Obelisk am Karolinenplatz

The obelisk on Karolinenplatz is a war memorial in central Munich. It stands in the middle of a circular plaza where three streets meet, making it visible from far away. King Ludwig I commissioned the monument in 1833 to honour thirty thousand Bavarian soldiers who died in Napoleon’s Russian campaign of 1812. The architect Leo von Klenze designed the structure, while bronze founder Johann Baptist Stiglmaier cast the bronze parts at the newly opened Royal Foundry. The memorial’s bronze cladding came from thirty-four and a half tonnes of scrap metal, mostly from captured guns. Three marble steps lift a square bronze pedestal that supports the obelisk. At each corner of the pedestal are ram’s heads, symbols of Roman warfare, linked by garlands of oak and fir. Four bronze plaques carry inscriptions in German, including the dedication to the fallen soldiers and the date of completion. Visitors find a twenty-nine-metre column of brick faced with bronze. The surrounding plaza is planted with grass and trees, offering a quiet place to pause. The obelisk has been listed as a protected monument since the 19th century.