June 14, 2023 - Germany
Munich:  The Residenz

Just north of the Hofbrauhaus is The Residenz.   From Rick Steves:  "For 500 years, this was the palatial "residence" and seat of power of the ruling Wittelsbach family.  It began in 1385 as a crude castle with a moat around it.  The main building was built from 1550 to 1650 and decorated in Rococo style during the 18th century.  The final touch (under Ludwig I) was the ground south facade -- pictured below -- modeled after Florence's Pitti Palace.  In March 1944, Allied air raids left the Residenz in shambles, so much of what we see today -- like much of historic Munich -- is a reconstruction.

For centuries the Munich Residence was the political and cultural center of first the dukes, then the electors(from 1623) and finally the kings of Bavaria (1806-1918).  As the residence and seat of government of the Wittelbachs, the history of this palace is inseparable from that of Bavaria's ruling dynasty.
   
Lynnette in the Max-Josef Platz.  The big columned building to the right is the National Theater.Opera House.  To the left is the south facade of The Residenz.   The statue is Maximilian I Joseph, the first Bavarian King.
   

Under his reign, Maximilian Joseph left a legacy of Secularization that led to the nationalisation of cultural assets of the Church and the emancipation of Protestants.The statue depicts the king in Roman outfit and seated on a neo-classical chair. In his left arm he holds a sceptre symbolising his rule. His right hand is raised in a gesture of peace.

On 16 February 1799, Maximilian Joseph became Elector of Bavaria.  In foreign affairs, Maximilian Joseph's attitude was, from the German point of view, less than commendable. He never had any sympathy with the growing sentiment of German nationality, and his attitude was dictated by wholly dynastic, or at least Bavarian, considerations. Until 1813, he was the most faithful of Napoleon's German allies, the relationship cemented by the marriage of his eldest daughter to Eugène de Beauharnais. His reward came with the Treaty of Pressburg (26 December 1805), by the terms of which he was to receive the royal title and important territorial acquisitions in Swabia and Franconia to round off his kingdom. He assumed the title of king on 1 January 1806.  On 15 March, he ceded the Duchy of Berg to Napoleon's brother-in-law Joachim Murat.  After the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 he received Tyrol and Innviertel regions from the defeated Austria.  The new King of Bavaria was the most important of the princes belonging to the Confederation of the Rhine, and remained Napoleon's ally until the eve of the Battle of Leipzig -- which followed Napoleon's disastrious 1812 campaign when he invaded Russia and lost most of his 600,000 man army -- when by the Treaty of Ried (8 October 1813) he made the guarantee of the integrity of his kingdom the price of his joining the Allies.  On 14 October, 1813, Bavaria made a formal declaration of war against Napoleonic France.

Maximilian died at Nymphenburg Palace, in Munich, on 13 October 1825 and was succeeded by his son Ludwig I.  Maximilian is buried in the crypt of the Theatine Church in Munich.
   
A model of the huge Residenz palace complex which spans the styles of four different centuries.
   

We started off with the Residenz Museum which is really the 90 rooms of the Residenz itself, the palace's banquet and reception halls, chapels, lots of paintings and porcelain, and the Wittelsbachs' lavish private apartments.  

This is the Shell Grotto, made of volcanic tuff and covered completely in Bavarian freshwater shells.
   
 
 We then came to the Ancestral Gallery, a magnificent example of South German Rococo style.   The portraits show over 100 members of the House of Wittelsbach and their spouses.
   

These three half-length portraits in the middle of the room present (right to left)  Duke Theodo, Bavaria's legendary first duke,  Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian (also known as Louis IV the Bavarian), the first Wittelsbach emperor, and Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor.

Theodo (about 625 – 11 December c. 716), also known as Theodo V and Theodo II, was the Duke of Bavaria from 670 or, more probably, 680 to his death. It is with Theodo that the well-sourced history of Bavaria begins.
   
The rise of the House of Wittelsbach began in 1180 when Otto von Wittelsbach was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Bavaria.  From that point onwards the Wittelsbachs ruled without interruption until 1918, first as Dukes, after 1623 as Electors, and then, from 1806 as Kings of Bavaria.  The last Bavarian ruler was King Ludwig III.
 
 
   
The Antiquarium, largest Renaissance hall north of the Alps, and oldest room in the Residenz, built around 1550.  It's used mainly as a festival banquet hall.
   
The hall is lined with busts of Roman emperors.
   
The Yellow Staircase was designed as a monumental entrance area to the apartment of the Bavarian King in the main floor of the new Royal Palace.  It's name is derived from the precious stucco marble that covers the walls.  It imitates the yellowish natural stone from North Africa that ancient rulers particularly prized.  The two symbolic figures that are framing the magnficent portal to the king's antechambers embody the personal motto of the builder King Ludwig I:  Justice and Persistence.   The Yellow Staircase, damaged in WWII, was restored to its original form from 2017-2021.
   
A painting of Nymphenburg Palace, which we would see tomorrow.
   
Another painting of Nymphenburg Palace.  Very Versailles-like.
   
Tapestries in excellent condition.  .
   
It's good to be the King.
   
Walking through the upper-floor apartments.
   
Court Church of All Saints.  Built between 182 and 1837.
   
The church suffered great destruction in World War II and was only reopened in 2003 although as you can see, it still has a long way to go to achieve its former splendor.
   
This carpet, one of a group of tapestries known as the "Poland Carpets", was made in 1601-2 in Persia.  The Wittelsbach family acquired it through marriage in 1642.  The fabric is worked in coloured silk, silver and silver-gilt threads.
   
Lion versus dogs.
   
We arrived at what are called the "Ornate Rooms".   Per Rick Steves:  "These are some of the richest rooms in the palace.  The Wittelsbachs were always trying to keep up with the Habsburgs, and this long string of ceremonial rooms -- used for official business -- was designed to impress.  The decor and furniture are over-the-top Rococo.   The rooms were designed in the 1730s by Francois de Cuvillies (who also designed the theatre and who it is named after).
   
The Green Gallery -- named for its green silk damask wallpaper and  pictured here -- was used as the ballroom.  "Imagine the parties they had here -- aristocrats in powdered wigs, a string quartet playing Baroque tunes, a card game going on, while everyone admired the paintings on the walls or themselves reflected in the mirrors."
   
Another look at the Green Gallery.
   
The State Bedroom, "though furnished with a canopy bed, wasn't an actual bedroom -- it was just for show."
   
The Residence was also the place where rulers kept their art collections and treasure.
 
Founded in 1565, the Wittelsbach's treasury is now on display in ten halls in the Konigsbau (Royal Palace).  This magnificent display is one of the most important in the world and spans 1,000 years from the early Middle Ages to Neo-classicism. Royal insignia, crowns, swords, goblets, goldsmith works, rock crystal, ivory work, icons and numerous other treasures like precious tableware and toiletries are magnificently presented.
   
Nice.
   
Crown of the Kingdom of Bavaria.
   
Golden swords.
   
Talk about jewel encrusted!
   
That's some nice bling.
   
An artists conception of the Tower of Babel.
   
It took Lynnette and I awhile to find the entrance, but we finally made it inside the magnificent Cuvillies Theatre.  Named after its creator Francois Cuvillies the Elder, it was built between 1751 and 1755 for the Bavarian Elector Max III Joseph.    Mozart conducted here several times.  It was destroyed in World War II, but the unique South German Rococo style interior had been removed beforehand and stored in a safe place.  The threatre was reopened in 2008 after comprehensive restoration.
   

From Rick Steves:  "It's an intimate, horseshoe-shaped venue, seating fewer than 400.  The four tiers of box seats were for the four classes of society:  city burghers on bottom, royalty next up (in the most elaborate seats), and lesser courtiers in the two highest tiers.  The ruler occupied the large Royal Box directly opposite the State, over the entrance doorway.  "Mad" King Ludwig II occasionally bought out the entire theater to watch performances here by himself.
   
 
   
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