Architecture tours in Munich

Modern Munich – missing?

Modernity in Munich? It's actually hard to imagine, considering Munich's history. Munich has always been the capital of a conservative, traditional Bavaria, which had a particularly hard time dealing with the rapid changes in society and everything new in general. As for many other cities, the Second World War was the major turning point for Munich in terms of its architectural appearance. In the post-war period, Munich decided to rebuild as faithfully to the original as possible wherever possible. Modern and forward-looking architecture was often categorically rejected by most Munich residents. We took the 100-year Bauhaus anniversary in 2019 as an opportunity to investigate further and put together an exciting architectural tour through Munich's city center for you.

Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus

It is over 100 years since the legendary Walter Gropius dared to take the step into modernity by founding the Bauhaus School in Weimar. A milestone in terms of the requirements after the First World War, although highly controversial, praised and criticized at the same time. The Bauhaus's demands were understandable: " Beautiful is what works ", " People's needs instead of luxury needs " were two of the Bauhaus's guiding principles. Housing and construction should be affordable, functional and aesthetic for everyone. This new way of thinking gave Bavaria a wide berth, not to mention the implementation of Dessau's ideas in Bavaria.

With the destruction of Munich came significant changes in the cityscape, which were not just born out of necessity. In the 1950s, Theo Pabst set milestones for future department store architecture with the new construction of the department store consumer temple at Stachus.

Munich through the ages

Another example is the Geisel family. In 1955 they attempted something similar with the new building of the Hotel Königshof , which last appeared in the early 1970s. It was precisely this hotel that recently divided the opinion of Munich residents, as a spectacular new building by the Spanish architect Nieto Sobejano was to be built on this prominent site.

And the carousel of ideas and architectural innovations in Munich is turning ever faster: Munich and in particular the Munich city center is changing its face: the main station, Hofstatt , the Tom & Hilde project , Pschorr-Haus, the Fünf Höfe, Alte Akademie are just some of the projects in the city center that have recently been realized or are about to be implemented. Some of these ideas will put the people of Munich to the test.

This tour aims to show "old versus new", to talk about future plans, about conversion and planning. A tour full of images through the past, present and future of Munich's old town.