The Hofbräuhaus at Platzl: History, Rooms, and Traditions

Key points at a glance

• Location: Platzl 9, Altstadt-Lehel, 80331 Munich
• What: State-owned tavern and Neo-Renaissance heritage building
• Opening hours: Daily from 11:00 a.m. to midnight
• Admission: Free; the rooms are freely accessible during opening hours
• Getting there: S-Bahn and U-Bahn (lines U3/U6) to Marienplatz or Isartor; approx. 500-meter walk
• Accessibility: Level access via Bräuhausstraße; elevator and accessible restrooms available
• Good to know: Brewing no longer takes place here—the brewery has been located in Riem since 1988.

Rooms: Beer hall and beer parlors

• Schwemme: the large ground-floor beer hall with around 1,000 seats at long wooden tables
• Festsaal (Festival Hall): located on the upper floors beneath a nine-meter-high vaulted ceiling, accommodating about 1,500 people
• Additional rooms: Wappensaal (Coat of Arms Hall), Münchner Zimmer (Munich Room), Erkerzimmer (Bay Window Room), and Bräustüberl (Brewery Tavern), offering a combined total of over 1,000 additional seats
• Wirtsgarten: the inner courtyard featuring the Lion Fountain, open during the summer

👉 The Schwemme on the ground floor of the Hofbräuhaus accommodates around 1,000 guests, while the Festival Hall on the upper floors holds approximately another 1,500.

Good to know for your visit

• Reservations: Reservations are not accepted for the *Schwemme* (main hall) or the beer garden; guests simply join existing tables. Reservations are only taken for the *Bräustüberl* on the first floor.
• Guided tours: Munich Tourism arranges guided tours of the building for groups; bookings must be made at least 72 hours in advance.
• Brewery tours: These do not take place at the *Platzl* location but at the brewery site in Riem.
• Dogs: Allowed.
• Music-free days: No bands play on Good Friday or All Saints' Day.
• Accessibility details: Main entrance door width is 180 cm; accessible restrooms are located on the ground floor and the second floor. Inside, there are occasional thresholds of around 7 cm; the beer garden is paved with small cobblestones.
• Parking: Hofbräuhaus parking garage on Thomas-Wimmer-Ring; coach parking on Altstadtring.

The song about the Hofbräuhaus

The "Hofbräuhaus-Lied" (Hofbräuhaus Song) was created in 1935—but it did not originate in Munich. The music was composed by Berlin-based Wilhelm "Wiga" Gabriel, while the lyrics are credited to his friend Klaus S. Richter from Hindelang in the Allgäu region. Legend has it that the melody came to Gabriel while he was in a Berlin café; lacking sheet music, he simply jotted it down on the cover of a magazine.

The waltz premiered in 1936—not at the famous *Platzl* location in Munich, but at the Dürkheim Wurstmarkt festival in the Palatinate. From there, it made its way through carnival halls into the repertoire of virtually every brass band—and eventually into the very tavern celebrated in its lyrics. Gabriel reportedly even conducted the piece himself at the Hofbräuhaus, receiving an oversized beer mug in return.

A detail for Munich aficionados: The opening of the melody bears a resemblance to the city's unofficial anthem, "Solang der alte Peter," a tune Gabriel is said to have drawn upon.

👉 The world-famous "Hofbräuhaus-Lied" was written in 1935 by Berlin composer Wiga Gabriel and premiered in 1936 at the Dürkheim Wurstmarkt—not in Munich.

Traditions that shape the establishment: regulars' tables, Aloisius, music

More than 125 regular groups meet here, and the establishment boasts around 3,500 regulars—craftspeople, traditional costume groups, taxi drivers, airline captains, and all manner of eclectic gatherings. Many of them leave their *Maßkrug* (liter beer mug) right there. The mug vault contains 616 compartments, and you can’t simply buy one: they are reserved for regulars.

Yet the most famous regular is a fictional character. The angel Aloisius comes from Ludwig Thoma’s 1911 short story *Ein Münchner im Himmel* ("A Münchner in Heaven"). In the story, porter Alois Hingerl is promoted to an angel after his death but finds he cannot stand life up there without beer. Sent back to Earth to deliver divine advice to the Bavarian government, he stops at the Hofbräuhaus first—and, according to the tale, is still sitting there to this day. The government is still waiting.

Music is also part of the experience: bands play daily in the *Schwemme* (the main beer hall). It only stays quiet on the solemn public holidays of Good Friday and All Saints' Day.

👉 More than 125 regular groups meet at the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, with members storing their personal *Maßkrüge* in a vault containing 616 compartments.

From Court Brewery to Tavern

It began not with a tavern, but with a calculation: the Wittelsbach court was purchasing its beer at high cost from outside sources—including Einbeck in Lower Saxony. Consequently, in 1589, Duke Wilhelm V commissioned his own brewing operations—initially at the "Alter Hof" (Old Court) and, from 1607 onwards, at the site where the Hofbräuhaus still stands today.

However, it did not open to the people of Munich until 1828, when King Ludwig I authorized serving the general public. In 1852, the establishment passed into the ownership of the Bavarian state—hence its official name, *Staatliches Hofbräuhaus am Platzl* (State Hofbräuhaus at the Platzl).

👉 The Hofbräuhaus was established in 1589 as a ducal brewery to avoid the cost of importing beer, and it did not open to the Munich public until 1828.

How the house acquired its present-day appearance

Although the year 1589 is displayed everywhere, the walls are actually much more recent. In 1896, the brewery relocated to Haidhausen—to the site of the present-day Hofbräukeller. Max Littmann designed the structure that subsequently rose at the Platzl: a Neo-Renaissance beer palace, which opened in September 1897.

Fifty years later, almost nothing of it remained. In 1945, air raids destroyed the building, leaving only the *Schwemme* (the ground-floor beer hall) intact. Reconstruction was not completed until 1958, in time for the city's 800th anniversary.

👉 The current Hofbräuhaus building dates back to the 1896/97 renovation designed by Max Littmann; following severe wartime destruction, it was rebuilt by 1958.

Five Stories from the Hofbräuhaus

• Political stage: On February 24, 1920, Adolf Hitler presented the 25-Point Program to an audience of around 2,000 people at the venue; from that day on, the German Workers' Party called itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party. From 1934 onwards, the National Socialists used the Hofbräuhaus annually for their party founding celebrations.
• Beer in exchange for sparing the city: In 1632, Swedish troops were at the gates of Munich. The price the city paid to buy its safety included 23,168 liters of beer from the Hofbräuhaus.
• How the "Bock" got its name: Because the strong beer from Einbeck was so popular at the royal court, a master brewer from that town was promptly recruited in 1612. Munich dialect transformed "Ainpöck" first into "Oanbock" and finally into "Bock."
• A Russian misunderstanding: Lenin’s wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, noted that the "HB" monogram on the beer mugs reminded her of the abbreviation for a Russian secret society. The monogram has been trademarked since 1879—too many other breweries had copied it.
• The venue as an export: In 2004, a licensed building modeled on the original opened in Las Vegas. Others followed around the world.
   

👉 On February 24, 1920, the NSDAP announced its party program at the Hofbräuhaus on the Platzl—a date that the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism classifies as part of the city's history.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about the Hofbräuhaus

When is the Hofbräuhaus open?

Daily from 11:00 a.m. to midnight.

Is there an admission fee?

No, the dining areas are open to the public free of charge during opening hours.

Is beer still brewed at the Hofbräuhaus?

No. The brewery moved to Haidhausen in 1896 and has been located in Munich-Riem since 1988.

How old is the building at the Platzl?

The current building dates back to the reconstruction of 1896/97; following wartime destruction, it was rebuilt by 1958. The history of brewing at this location dates back to 1607.

Do I need a reservation?

Not for the main beer hall (*Schwemme*) or the beer garden. Reservations are only available for the *Bräustüberl* on the first floor.

Is the Hofbräuhaus accessible?

Access is at ground level; an elevator and accessible restrooms are available. There are a few low thresholds inside.

Who owns the Hofbräuhaus?

The Bavarian state has owned it since 1852—hence the official name, *Staatliches Hofbräuhaus am Platzl* (State-owned Hofbräuhaus at the Platzl).