Max-Joseph-Platz, the first king’s square

Stand beside the statue of the seated king and turn slowly on the spot: this square is a manifesto. It was laid out to show off something new, because on 1 January 1806, thanks to the alliance with Napoleon, Duke Maximilian IV Joseph became Maximilian I, the first King of Bavaria.

1A monastery turned into a stage

A Franciscan monastery once stood here; it was pulled down in 1802 during secularisation. In its place, in 1811, Karl von Fischer began the Nationaltheater, inspired by the Odéon in Paris. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1823, and under Ludwig II its stage saw the premieres of Richard Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” (1865) and “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” (1868). Bombed in the Second World War, it reopened in 1963.

2Florence in Bavaria

Now look north. That palace of rusticated stone is the Königsbau of the Residenz, which Leo von Klenze built for Ludwig I between 1825 and 1842, taking the Palazzo Pitti and the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence as his models. Opposite, to the south, Klenze added a Florentine-style arcade to a Rococo palace to turn it into the Central Post Office.

The king did not want to be immortalised sitting down; the monument was unveiled in 1835, ten years after his death.

The figure is by Christian Daniel Rauch and the pedestal by Klenze. It was his son, Ludwig I, who saw it through. Before you leave, walk over to nearby Residenzstraße: on the façade of the Residenz there are bronze lions holding shields, and local custom says that rubbing their noses brings good luck.

3What to look for

• The pediment of the Nationaltheater, with its gold-ground mosaic.
• The rusticated stonework of the Königsbau, copied from Florentine palaces.
• The seated king, arm outstretched, presiding over the square.