Hofgarten (München)

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The Hofgarten is a very popular spot, shown here on the first sunny weekend in spring

The Hofgarten, aerial view

The Hofgarten (Court Garden) in Munich is a garden in the center of the city between the Residenz and the Englischer Garten.

A black granite memorial to the White Rose Movement in the Hofgarten with the dome of the Bavarian State Chancellery in the background

The garden was built in 1613-1617 by Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria as an Italian style Renaissance garden. In the center of the garden is a pavilion for the goddess Diana, built in 1615 by Heinrich Schön the elder. A path leads from each of the eight arches. On the roof of the Diana pavilion is the replica of a sculpture of Bavaria from Hubert Gerhard, created in 1623. The original is in the Kaisersaal of the Residenz.

The side towards the Residenz includes flowers in a design by Carl Effner from 1853, and there are arcades to the west and the north, including many wall paintings related to the history of Bavaria. The Hofgartentor, the first building in Munich from Leo von Klenze from 1616 leads towards the Theatinerkirche.

The garden was destroyed during World War II, and was rebuilt with a partial redesign as an English landscape garden. Nowadays the garden is open to the public, and is a very popular spot to hang out and listen to street musicians. The next Munich U-Bahn station is Odeonsplatz, located directly west of the garden.