With the Residence, Munich owns one of Europe's most significant interior decoration museums. For five hundred years the facility in the middle of the old city was the residence and center of power of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings, but also the expression of art intellect and passion for building. The rooms of Duke Maximilian I - Kaisersaal, Steinzimmer and Reiche Kapelle - show the palace construction art of the 17th century. The ancestral portrait gallery and the Reiche Zimmer represent courtly rococo according to drafts by François Cuvilliés. The classical apartments in the King's Building go back to drafts by Leo von Klenzes.
The highlight of the guided tour is the Antiquarium: the largest and most beautiful Renaissance hall north of the Alps was built around 1570 for the antique collection of Duke Albrecht V and later used as a festival hall.
The 130 rooms of the Residence Munich have been filled with furniture and oil paintings, tapestries and porcelain from the best artists of their time. In addition to the resplendent showrooms, numerous special collections such as silver, porcelain or relic rooms can also be viewed.
Treasury of the Residence offers unique gold work from the Middle Ages right through to the classicism period. But the eminent collection also comprises precious works made of mountain crystal and ivory, gems, jewelry, tableware, right up to Ottoman daggers. Among the highlights of the collection are the Bavarian crown insignia and the precious statuette of St George the Knight. World famous exhibits are the Arnulfziborium, the cross relic of Emperor Heinrich II or the Gisela cross.
Reference: Munich Tourist Office
