Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich

Schloss Nymphenburg is a Baroque palace, and its immense façade gives you an immediate sense of its former courtly purpose. The complex began in 1664 as a gift from Ferdinand Maria to Henriette Adelaide of Savoy after the birth of their son. From 1715 to 1918, it served as the summer residence of Bavaria’s Wittelsbach electors and kings.

Agostino Barelli, Enrico Zuccalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi shaped its growth from a country retreat into a grand palace complex. Its frontage measures 632 m, exceeding the width of Versailles. The palace belongs to a larger ensemble with the park, a formal rondel, canals and four park buildings.

Inside, the Stone Hall fills more than three floors of the central pavilion, with ceiling paintings by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and decorations by François de Cuvilliés. In the inner southern pavilion, the Gallery of Beauties presents portraits of 36 women from Munich society, commissioned by King Ludwig I and painted by Joseph Karl Stieler. Nearby, the Queen’s bedroom marks the place where Ludwig II was born on 25 August 1845.