Reconstructing Munich

A panoramic view of the Antiquarium

I was lucky enough to go on a jaunt to Munich earlier this month for a few days of culture and Christmas markets. Munich has a spectacular range of museums and attractions, despite how many were damaged by bombing during the Second World War. I've written before about how impressed I was at the rebuilding of the Neues Museum in Berlin, which makes an aesthetic feature and interpretive tool of the surviving damaged building. It was the very different attitude to some of the reconstruction in Munich that struck me on this visit. 

Many of Munich's major historic buildings were completely rebuilt in the 50s and 60s, returned to their former splendour with no remaining sign of change or damage. Most notable for me was the Residenz Museum: the former palace of the Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria, which was suitably embellished and expanded by each ruler in turn, creating a huge complex within which you can now visit more than 70 rooms. There are some spectacular interiors to rival the most famous palaces of Italy and France. I was particularly blown away by the Antiquarium and Green Gallery (part of the appropriately named 'Rich Rooms'). 

Some of these interiors are extraordinary and original, but there are also large parts that have been reconstructed since the war, recreated from surviving fragments, and often now featuring wall coverings and furniture brought from elsewhere. The suite of Electoral Rooms are notable for this. It becomes confusing as a visitor to keep track of the historic expansion and decoration of the palace alongside how and when the different areas were refurbished. I was surprised at how little the interpretation seemed to dwell on what was and wasn't original, or any any of the building's 20th-century history.

This was particularly in contrast to the reconstruction of the Court Church of All Saints. Although part of the residence this was also a church for the citizens of Munich and is noteworthy for being the first church built in Bavaria after secularisation in 1803. It was constructed for Ludwig I inspired by a visit to Palermo, and contemporary watercolours show an opulent interior of coloured frescoes. The church suffered huge damage in the war and only reopened to the public in 2003. It now has a completely plain brick interior, with only small patches of surviving fresco visible here and there. The galleries have been reconstructed with glass balustrades and the space is used as a concert venue. 

I found its grand simplicity particularly moving in contrast to the opulent spaces of the rest of the palace. In some senses perhaps the church stands as the next change to the palace complex, the point in its history following on from the succession of wings and opulent interiors. This space shows both the legacy of the war and of Munich's recovery from it, but I'd have liked that history to have been more visible in the resurrected spaces elsewhere in the palace. For such an opulent building the Residenz is oddly white-washed.