The best city hikes and walks around Landkreis München

The Nymphenburger Schlossrondell is a historic, listed ensemble with four courtiers' houses designed by Joseph Effner from the 18th century. From here, there is a spectacular view of the palace, the basin, and the fountain. The houses are partly used for events. The Rondell development, which originated from the two outer buildings and was completed after 1730 under Elector Karl Albrecht, son of Max Emanuel, in front of the main wing, was considered an architectural sensation in its time. Ten palaces are located here, symmetrically divided into two groups of five, which were built between 1728 and 1758 for higher court officials.

The smaller of the two palace park lakes, the Pagodenburger See, was completed in 1813. It is named after the Pagodenburg, which lies in the northern part of the lake on an island formed by a ring-shaped canal. The area of the lake, including the island of about one hectare, is 2.9 hectares.

The octagonal floor plan of the Pagodenburg on a small island in the lake named after it was designed by Elector Max Emanuel. Master builder Joseph Effner completed the design and supervised the construction of the pleasure palace from 1716 to 1719. In 1767 it was rebuilt in the Rococo style. The name comes from the decoration of the interiors with Asian motifs. Consequently, the rooms are called "Chinese Salon" or "Chinese Cabinet".

The birth of the Bavarian Prince-Elector Max Emanuel from the House of Wittelsbach in 1662 was the occasion for the construction of a palace with a garden in the area between the villages of Neuhausen and Obermenzing as a gift for the young mother, Electorress Henriette Adelaide of Savoy. The foundation stone for the "Schwaigbau zu Nymphenburg" was laid in 1664. The complex was designed as a pleasure palace in the style of Italian country villas; it only became a Baroque palace complex, which could serve as a summer residence and an alternative to the seat of government, the Munich Residenz, a generation later under Max Emanuel. The model for Nymphenburg was the Piedmontese hunting lodge La Venaria, whose architect Amedeo Castellamonte (1613 to 1683) also provided the initial designs for Nymphenburg.

The view of the castle canal from the Ludwig Ferdinand Bridge on the city side clearly shows the dimensions of the monumental three-winged complex of Nymphenburg Palace. From 1715 to 1918, it was the summer residence of the Electors, then of the Kings of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach. Nymphenburg is one of the largest palaces in Germany.

Seat of the Dukes, Electors, and Kings of Bavaria from the House of Wittelsbach from 1508 to 1918 Largest city palace in Germany

Lake Pagodenburg, also known as the Little Lake, lies in the northern part of Nymphenburg Palace Park. It was completed in 1813. Its design is dominated by the Pagodenburg, which sits on an island between the two outflows from the lake. These outflows merge to form the Hartmannshofer Bächl, which then flows north through the so-called Pagodenburg Valley and empties into the Kugelweiher pond. The lake's inflow is underground, originating from the Nymphenburg Canal and originally disguised as a rock grotto. A dam separates the lake to the south from the higher-lying canal. Source: https://www.muenchenwiki.de/wiki/Pagodenburger_See

When the Munich Residenz was extended northward in 1613 under Maximilian I, the Court Garden, which had already existed for more than fifty years, was also redesigned and extended further westward. The central Temple of Diana was completed in 1616. The Court Garden was destroyed in the Second World War; after the war, it was recreated as a compromise between a landscape garden and a Renaissance garden.