Residence Museum

The Residenzmuseum occupies the showrooms of the Munich Residenz, the former royal palace of Bavaria. Set in the heart of Munich, it forms the largest urban palace complex in Germany. The building grew over centuries from medieval origins to a vast Baroque and Classical residence. The museum holds one of Europe’s largest collections of room art, with more than 130 display rooms. After wartime destruction, craftsmen led by Tino Walz and Rudolf Esterer rebuilt the damaged interiors. Today the restored halls display over 100 000 works, including Wittelsbach silver, Asian porcelain and miniature paintings. Visitors enter through the Königsbau and the Green Gallery courtyard. The Ahnengalerie shows over a hundred Wittelsbach portraits set in gilded panelling. The Antiquarium, a Renaissance hall built between 1568 and 1571, impresses with its scale and decoration. The Grottenhof reveals a shell-encrusted grotto hall designed by Friedrich Sustris, while the Yellow Staircase rises twelve metres to a classical dome.