Königsplatz is a wide lawn framed by three Greek-style buildings in Munich's Maxvorstadt district, laid out for King Ludwig I as a piece of ancient Athens on the Isar. Each building uses a different classical order: Doric for the Propyläen gate, Ionic for the Glyptothek, Corinthian for the Collection of Antiquities. The square also has a darker past, as the Nazi Party's main parade ground in the 1930s, and traces of both stories are still there to see.
Königsplatz at a glance
- Where: on Brienner Straße in the Maxvorstadt, about halfway between the old town and the Pinakothek museums; U-Bahn station Königsplatz.
- Built: the buildings went up between 1816 and 1862, starting with the Glyptothek and ending with the Propyläen.
- By: planned by Karl von Fischer for Crown Prince Ludwig and completed by Leo von Klenze, who designed the Glyptothek and the Propyläen; the Collection of Antiquities is by Georg Friedrich Ziebland.
- What it is today: a museum square, a city lawn and a venue for open-air concerts and events.
- Time needed: 20–30 minutes for the square, half a day with a museum.
From Isar-Athens to Nazi parade ground
Ludwig, a passionate admirer of ancient Greece, wanted a square surrounded by temples. Karl von Fischer drew it on the model of the Acropolis, and Klenze took the plan further. The Glyptothek, built to show Ludwig's collection of Greek and Roman sculpture, opened in 1830. The Collection of Antiquities followed opposite, and the Propyläen gate was finished in 1862, honouring the Greek War of Independence and Ludwig's son Otto, who became King of Greece in 1832. To make the buildings look taller, the centre of the square was set almost a metre lower than its edges.
The Nazis, whose party headquarters stood on nearby Brienner Straße, took the square over. In 1933 a book burning was held here, and in 1935 the lawns were covered with some 20,000 granite slabs for mass rallies. Two 'Temples of Honour' at the east end held the remains of Nazis killed in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch; the US Army blew them up in 1947. The granite paving outlived the war by four decades: only from the late 1980s was the square restored to its 19th-century look with lawns.
What to look for
- The Propyläen: a gate modelled on the entrance to the Acropolis, with two tower-like wings and pediment reliefs showing scenes from the Greek war of liberation.
- The Glyptothek on the north side: a windowless Ionic temple front with statues in niches, and inside one of the great collections of ancient sculpture.
- The Collection of Antiquities opposite, with Corinthian columns, home to Greek vases, bronzes and gold jewellery.
- The overgrown stone bases at the east end, near Arcisstraße: all that is left of the two Nazi Temples of Honour.
- The Führerbau on Arcisstraße, where the Munich Agreement was signed in 1938; today it houses the University of Music and Performing Arts.
Concerts and championships
Königsplatz is one of Munich's biggest open-air stages. In summer the lawn is filled for concerts by international stars and for events such as Summer in the City. During the European Championships of 2022 the square hosted the climbing and beach volleyball competitions. On ordinary days it is a place where students from the nearby universities sit on the grass between lectures.
Tips for your visit
- Walk through the Propyläen from the west to see the square open up in front of you, as Klenze intended.
- Come in the late afternoon, when the sun lights up the columns of the Glyptothek and the Collection of Antiquities.
- Visit the NS-Dokumentationszentrum before or after the square: it explains the Nazi buildings you are looking at.
- Check the events calendar in summer: during big concerts parts of the square are fenced off.
Nearby
- Lenbachhaus: the villa museum just north-west of the square, known for its Blue Rider paintings by Kandinsky, Marc and Münter.
- NS-Dokumentationszentrum: Munich's documentation centre on the history of National Socialism, opened in 2015 on the site of the party headquarters.
- Pinakotheken: the Alte Pinakothek, the Neue Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne are a few minutes' walk to the north-east.
- Karolinenplatz: the round square to the east with a bronze obelisk for the Bavarian soldiers who died in Napoleon's Russian campaign.
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.
Play the Munich scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Munich →
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Facts checked in October 2026.