Stop in the middle of the courtyard. This is where Munich stopped being a market town beside the Isar and became a capital. You are standing in the Alter Hof, the “Old Court”, the first town castle of the Wittelsbachs.

1From Henry the Lion’s bridge to the castle

The city has a birth certificate: in 1158, an arbitration by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in Augsburg upheld Duke Henry the Lion’s decision to move the river crossing here, and with it the lucrative salt trade. The name recalls the monks who lived in the area: Munichen, “by the monks”. Excavations show that there was already a fortress here by the late 12th century, although the Alter Hof does not appear in writing until 1319.

2An emperor’s permanent home

From 1255 it was the residence of the Dukes of Upper Bavaria. Its most illustrious resident was Ludwig IV, known as Ludwig the Bavarian: elected king in 1314 and crowned emperor in Rome in 1328, he made this court his settled residence, something unusual in an age of travelling kings. Until 1350 the imperial regalia were kept in the castle chapel, which no longer exists. When the court moved to the Residenz in the 16th century, the building was left to offices and to the ducal brewery, the seed of the Hofbräuhaus.

Tradition has it that a monkey from the menagerie snatched little Ludwig and carried him up to the top of the oriel.

That is why people in Munich call the oriel the “Affenturm”, the monkey tower. Reality spoils the fun: it was probably built in the mid-15th century, more than a hundred years after Ludwig’s childhood.

3What to look for

  • The Gothic oriel on the south corner, the famous monkey tower.
  • The lozenge pattern on the façades, which evokes the colours of Bavaria.
  • The gate tower with its coats of arms, through which you came in.

Documented

There was a fortress on the site from the late 12th century; the Alter Hof is first mentioned in writing in 1319 and was the residence of Emperor Ludwig IV, who kept the imperial regalia here until 1350.

Oral tradition

The story of little Ludwig being carried up the oriel by a monkey is a legend; the oriel probably dates from the mid-15th century.

Sources and credits

Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung, “Münchner Kaiserburg” exhibition in the Alter Hof; German Wikipedia, “Alter Hof (München)”; Richard Bauer, “Geschichte Münchens” (C. H. Beck).

Photos:

  • Courtyard of the Alter Hof with white façades decorated with lozenges and the Gothic oriel on the corner: Flocci Nivis, CC BY 4.0.

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