The Isartor is the eastern gate of Munich's old town, at the end of the street called Tal, and the only one of the city's medieval gates that still has its tall central tower. Finished in 1337, it once let in the traffic of the salt road; today it is home to a small museum of comedy, and on its western side the clock runs backwards.
Isartor at a glance
- Where: on Isartorplatz at the eastern end of the Tal, about ten minutes' walk from Marienplatz, with an S-Bahn station of the same name.
- Built: completed in 1337 as the last gate of Munich's second city wall, under Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian; restored in 1833–1835.
- By: the 19th-century restoration was the work of the architect Friedrich von Gärtner, with the fresco painted by Bernhard von Neher.
- What it is today: a preserved city gate housing the Valentin-Karlstadt-Musäum, devoted to the Munich comedians Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt.
- Time needed: 10 minutes to look at the gate, about an hour if you visit the museum.
Saved by a king
The gate was built as part of the great expansion of Munich under Ludwig the Bavarian, when a second, larger wall was raised around the growing city. The Isartor, completed in 1337, closed the last gap. Its main tower is about 40 metres tall; the two flanking towers in front were added later as a barbican when an outer wall was built. As the main entrance from the salt road, it saw grand arrivals: King Maximilian I rode in here in 1491, Emperor Charles V in 1530 and King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632.
By the early 19th century the city council had decided to pull the gate down and had already demolished the walls of the courtyard between the towers. King Ludwig I stopped it, and in 1833 he commissioned Friedrich von Gärtner to restore the Isartor in its historic form. In 1888 the side passages were widened so that trams could run through. The gate was badly damaged in 1944, patched up after the war and restored more carefully in 1971–1972, after trams stopped passing through it.
What to look for
- The long fresco above the three gateways on the Isartorplatz side, showing Ludwig the Bavarian's victorious entry after the Battle of Mühldorf in 1322, with knights, banner bearers and the defeated Frederick the Fair.
- The clock on the west face of the main tower, with a mirror-image dial whose hands run anticlockwise. It was installed in 2005 as a nod to Karl Valentin's sense of humour.
- The coats of arms on the flanking towers, belonging to Ludwig's allies in the battle of 1322.
- The walled courtyard between the main tower and the flanking towers, which survives along with the towers themselves.
- The museum entrance in the south tower, where a narrow spiral staircase leads up to the exhibition rooms.
Karl Valentin's museum in a tower
The Valentin-Karlstadt-Musäum opened in the south tower on 17 September 1959, and its odd spelling is one of its jokes. It is dedicated to Karl Valentin, Munich's great absurdist comedian, and his stage partner Liesl Karlstadt. After a renovation for fire safety, it reopened in July 2026 with a new exhibition on Liesl Karlstadt's career and redesigned displays on Valentin.
Tips for your visit
- Walk around both sides: the backwards clock faces the Tal, while the fresco and the flanking towers face Isartorplatz.
- Come in the morning, when the sun lights up the fresco on the east side.
- The museum is reached only by a spiral staircase and has no lift, so it is not suitable for wheelchairs.
- Combine the gate with a walk along the Tal to Marienplatz, or down to the Isar river, a few minutes to the east.
Nearby
- Marienplatz: Munich's main square with the New Town Hall and its Glockenspiel, at the other end of the Tal.
- Viktualienmarkt: the open-air food market, a few minutes' walk from the gate.
- The Isar: the river that gave the gate its name, with the Deutsches Museum on its island a short walk south-east.
- Hofbräuhaus: the famous beer hall in the old town, a short walk to the north-west.
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 →
Play the outdoor escape game in Munich →
Facts checked in October 2026.