Gebäude der Regierung von Oberbayern

The Government of Upper Bavaria’s building stands in Munich’s Maximilianstraße, a broad avenue laid out in the mid-19th century. Designed by Friedrich Bürklein in the Maximilian style of neo-Gothic terracotta architecture, the façade stretches 180 metres and rises to 29 metres. King Maximilian II commissioned the palace-like structure between 1856 and 1864 to house the royal district government, replacing its cramped quarters in the Old Landscape Building. The king laid the foundation stone on his 45th birthday, 28 November 1856. During the Second World War the building was heavily damaged by bombing, yet the historic shell survived and was rebuilt behind it. The spiral staircase at its heart is now itself a protected monument, its new floors and layouts finished in the 1950s style. Three bronze statues by Johann von Halbig crown the roof, representing Fides, Justitia and Sapientia. A fourth figure, Erasmus Graf von Deroy, stands before the entrance. Justitia was entirely recast in 1897 by Ludwig Gamp and Hygien Kiene after damage. Along the towers run 23 coats of arms of Upper Bavarian towns, arranged in groups of three, plus Bruck in the Upper Palatinate. The Dachau crest once showed only a spur, now one of three elements; Berchtesgaden once displayed Saint Andrew, and Garmisch once bore Saint Martin. Inside, Blasius Spreng’s murals occupy the third and sixth floors. Visitors enter a modern interior behind the restored neo-Gothic shell. The central spiral staircase, with its sweeping flights and brass handrails, draws the eye upward. The terracotta façade, cleaned and repaired, shows the original colour range once more. Outside, the avenue’s uniform façades frame views toward the Residenz. Inside the building, Spreng’s murals add colour and narrative to the corridors. The contrast between the 1950s reconstruction and the 19th-century exterior creates a quiet tension, a reminder of both loss and renewal.