Amalienburg, Munich

Amalienburg is an ornate hunting lodge within Nymphenburg Palace Park, designed for the Bavarian court by François de Cuvilliés. Its construction lasted from 1734 to 1739, under Elector Karl Albrecht and his wife, Maria Amalia of Austria. The building is Rococo, but its most striking experience comes from the Hall of Mirrors, where reflective walls send the park across the room and create an almost weightless atmosphere.

Johann Baptist Zimmermann and Joachim Dietrich created this interior. Look at the eastern façade’s central niche: Johann Baptist Zimmermann placed Diana there, the goddess associated with the hunt. Inside, the kitchen retains Delft tiles showing flowers and birds, laid in a confused sequence by mistake. Above the building, an ornate lattice platform served as a raised hunting hide, allowing pheasants to be driven toward the lodge.