Karolinenplatz is a round square on Brienner Strasse in Munich's Maxvorstadt, halfway between Odeonsplatz and Königsplatz. At its centre stands a 29-metre black obelisk, put up in 1833 for the 30,000 Bavarian soldiers who died fighting for Napoleon in Russia in 1812, at a time when Bavaria was his ally.
Karolinenplatz at a glance
- Where: in the Maxvorstadt, where Brienner Strasse crosses Barer Strasse, a few minutes' walk east of Königsplatz.
- Created: laid out from around 1809 as the first radial square in Munich; the obelisk was completed on 18 October 1833.
- By: the square was planned by Karl von Fischer; the obelisk was designed by Leo von Klenze.
- What it is today: a busy roundabout with a lawn and the obelisk in the middle, ringed by trams, offices, the Munich stock exchange and the Amerika Haus.
- Time needed: 10 to 15 minutes, or longer as part of a walk from Odeonsplatz to Königsplatz.
A square for a new royal capital
In the early 19th century King Maximilian I Joseph had a new district built outside the old city walls: the Maxvorstadt, named after him. Its main axis was the Fürstenweg, the road to Nymphenburg Palace, later renamed Brienner Strasse. Karl von Fischer broke up the district's grid with a series of squares along it, and Karolinenplatz, briefly called Königsplatz at first, was the first in Munich designed as a radial square, with streets running out from it like spokes. It was named after Queen Karoline, the king's wife, the first Protestant queen of Bavaria.
Elegant free-standing palaces went up around the circle. In 1833 Maximilian's son Ludwig I added the obelisk, designed by Leo von Klenze, the architect of Königsplatz. Bavaria had been forced to send some 30,000 men on Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812, and only a small fraction came home. Most of the original houses on the square were destroyed in the Second World War, and what stands around it today is largely post-war.
What to look for
- The obelisk: a brick core clad in dark bronze plates, cast by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier, on a three-step marble base; tradition says the bronze came from captured guns of the Ottoman ships sunk at Navarino in 1827.
- The inscriptions on the base, decorated with oak leaves: one dedicates the monument to the thirty thousand Bavarians who died in the Russian war, another gives its completion date, 18 October 1833.
- The rams' heads at the four corners of the base.
- The planned vistas: from the obelisk, look east along Brienner Strasse towards Odeonsplatz and west to the Propylaea on Königsplatz.
- The trams of lines 27 and 28, which swing around the square in a half circle, a rare sight in the middle of a roundabout.
The Nazi party quarter
Karolinenplatz has a darker chapter too. From 1930 the Nazi party headquarters, the so-called Brown House, stood nearby on Brienner Strasse, and the party took over many buildings in the streets around the square for its offices. The Brown House was destroyed in the war; on its site, a short walk west, the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism now explains how the movement grew in this city.
Tips for your visit
- The obelisk stands on a traffic island: cross only at the lights, and expect trams from unexpected angles.
- Come in the late afternoon, when the low sun catches the bronze and the Propylaea to the west.
- Walk Brienner Strasse from Odeonsplatz to Königsplatz: Karolinenplatz is the natural midpoint of this classical avenue.
Nearby
- Königsplatz: Ludwig I's Greek-style square with the Propylaea, the Glyptothek and the State Collection of Antiquities, a few minutes' walk west.
- NS Documentation Centre: the museum on the history of National Socialism in Munich, on the site of the former Brown House.
- The Pinakotheken: the Alte Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne art museums, a short walk north along Barer Strasse.
- Odeonsplatz and the Residenz: the royal palace and the Feldherrnhalle at the eastern end of Brienner Strasse.
See Munich with World City Trail
Our Munich scavenger hunt turns the old town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 55 minutes of walking. It includes Marienplatz, the Frauenkirche and the Residenz in the old town. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Polish.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Munich.
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Facts checked in October 2026.