Four giant bronze lion statues guard the entrance to the Residenz, supported by pedestals festooned with a half-human, half-animal face. Note the creatures' remarkably shiny noses. If you wait a moment, you'll see the reason for the sheen: scores of people walk by and casually rub one or all four noses. It's supposed to bring wealth and good luck.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
10.1 MILES
Officially called the KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, this was the Nazis’ first concentration camp, built by Heinrich Himmler in March 1933 to house political…
3.62 MILES
This commanding palace and its lavish gardens sprawl around 5km northwest of the Altstadt. Begun in 1664 as a villa for Electress Adelaide of Savoy, the…
0.07 MILES
Home to Bavaria's Wittelsbach rulers from 1508 until WWI, the Residenz is Munich's number-one attraction. The amazing treasures, as well as all the…
0.61 MILES
Munich's main repository of Old European Masters is crammed with all the major players who decorated canvases between the 14th and 18th centuries. This…
0.64 MILES
The sprawling English Garden is among Europe's biggest city parks – it even rivals London's Hyde Park and New York's Central Park for size – and is a…
0.46 MILES
Germany's largest modern-art museum unites four significant collections under a single roof: 20th-century art, applied design from the 19th century to…
0.62 MILES
Picture the classic 19th-century museum, a palatial neoclassical edifice overflowing with exotic treasure and thought-provoking works of art, a repository…
0.81 MILES
If you’re one of those people for whom science is an unfathomable turn-off, a visit to the Deutsches Museum might just show you that physics and…
Nearby Munich attractions
0.04 MILES
Corking up Odeonsplatz' southern side is Friedrich von Gärnter's Feldherrnhalle, modelled on the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The structure pays homage…
0.04 MILES
The mustard-yellow Theatinerkirche, built to commemorate the 1662 birth of Prince Max Emanuel, is the work of Swiss architect Enrico Zuccalli. Also known…
0.07 MILES
Home to Bavaria's Wittelsbach rulers from 1508 until WWI, the Residenz is Munich's number-one attraction. The amazing treasures, as well as all the…
0.08 MILES
Office workers catching some rays during their lunch break, stylish mothers pushing prams, seniors on bikes, a gaggle of chatty nuns – everybody comes to…
0.09 MILES
Generations of Bavarian rulers expanded a medieval fortress into this vast and palatial compound that served as their primary residence and seat of…
0.09 MILES
The Residenzmuseum entrance also leads to the Schatzkammer der Residenz, a veritable banker's bonus worth of jewel-encrusted bling of yesteryear, from…
0.12 MILES
Commissioned by Maximilian III in the mid-18th century, François Cuvilliés fashioned one of Europe's finest rococo theatres. Famous for hosting the…
8. Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung
0.12 MILES
Fünf Höfe, a fashionable shopping mall, also houses the Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung, a modern gallery space renowned for quality cross-genre…