Hello People,

Walking around Munich is breath taking, since there are a lot of beautiful places you can visit. From elegant architecture, to a simple and relaxing walk through the English Garden along the Isar river. But there is a small square in the middle of the Old Town, where the Alter Hof or Old Court, in English is. This hidden location transports you to another time and dimension and I have found it a very lovely and calmed place to gaze at, since it is in the middle of the city, but magically you get away from all the energy and movement that is going on around.

First built in 1180’s as a small royal castle for the Wittelsbach family, who had just taken over the rule of Bavaria from Henry the Lion. Between 1253 to 1955, as Bavaria split into Upper and Lower states, Duke Ludwig II re-built and expanded Alter Hof, turning it into the family’s formal Royal Court. This is when Munich became the capital of Bavaria, instead of Regensburg.

In 1328 Ludwig IV, the 1st prince born in the new Alter Hof, became the King of Germany, the Romans, Italy and the Holy Roman Empire and as the Alter Hof grew, it became home to many animals including pigs, chickens, horses, lions, and monkeys. Which reminds me of a legend about when baby Ludwig IV was taken out of his crib by a pet monkey, and taken up to the tower you can see in the picture, but was put back unharmed.  Today you will see monkeys painted on the outside of the windows inside Alter Hof’s central square, which is called the Monkey Tower. This tower is one of the few parts of the original building that survived after all the damage in WW2, but some others have been  reconstructed and you can visit them at the museum, which is completely free.

I find this part of the city enchanting because you can actually appreciate all the history this city has and how it is preserved. I think it is very interesting to know the history of the places, so you can undestand how the city changed with time and how it became to what it is now.

LG, Paola