous Italian musicians to work at the Munich court, establishing Munich as a hub for late Renaissance music. During the rule of Duke William V Munich began to be called the "German Rome" and William V began presenting Emperor Charlemagne as ancestor of the Wittelsbach dynasty.

Duke William V further cemented the Wittelsbach rule by commissioning the Jesuit Michaelskirche. He had the sermons of his Jesuit court preacher Jeremias Drexel translated from Latin into German and published them to a greater audience. William V was addressed with the epithet "the Pious" and like his contemporary Wittelsbach dukes promoted himself as "father of the land" (Landesvater), encouraged pilgrimages and Marian devotions. William V had the Hofbräuhaus built in 1589. It would become the prototype for beer halls across Munich.

The Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609. In 1623, during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), Munich became an electoral residence when Duke Maximilian I was invested with the electoral dignity of the Holy Roman Empire, but in 1632 the city was occupied by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. In 1634, Swedish and Spanish troops advanced on Munich. Maximilian I published a plague ordinance to halt an epidemic escalation. The bubonic plague nevertheless ravaged Munich and the surrounding countryside in 1634 and 1635. Troops again converged on Munich in 1647 and precautions were taken, so as to avoid another epidemic. The city remained physically untouched during the war.

During its time as the capital of the Electorate of Bavaria, Munich was an important centre of Baroque life, but also had to suffer under Habsburg occupations in 1704 after Bavaria's defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession and again in 1742 during the War of the Austrian Succession. When Elector Maximilian III Joseph died in 1777, the succession empowered the Palatinate branch within the House of Wittelsbach. In 1785, Elector Karl Theodor invited Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson) to Munich to implement social reforms, including workhouses for the poor and army restructuring with improved conditions for soldiers. In the 1790s, Munich became the largest German city to remove its fortifications, starting in 1791 under Karl Theodor and Rumford. After 1793, citizens built new structures outside the former city walls.

World War I to World War II

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, life in Munich became very difficult, as the Allied blockade of Germany led to food and fuel shortages. During a French air raid in 1916, three bombs fell on Munich.

In 1916, the 'Bayerische Motoren Werke' (BMW) produced its first aircraft engine in Munich. The public limited company BMW AG was founded in 1918, with Camillo Castiglioni owning one third of the share capital. In 1922 BMW relocated its headquarters to a factory in Munich.

After World War I, the city was at the centre of substantial political unrest. In November 1918, on the eve of the German revolution, Ludwig III of Bavaria and his family fled the city. After the murder of the first republican premier of Bavaria Kurt Eisner in February 1919 by Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley, the Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. The November 1918 revolution ended the reign of the Wittelsbach in Bavaria. In Mein Kampf Adolf Hitler described his political activism in Munich after November 1918 as the "Beginning of My Political Activity". Hitler called the short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic "the rule of the Jews".

In 1923 Gustav von Kahr was appointed Bavarian prime minister and immediately planned for the expulsion of all Jews who did not hold German citizenship. Chief of Police Ernst Pöhner and Wilhelm Frick openly indulged in antisemitism, while Bavarian judges praised people on the political right as patriotic for their crimes and handed down mild sentences. In 1923, Adolf Hitler and his supporters, who were concentrated in Munich, staged the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and seize power. The revolt failed, resulting in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the Nazi Party (NSDAP).

Munich was chosen as capital for the Free State of Bavaria and acquired increased responsibility for administering the city itself and the surrounding districts. Offices needed to be built for bureaucracy, so a 12-story office building was erected in the southern part of the historic city centre in the late 1920s.

Munich again became important to the Nazis when they took power in Germany in 1933. The party created its first concentration camp at Dachau, 16 km (10 mi) north-west of the city. Because of its importance to the rise of National Socialism, Munich was referred to as the Hauptstadt der Bewegung ("Capital of the Movement").

Postwar

In the aftermath of World War II, Germany was subject to US Military occupation. Due to Polish annexation of the former eastern territories of Germany and expulsion of Germans from all over Eastern Europe, Munich operated over a thousand refugee camps for 151,113 people in October 1946. After US occupation Munich was completely rebuilt following a meticulous plan, which preserved its pre-war street grid, bar a few exceptions owing to then-modern traffic concepts. In 1957, Munich's population surpassed one million. The city continued to play a highly significant role in the West German economy, politics and culture, giving rise to its nickname Heimliche Hauptstadt ("secret capital") in the decades after World War II.

The Free State of Bavaria used the arms industry as kernel for its high tech development policy. Since 1963, Munich has been hosting the Munich Security Conference, a conference on international security policy held annually in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. Munich also became known on the political level due to the strong influence of Bavarian politician Franz Josef Strauss from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Munich Airport, which commenced operations in 1992, was named in his honor.

Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics. After winning the bid in 1966 the Mayor of Munich, Hans-Jochen Vogel, accelerated the construction of the U-Bahn subway and the S-Bahn metropolitan commuter railway. In May 1967 the construction work began for a new U-Bahn line connecting the city with the Olympic Park (Olympiapark). The Olympic Park subway station was built near the BMW Headquarters and the line was completed in May 1972, three months before the opening of the 1972 Summer Olympics. Shortly before the opening ceremony, Munich also inaugurated a sizable pedestrian priority zone between Karlsplatz and Marienplatz. In 1970 the Munich city council released funds so that the gothic facade and Glockenspiel of the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus) could be restored. During the 1972 Summer Olympics 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich massacre, when gunmen from the Palestinian "Black September" group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team. In 1974, the FIFA World Cup final was held at the Olympic Stadium.

Munich and its urban sprawl emerged as the leading German high tech region during the 1980s and 1990s. The urban economy of Munich became characterized by a dynamic labour market, low unemployment, a growing service economy and high per capita income.

Geography

Topography

Munich lies on the elevated plains of Upper Bavaria in the Northern Alpine Foreland, about 50 km north of the Alps and at about 520 m above mean sea level. The rivers Isar and Würm flow through the city.

The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile flint area no longer affected by Alpine tectonic processes, while the southern part is covered with morainic hills. Between them are fluvio-glacial outwash plains around Munich. Where these deposits become thinner, groundwater can rise through the gravel surface, causing marsh formation in northern Munich.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification, the climate is oceanic (Cfb) bordering on humid continental (Dfb), with features like warm to hot summers and cold winters, but without permanent snow cover. The city centre lies between both climates, while the airport of Munich has a humid continental climate. The warmest month, on average, is July. The coolest is January.

The proximity to the Alps brings higher volumes of rainfall and consequently greater susceptibility to flood problems. Studies of adaptation to climate change and extreme events are carried out; one of them is the Isar Plan of the EU Adaptation Climate.

Showers and thunderstorms bring the highest average monthly precipitation in late spring and throughout the summer. The most precipitation occurs in July, on average. Winter tends to have less precipitation, the least in February.

The higher elevation and proximity to the Alps cause the city to have more rain and snow than many other parts of Germany. The Alps affect the city's climate in other ways too; for example, the warm downhill wind from the Alps (föhn wind), which can raise temperatures sharply within a few hours even in the winter.

Being at the centre of Europe, Munich is subject to many climatic influences, so that weather conditions there are more variable than in other European cities, especially those further west and south of the Alps.

Munich is near the Alps. Annual variation in temperature can be significant, because there are no large bodies of water nearby. The winter in Munich is generally cold and overcast, and some Munich winters have significant snow. January is the coldest month. While winter averages remain only moderately cold, and relatively mild for an elevated inland location of Munich's latitude, inversion from the nearby Alps causes cold air to sink and result in temperatures below −15 °C (5 °F). In Munich the summer is usually pleasantly warm, with daytime temperatures averaging 25 °C (77 °F).

Munich is subject to active convective seasons and sometimes damaging events. The Alpine thunderstorm system moves along the mountain range, or detaches, heading east-north-east over the foothills of the Alps.

Demographics

From only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the city population doubled about every 30 years. It was 100,000 in 1852, 250,000 in 1883 and 500,000 in 1901. Since then, Munich has become Germany's third-largest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted, and in 1957 over 1 million. Munich has reached 1.5 million in 2022.

Immigration

In December 2023, Munich had 1.58 million inhabitants; 477,855 foreign nationals resided in the city as of 31 December 2023 with 42.88% of these residents being citizens of EU member states, and 29.66% citizens in European states not in the EU (including Kosovo and Turkey). Along with the Turks, the Croats are one of the two largest foreign minorities in the city, which is why some Croats refer to Munich as their "second capital". The largest groups of foreign nationals were Turks (38,947), Croats (37,541), Italians (28,142), Greeks (24,843), Bosnians (24,161), Ukrainians (21,899), and Austrians (21,944).

Religion

About 45% of Munich's residents are not affiliated with any religious group; this ratio represents the fastest growing segment of the population. As in the rest of Germany, the Catholic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous decline in membership. As of 31 December 2017, 31.8% of the city's inhabitants were Catholic, 11.4% Protestant, 0.3% Jewish (see: History of the Jews in Munich), and 3.6% were members of an Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox). About 1% adhere to other Christian denominations. There is also a small Old Catholic parish and an English-speaking parish of the Episcopal Church in the city. According to Munich Statistical Office, in 2013 about 6.9% of Munich's population was Muslim.

Munich has the largest Uyghur population with about 800 (whole Germany about 1,600) people with Uyghur diaspora. Many of them fled to Munich due to the Chinese government and are exiled in Munich. Munich is also home to World Uyghur Congress, which is an international organisation of exiled Uyghurs.

Government and politics

As the capital of Bavaria, Munich is an important political centre for both the state and country as a whole. It is the seat of the Landtag of Bavaria, the State Chancellery, and all state departments. Several national and international authorities are located in Munich, including the Federal Finance Court of Germany, the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office. Bavaria has been dominated by the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) on a federal, state, and local level since the establishment of the Federal Republic in 1949.

Mayor

The current mayor of Munich is Dominik Krause of the Greens.

The most recent mayoral election was held on 8 March 2026, with a runoff held on 22 March, and the results were as follows:

City council

The Munich city council (Stadtrat) governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 8 March 2026, and the results were as follows:

The governing coalition after the 2020 election consisted of the Greens and the SPD, as well as the allied Volt and Pink List, which had one seat each. While the Greens had gained the most seats in the city council, the mayor was from the SPD. The parties made an agreement including social and ecological goals and focusing on heightening stipulations for new development in the city. The Red-Green alliance is a reprise of the 1990–2014 coalition, which was interrupted by a six-year CSU-SPD majority from 2014 to 2020.

State Landtag

Munich is represented in the Landtag of Bavaria by nine constituencies. Following the 2018 Bavarian state election, they were represented as follows:

Federal parliament

Munich is represented in the Bundestag by four constituencies. In the 20th Bundestag, they were represented as follows:

Subdivisions

Since the reform of 1992, Munich is divided into 25 administrative boroughs (Stadtbezirke). They are subdivided into 105 statistical areas.

Allach-Untermenzing (23), Altstadt-Lehel (1), Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied (22), Au-Haidhausen (5), Berg am Laim (14), Bogenhausen (13), Feldmoching-Hasenbergl (24), Hadern (20), Laim (25), Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt (2), Maxvorstadt (3), Milbertshofen-Am Hart (11), Moosach (10), Neuhausen-Nymphenburg (9), Obergiesing (17), Pasing-Obermenzing (21), Ramersdorf-Perlach (16), Schwabing-Freimann (12), Schwabing-West (4), Schwanthalerhöhe (8), Sendling (6), Sendling-Westpark (7), Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln (19), Trudering-Riem (15), and Untergiesing-Harlaching (18).

There is no official division into districts. The number of districts is about 50, and if smaller units are counted as well, there are about 90 to 100 (see map). The three largest districts are Schwabing in the north (about 110,000 inhabitants), Sendling in the southwest (about 100,000 inhabitants), and Giesing in the south (about 80,000 inhabitants).

Architecture

Old Town

At the centre of the old town is the Marienplatz with the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall. Its tower contains the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. The Peterskirche is the oldest church of the inner city. Nearby St. Peter, the Gothic hall-church Heiliggeistkirche was converted to baroque style from 1724 onwards and looks down upon the Viktualienmarkt. Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification survive; these are the Isartor, the Sendlinger Tor, and the Karlstor. The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a square dominated by the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice).

The Frauenkirche serves as the cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The nearby Michaelskirche is the largest renaissance church north of the Alps, while the Theatinerkirche is a basilica in Italianate high baroque, which had a major influence on southern German baroque architecture. Its dome dominates the Odeonsplatz.

Palaces and castles

Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Palace, construction started 1664) is a museum open to the public for tours.

The smaller Schloss Fürstenried (Fürstenried Palace, construction 1715–1717) is used by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising as a conference location.

Schloss Blutenburg (Blutenburg Castle) opened as a children's library in 2024, but visitors may tour the late-Gothic Blutenburg Castle Church built on the same grounds.

The large Munich Residenz complex on the edge of Munich's Old Town now ranks among Europe's most significant museums of interior decoration. Within the Residenz is the splendid Cuvilliés Theatre and next door is the National Theatre Munich. Among the mansions that still exist in Munich are the Palais Porcia, the Palais Preysing, the Palais Holnstein and the Prinz-Carl-Palais. All mansions are situated close to the Residenz, so is the Alter Hof, the first residence of the House of Wittelsbach.

Modernist architecture

Despite Munich being the breeding ground for German Jugendstil, starting with the architect Martin Dülfer, Munich Jugendstil style was quickly submerged as historic trash. While the modernist architect Theodor Fischer was based in Munich, his influence on Munich underwhelmed. Prior to 1914 the city of Munich was under-industrialized. During the Weimar Republic, the Munich establishment was hostile to modernism. The TUM professor German Bestelmeyer favored a conservative style, and Jacobus Oud was rejected for the post of city building chief. Modernist exceptions include a series of post offices by Robert Vorhoelzer built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Examples of avant-garde temporary constructions include the Wohnmaschine (Housing Machine) by Robert Vorhoelzer, as well as the Flachdachhaus (Flat Roof House) by Fritz Norkauer. Paul Schultze-Naumburg, and the Kampfbund enjoyed particular popularity.

High rise buildings

Several high-rise buildings are clustered at the northern edge of Munich in the skyline, like the HVB Tower, the Arabella High-Rise Building, the Highlight Towers, Uptown Munich, Münchner Tor and the BMW Headquarters next to the Olympic Park. Further high-rise buildings are located in the Werksviertel in Berg am Laim.

Long-term residential development

Munich is subject to a long-term residential development plan that is established by the city administration of Munich. The LaSie ("Langfristige Siedlungsentwicklung") was passed in 2011 in response to the acute housing crisis. LaSie is aligned with the strategic development plan passed for Munich in 1998 ("Perspektive München"). LaSie defines three priorities for the construction of residential housing in Munich. Existing housing estates, post-war low-density developments, and the suburban area are subject to densification ("Nachverdichtung"). Non-residential industrial areas are subject to conservation and will be turned into residential and mixed-use areas. On greenfield sites in the Munich periphery medium and large-scale housing estates are to be built so as to extend Munich's urban center.

Parks

Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell became famous for designing the Englischer Garten between 1789 and 1807. Besides planning the first public garden in Europe, Sckell also redesigned Baroque gardens as landscape gardens, including the parks of Nymphenburg Palace and the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg.

Other large green spaces are the Olympiapark, the Westpark and the Ostpark. The city's oldest park is the Hofgarten, near the Residenz, dating back to the 16th century. The site of the largest beer garden in town, the former royal Hirschgarten, was founded in 1780.

Culture

Language

German is spoken and understood in and around Munich. While the German language has many dialects, so-called "Standard German" or "High German" is learned in schools and spoken among Germans, Austrians and in some parts of Switzerland. A speaker of a Low German dialect in Hamburg may find it difficult to understand the dialect of a Bavarian mountaineer. The Bavarian dialects are recognized as regional languages and continue to be spoken alongside Standard German.

Museums

In 1903 Oskar von Miller assembled a group of engineers and industrialists, who chartered the Deutsches Museum. The Museum was built with the financial support of the German business and imperial nobility community, as well as the blessing of Wilhelm II, German Emperor. The Deutsches Museum had its grand opening in 1925; it is the world's largest museum of science and technology. The Deutsches Museum now operates three locations, with exhibition space at Flugwerft Schleissheim and a transportation museum near Theresienwiese. The original site in central Munich continues to expand its exhibits. Further transportation and technical museums include the MVG Museum and the BMW Museum.

There are several natural history museums in Munich. These include the Museum of Man and Nature, the Palaeontological Museum, the Museum Reich der Kristalle, the Bavarian State Archaeological Collection, the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, the Geologisches Museum München, the Botanische Staatsammlung München, and the German Hunting and Fishing Museum.

City guides published in the early 1860s directed tourists to Munich's architecture and art collections, which at the time were unique in Germany and are a legacy mainly of Ludwig I of Bavaria, with contributions from Maximilian II of Bavaria. After the first German art exhibition in the Glaspalast for an international audience in 1869, Munich emerged as a focal point for the arts. Men of distinction from around the world visited the Academy of Fine Arts under the directorship of Karl von Piloty and later Wilhelm von Kaulbach.

The city has several important art museums and galleries, many of which can be found in the Kunstareal. This neighborhood includes several of the galleries of the Bavarian State Painting Collections, most notably the three "Pinakotheken" (Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, and Pinakothek der Moderne). The Alte Pinakothek contains works of European masters between the 14th and 18th centuries. Major displays include Albrecht Dürer's Self-Portrait (1500), his Four Apostles, Raphael's paintings The Canigiani Holy Family and Madonna Tempi as well as Peter Paul Rubens large Judgment Day. The Neue Pinakothek, like other German museums, was wholly reconstructed from 1974 until 1981. The Pinakothek der Moderne exhibits modern art, architecture, design, and works on paper. The principal focus of its permanent collection is Classical Modernism, but the displays are enhanced continuously with gifts from private collections. Also included in the Bavarian State Painting Collections are the Museum Brandhorst, a modern and contemporary art museum in the Kunstareal, and the Schackgalerie, an important gallery of German 19th-century paintings.

Music

Munich is a major international musical centre and has played host to many prominent composers including Orlande de Lassus, Orlando di Lasso, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Max Reger and Carl Orff. Some notable classical music compositions created in and around Munich include Richard Strauss's tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra or Carl Orff's Carmina Burana.

While Richard Wagner was also a supporter of William I, German Emperor, he was generously supported by Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig II sponsored the successful Munich premiere of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremberg) at the Hoftheater, now the National Theatre Munich.

The National Theatre Munich is now home to the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Next door, the modern Residenz Theatre was erected in the former royal palace that also houses the Cuvilliés Theatre. The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz is a state theater while another opera house, the Prinzregententheater, has become the home of the Bavarian Theater Academy and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

The modern Gasteig centre houses the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The third orchestra in Munich with international importance is the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Its primary concert venue is the Herkulessaal in the former city royal residence, the Munich Residenz. Many important conductors have been attracted by the city's orchestras, including Felix Weingartner, Hans Pfitzner, Hans Rosbaud, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sergiu Celibidache, James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Rafael Kubelík, Eugen Jochum, Sir Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Bruno Walter, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano. A stage for shows, big events and musicals is the Deutsche Theater. It is Germany's largest theatre for guest performances.

In the late-1960s Munich was the centre of Krautrock in southern Germany, with bands such as Amon Düül II, Embryo or Popol Vuh hailing from the city.

In the 1970s, the Musicland Studios in Munich became a world-renowned recording studio, with bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen recording albums there. Musicland Studios also played a role in the development of electronic music through the work of genre pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who invented synth disco and electronic dance music, and the recordings of disco musician Donna Summer.

Theatre

The Munich Kammerspiele is one of the most important German-language theatres. Several notable playwrights have lived and worked in Munich, including Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Henrik Ibsen, Bertolt Brecht, and Frank Wedekind.

Munich was also the site of a vibrant cabaret performance scene during the Weimar era, epitomized by the short films and performances of Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt. Their work is commemorated at the Valentin-Karlstadt-Musäum in Isartor.

The Circus Krone, based in Munich, is one of the largest circuses in Europe. It was the first and still is one of only a few in Western Europe to also occupy a building of its own.

Art and Literature

Painters and sculptors based in Munich in the 15th and 16th century included Erasmus Grasser and Jan Polack.

During the Baroque and Rococo eras, several sculptors, architects, and painters were based in Munich, including Hans Krumpper, Johann Baptist Zimmermann, Cosmas Damian Asam, Johann Michael Fischer, Egid Quirin Asam, François de Cuvilliés, Johann Baptist Straub and Ignaz Günther.

The Biedermeier era of the early 19th century was named after a character that regularly appeared in the satire magazine Fliegende Blätter, which was published by Adolf Kussmaul and Ludwig Eichrodt in Munich between 1855 and 1857. The Biedermeier era painters Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Moritz von Schwind, and Carl Spitzweg are shown in the Neue Pinakothek.

Further artists of the Biedermeier era based in Munich include sculptor Ludwig von Schwanthaler and the painters Carl Rottmann, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Karl Piloty.

Celebrity literary figures worked in Munich especially during the final decades of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the so-called Prinzregentenzeit from 1886 to 1912, under the reign of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. This includes the authors Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Paul Johann Ludwig von Heyse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ludwig Thoma, Fanny zu Reventlow, Gustav Meyrink, and Erich Mühsam as well as the playwrights Oskar Panizza, Frank Wedekind, and Max Halbe. Thomas Mann wrote in his novella Gladius Dei about this period: "München leuchtete" (literally "Munich shone").

At the turn of the 20th century the neighbourhood of Schwabing became known as a bohemian cultural epicenter for both literature and the fine arts. Central to Schwabing's bohemian scene were Künstlerlokale (Artist's Cafés) such as Café Stefanie or Simpl, whose liberal ways differed fundamentally from Munich's more traditional localities. The Simpl, which survives to this day, was named after Munich's anti-authoritarian satirical magazine Simplicissimus, founded in 1896 by Albert Langen and Thomas Theodor Heine. Vladimir Lenin authored the pamphlet What Is to Be Done? while living in Schwabing.

Artists of the late-19th and early-20th century based in Munich include Franz von Lenbach, Wilhelm Leibl, Lovis Corinth, and Franz Stuck.

Cinema

Munich has been home to many of the directors active in the New German Cinema movement, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Edgar Reitz and Herbert Achternbusch. New German Cinema was a significant shift in post-war German filmmaking that rebuffed traditional funding structures and kitschy subject matter in favour of cinematic experimentation and political expression. In 1971, the Filmverlag der Autoren was founded in Munich as an independent co-operative that produced and distributed the work of several of these directors. Munich also served as the setting for many of Fassbinder's films, including Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974). Fassbinder and his "clan" of actors were also regulars at local sites, such as the Hotel Deutsche Eiche near Gärtnerplatz.

In 1919, the film producer and distributor Bavaria Film was founded in Grünwald as Münchner Lichtspielkunst (Emelka), which developed into one of Europe's largest film studios. Among the internationally well-known films produced at the associated Bavaria Studios are The Pleasure Garden (1925) by Alfred Hitchcock, The Great Escape (1963) by John Sturges, Paths of Glory (1957) by Stanley Kubrick, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) by Mel Stuart and both Das Boot (1981) and The Neverending Story (1984) by Wolfgang Petersen.

Other significant companies based in the city include the motion picture film equipment manufacturer Arri and the film production company Constantin Film. The University of Television and Film Munich (HFF) is also a publicly funded film school based in the city and the alma mater of Maren Ade, Wim Wenders, Caroline Link, and Hito Steyerl.

Munich remains one of the centres of the German film and entertainment industry. In addition to those above, directors such as Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, John Huston, Ingmar Bergman, Claude Chabrol, and Fritz Umgelter and have made films in Munich.

Cuisine and culinary specialities

Munich cuisine is a part of the broader Bavarian cuisine. Munich Weißwurst ("white sausage", German: Münchner Weißwurst) was invented in the city in 1857 and is a Munich speciality. Traditionally Weißwurst is served in pubs before noon and is served with sweet mustard and freshly baked pretzels.

Munich has 11 restaurants that have been awarded one or more Michelin Guide stars in 2021.

In 1971 Eckart Witzigmann teamed up with a Munich building contractor to finance and open the Tantris restaurant in Schwabing. Witzigmann is credited for starting the German Küchenwunder (kitchen wonder).

Munich is known for its breweries and Weissbier (wheat beer). Helles, a pale lager with a translucent gold color, is the most popular contemporary Munich beer. Helles has largely replaced Munich's dark beer, known as Dunkel, which gets its color from roasted malt. It was the typical beer in Munich in the 19th century. Starkbier is the strongest Munich beer, with a high alcohol content of 6%–9%. It is dark amber in color and has a heavy malty taste. The beer served at Oktoberfest is a special type of beer with a higher alcohol content.

Wirtshäuser are traditional Bavarian pubs, many of which also have small outside areas. Biergärten (beer gardens) are a popular fixture in Munich's gastronomic landscape. They are central to the city's culture, and are an overt melting pot for members of all walks of life, regardless of social class. There are many smaller beer gardens, but some beer gardens have thousands of seats. Large beer gardens can be found in the Englischer Garten, on the Nockherberg, and in the Hirschgarten.

The six main breweries in Munich are Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Hofbräuhaus, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu. Smaller breweries are becoming more prevalent in Munich.

Festivals

The Coopers' Dance (German: Schäfflertanz) is a guild dance of coopers originally started in Munich. Beginning in the early 1800s the custom spread via the travels of journeymen, and it is now a common tradition throughout the Old Bavaria region. The dance was supposed to be held every seven years.

Munich is home to the famous Nockherberg Strong Beer Festival (German: Starkbierfest) during the Lenten fasting period (usually in March). Its origins go back to the 17th/18th century, but has become popular when the festivities were first televised in the 1980s. The festival includes comical speeches and a mini-musical in which numerous German politicians are parodied by look-alike actors.

Held for two weeks at the Theresienwiese from the end of April to the beginning of May, celebrating and serving the new local spring beers.

A regular event combining a market and a German style folk festival on the Mariahilfplatz. The Auer Dult can be up to 300 stalls, selling handmade crafts, household goods, and local foods.

Munich's Kocherlball (Cooks' Ball) is an annual event to commemorate all servants, ranging from kitchenhands to cooks. The tradition started in the 19th century.

Usually held annually in July and December at Olympia Park. The Tollwood Festival showcases fine and performing arts with live music, and several lanes of booths selling handmade crafts, as well as organic food, mostly fusion cuisine.

At Theresienwiese, Munich's Oktoberfest, the largest beer festival and Volksfest in the world, runs for 16–18 days from the end of September through early October. In the last 200 years the festival has grown to span 85 acres and now welcomes over six million visitors every year. Beer is served from the six major Munich breweries: Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr Brewery, Löwenbräu Brewery, Paulaner Brewery, Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu, and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München. Food must be bought in each tent.

The Munich Christkindlmarkt started to evolve in the 14th century. The German Christkindlmarkt reached the desired accomplishment in the 17th century in Nuremberg.

Nightlife

Nightlife in Munich is located mostly in the boroughs Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Maxvorstadt, Au-Haidhausen, Berg am Laim and Sendling. Between Sendlinger Tor and Maximiliansplatz, on the edge of the central Altstadt-Lehel district, there is also the so-called Feierbanane (party banana), a roughly banana-shaped unofficial party zone spanning 1.3 km (0.8 mi) along Sonnenstraße, characterized by a high concentration of clubs, bars and restaurants, which became the center of Munich's nightlife in the mid-2000s.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Schwabing was considered a center of nightlife in Germany, with internationally known clubs such as Big Apple, PN hit-house, Domicile, Hot Club, Piper Club, Tiffany, Germany's first large-scale discotheque Blow Up and the underwater nightclub Yellow Submarine, and Munich has been called "New York's big disco sister" in this context. Bars in the Schwabing district of this era include, among many others, Schwabinger 7 and Schwabinger Podium. Since the 1980s, however, Schwabing has lost much of its nightlife activity due to gentrification and the resulting high rents, and the formerly wild artists' and students' quarter developed into one of the city's most coveted and expensive residential districts, attracting affluent citizens with little interest in partying.

Beginning in the 1960s, the Rosa Viertel (pink quarter) developed in the Glockenbachviertel and around Gärtnerplatz, which in the 1980s made Munich "one of the four gayest metropolises in the world" along with San Francisco, New York City and Amsterdam. In particular, the area around Müllerstraße and Hans-Sachs-Straße was characterized by numerous gay bars and nightclubs. One of them was the travesty nightclub Old Mrs. Henderson, where Freddie Mercury, who lived in Munich from 1979 to 1985, filmed the music video for the song "Living on My Own" at his 39th birthday party.

Munich hosted several Love Parades and Mayday Party rave events throughout the 1990s. Munich continues to rave, the local youth scenes are active.

Since the mid-1990s, the Kunstpark Ost and its successor Kultfabrik, a former industrial complex that was converted to a large party area near München Ostbahnhof in Berg am Laim, hosted more than 30 clubs and was especially popular among younger people from the metropolitan area surrounding Munich and tourists. The Kultfabrik was closed at the end of the year 2015 to convert the area into a residential and office area. Apart from the Kultfarbik and the smaller Optimolwerke, there is a wide variety of establishments in the urban parts of nearby Haidhausen. Before the Kunstpark Ost, there had already been an accumulation of internationally known nightclubs in the remains of the abandoned former Munich-Riem Airport.

Sports

Football

Munich is home to several professional Association football teams including the FC Bayern Munich. Other notable clubs include 1860 Munich, who currently play in the 3. Liga. Noticeably, FC Bayern Munich is the most successful club in Germany and it is also very reputed across Europe and the world. Munich hosted matches in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Basketball

FC Bayern Munich Basketball is currently playing in the Beko Basket Bundesliga. The city hosted the final stages of the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, where the German national basketball team won the gold medal.

Ice hockey

The city's ice hockey club is EHC Red Bull München who play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team has won four DEL Championships, in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2023.

Olympics

Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics; the Munich massacre took place in the Olympic village. It was one of the host cities for the 2006 Football World Cup, which was not held in Munich's Olympic Stadium, but in a new football specific stadium, the Allianz Arena. Munich bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but lost to Pyeongchang.

In October 2025, Munich citizens voted heavily (66%) in favor of their city's bid to host the 2036, 2040, or 2044 Olympic Games. The pro-bid campaign focused on ecological and sustainable solutions, social housing, and leveraging existing infrastructure.

Road running

Regular annual road running events in Munich are the Munich Marathon in October, the Stadtlauf end of June, the company run B2Run in July, the New Year's Run on 31 December, the Spartan Race Sprint, the Olympia Alm Crosslauf and the Bestzeitenmarathon.

Swimming

Public sporting facilities in Munich include ten indoor swimming pools and eight outdoor swimming pools, which are operated by the Munich City Utilities (SWM) communal company. Popular indoor swimming pools include the Olympia Schwimmhalle of the 1972 Summer Olympics, the wave pool Cosimawellenbad, as well as the Müllersches Volksbad which was built in 1901. Further, swimming within Munich's city limits is also possible in several artificial lakes such as for example the Riemer See or the Langwieder lake district.

River surfing

River surfing is a popular sport in Munich. The Flosskanal wave in the south of Munich is less challenging. A well visited surfing spot for experienced surfers is the Eisbach standing wave, where the annual Munich Surf Open is celebrated on the last Saturday of July.

Economy

Munich has the strongest economy of any German city according to a study and the lowest unemployment rate (5.4% in July 2026) of any German city of more than a million people (the others being Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne). Munich ranks third on the list of German cities by gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, it is one of the most attractive business locations in Germany. The city is also the economic centre of southern Germany. Munich topped the ranking of the magazine Capital in February 2005 for the economic prospects between 2002 and 2011 in 60 German cities.

Munich is a financial, business and commercial center and global city that holds the headquarters of many companies. This includes more companies listed by the DAX than any other German city, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as McDonald's and Microsoft. One of the best-known newly established Munich companies is Flixbus.

Manufacturing

Munich holds the headquarters of Siemens AG (electronics), BMW (car), Traton (truck manufacturer, engineering), MTU Aero Engines (aircraft engine manufacturer), Linde (gases) and Rohde & Schwarz (electronics). Among German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, purchasing power is highest in Munich (€26,648 per inhabitant) as of 2007. In 2006, Munich blue-collar workers enjoyed an average hourly wage of €18.62 (ca. $20).

The breakdown by cities proper (not metropolitan areas) of Global 500 cities listed Munich in 8th position in 2009. Munich is also a centre for biotechnology, software and other service industries. Furthermore, Munich is the home of the headquarters of many other large companies such as the injection moulding machine manufacturer Krauss-Maffei, and its arms manufacturing branch Krauss-Maffei & Wegmann, the camera and lighting manufacturer Arri, the semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies (headquartered in the suburban town of Neubiberg), lighting giant Osram, as well as the German or European headquarters of many foreign companies such as Microsoft.

Finance

Munich has significance as a financial centre (second only to Frankfurt), being home of HypoVereinsbank and the Bayerische Landesbank. It outranks Frankfurt though as home of insurance companies such as Allianz (insurance) and Munich Re (re-insurance).

Media

Munich is the largest publishing city in Europe and home to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of Germany's biggest daily newspapers. The city is also the location of the programming headquarters of Germany's largest public broadcasting network, ARD, while the largest commercial network, Pro7-Sat1 Media AG, is headquartered in the suburb of Unterföhring. The headquarters of the German branch of Random House, the world's largest publishing house, and of Burda publishing group are also in Munich.

The Bavaria Film Studios are located in the suburb of Grünwald. They are one of Europe's biggest film production studios.

Technology

Teamwire, 2010 technology startup company

Experteer, 2005 online career and recruitment marketplace

Education

Colleges and universities

Munich is a leading location for science and research with a long list of Nobel Prize laureates from Wilhelm Röntgen in 1901 to Theodor W. Hänsch in 2005.

LMU Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), were two of the first three German universities to be awarded the title elite university by a selection committee composed of academics and members of the Ministries of Education and Research of the Federation and the German states (Länder).

LMU Munich, founded in 1472 in Ingolstadt, moved to Munich in 1826

Technical University of Munich (TUM), founded in 1868

Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, founded in 1808

University of the Bundeswehr Munich, founded in 1973 (located in Neubiberg)

Deutsche Journalistenschule, founded in 1959

Bayerische Akademie für Außenwirtschaft, founded in 1989

Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, founded in 1830

International Max Planck Research School for Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences, founded in 2005

International School of Management, Germany, founded in 1990

Katholische Stiftungsfachhochschule München, founded in 1971

Munich Business School (MBS), founded in 1991

Munich Intellectual Property Law Center (MIPLC), founded in 2003

Primary and secondary schools

Notable Gymnasien in Munich include the Maria-Theresia-Gymnasium, the Luitpold Gymnasium, the Wilhelmsgymnasium, as well as the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium. Munich has several notable international schools, including Lycée Jean Renoir, the Japanische Internationale Schule München, the Bavarian International School, the Munich International School, and the European School, Munich.

Max Planck Society

The Max Planck Society, a government funded non-profit research organization, has its administrative headquarters in Munich.

Fraunhofer Society

The Fraunhofer Society, the German government funded research organization for applied research, has its headquarters in Munich.

Other research institutes

Botanische Staatssammlung München, a notable herbarium

Ifo Institute for Economic Research, theoretical and applied research in economics and finance

Doerner Institute

European Southern Observatory

Helmholtz Zentrum München

Zoologische Staatssammlung München

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oberpfaffenhofen bei München

Transport

Munich has an extensive public transport system consisting of an underground metro, trams, buses and high-speed rail. In 2015, the transport modal share in Munich was 38 percent public transport, 25 percent car, 23 percent walking, and 15 percent bicycle. Its public transport system delivered 566 million passenger trips that year.

Munich is the hub of a developed regional transportation system, including the second-largest airport in Germany and the Berlin–Munich high-speed railway, which connects Munich to the German capital city with a journey time of about 4 hours. Flixmobility which offers intercity coach service is headquartered in Munich.

The trade fair Transport Logistic is held every two years at the Neue Messe München (Messe München International).

Public transport

For its urban population of 2.6 million people, Munich and its closest suburbs have a comprehensive network of public transport incorporating the Munich U-Bahn, the Munich S-Bahn, trams and buses. The system is supervised by the Munich Transport and Tariff Association (Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund). The Munich tramway is the oldest existing public transportation system in the city, which has been in operation since 1876. Munich also has an extensive network of bus lines. The average amount of time people spend commuting to and from work with public transit in Munich on a weekday is 56 min.

The extensive network of subway and tram lines assists and complement pedestrian movement in the city centre. The 700m-long Kaufinger Straße, which starts near the Main train station, forms a pedestrian east–west spine that traverses almost the entire centre. Major spines and many smaller streets cover an extensive area of the centre that can be enjoyed on foot and bike. These attributes result from applying the principle of filtered permeability. Pedestrian and bike paths, which permeate the entire Munich city centre, go through public squares and open spaces for enjoyment. Munich city centre was subject to urban planning and has a comprehensive model for laying out neighborhoods and districts according to grid plan.

Cycling

Cycling has a strong presence in the city and is recognized as a good alternative. The growing number of bicycle lanes are widely used throughout the year. Cycle paths can be found alongside the majority of sidewalks and streets, although the newer or renovated ones are much easier to tell apart from pavements than older ones. A modern bike hire system is available within the area bounded by the Mittlerer Ring.

Cultural history trails and bicycle routes

Since 2001, historically interesting places in Munich can be explored via the List of cultural history trails in Munich (KulturGeschichtsPfade). Sign-posted cycle routes are the Outer Äußere Radlring (outer cycle route) and the RadlRing München.

Munich Central Train Station

Munich Central Train Station (München Hauptbahnhof) is the central railway station located in the city centre and is the long-distance station in Munich.

Munich Central Train Station serves about 450,000 passengers a day, which puts it on par with other large stations in Germany. Munich Central Train Station alongside München Ost railway station are two of the 21 stations in Germany classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 1 station.

The central mainline station is a terminal station with 32 platforms. The subterranean S-Bahn with 2 platforms and U-Bahn stations with 6 platforms are through stations.

Intercity-Express (ICE) and EuroCity-Express (ECE; Munich–Bregenz–Zurich) trains – and starting in 2026 also TGV trains (Munich–Paris) – stop at Munich Central Train Station. InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains to destinations east of Munich also stop at the München Ost railway station. Munich is connected to Nuremberg via Ingolstadt by the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway and Berlin–Munich high-speed railway.

The old air raid shelter next to platform 11 of Munich Central Train Station was an important distribution point for guest workers (Gastarbeiter) between 1960 and 1973. At peak more than 1,000 guest workers arrived per day, in total 1.8 million guest workers passed through Munich Central Train Station.

Autobahns

Munich is an integral part of the Autobahn network of southern Germany. Motorways from Stuttgart (W), Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Berlin (N), Deggendorf and Passau (E), Salzburg and Innsbruck (SE), Garmisch Partenkirchen (S) and Lindau (SW) terminate at Munich, allowing direct access to the different parts of Germany, Austria and Italy.

Traffic is often very heavy in and around Munich. Traffic congestion are commonplace at the beginning and end of major Bavarian holidays. There are few "green waves" or roundabouts, and an abundance of construction sites.

Munich has introduced an environmental zone and was among the first German cities to require a green sticker for vehicles, these are a requirement when entering the city or driving in the wider surrounding area.

Air

Franz Josef Strauss International Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM) is the second-largest airport in Germany and seventh-largest in Europe after London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid and Istanbul Atatürk. It is used by about 46 million passengers a year, and lies some 30 km (19 mi) north east of the city centre. It replaced the smaller Munich-Riem Airport in 1992. The airport can be reached by suburban train lines from the city. From the main railway station the journey takes 40–45 minutes. A magnetic levitation train (called Transrapid), which was to have run at speeds of up to 400 km/h (249 mph) from the central station to the airport in a travel time of 10 minutes, had been approved, but was cancelled in March 2008 because of cost escalation and after heavy protests. Lufthansa opened its second hub at the airport when Terminal 2 was opened in 2003.

In 2008, the Bavarian state government granted a licence to expand Oberpfaffenhofen Air Station located west of Munich, for commercial use. These plans were opposed by many residents in the Oberpfaffenhofen area as well as other branches of local government, including the city of Munich, which took the case to court. However, in October 2009, the permit allowing up to 9725 business flights per year to depart from or land at Oberpfaffenhofen was confirmed by a regional judge.

Despite being 110 km (68 mi) from Munich, Memmingen Airport has been advertised as Airport Munich West. After 2005, passenger traffic of nearby Augsburg Airport was relocated to Munich Airport, leaving the Augsburg region of Bavaria without an air passenger airport within close reach.

International relations

Twin towns and sister cities

Munich is twinned with:

Around Munich

Nearby towns

The Munich agglomeration sprawls across the plain of the Alpine foothills comprising about 2.6 million inhabitants. Several smaller traditional Bavarian towns and cities like Dachau, Freising, Erding, Starnberg, Landshut and Moosburg are today part of the Greater Munich Region, formed by Munich and the surrounding districts, making up the Munich Metropolitan Region, which has a population of about 6 million people.

Recreation

South of Munich, there are numerous nearby freshwater lakes such as Lake Starnberg, Ammersee, Chiemsee, Walchensee, Kochelsee, Tegernsee, Schliersee, Simssee, Staffelsee, Wörthsee, Kirchsee and the Osterseen (Easter Lakes), which are popular among Munich residents for recreation, swimming and watersports and can be quickly reached by car and a few also by Munich's S-Bahn.

Notable people