Hofgarten, Munich

Hofgarten is a historic garden beside Munich’s Residenz, and its formal layout carries the character of an Italian Renaissance garden. The pavilion in the garden’s heart is the Dianatempel, a structure made for the goddess Diana. Paths spread outward from its arches, giving the whole garden a clear radial design.

Look at the pavilion’s roof: it carries a replica of a Bavarian figure by Hubert Gerhard, while the original sculpture is kept in the Residenz. The garden began under Maximilian I during the enlargement of the Residenz, and its surviving form brings together an older formal plan with the landscape-garden character it acquired later. The garden was destroyed during the Second World War and subsequently rebuilt with a partial redesign.

Along the arcades, wall paintings recount episodes from Bavarian history. The western gate was created by Leo von Klenze and was his earliest Munich work. In the northeastern corner, a dark stone memorial honours the White Rose group, whose members were executed for resisting Hitler’s regime. The place is both a carefully structured garden and a setting where Munich’s political and cultural memory remains visible.