Old Retired Guy Blog

July 4 - 8, 2010

The Residenz

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Munich (Page 3 of 6)

If you want to see how the wealthy and powerful lived in the old days, the place to visit in Munich is the Residenz.  This place started out as a castle in 1385.  It was eventually transformed into a magnificent palace and served as the seat of government and residence of Bavarian royalty from 1508 to 1918.

   
Left: The Antiquarium is the oldest room in the Residenz.
Center: The Ornate Chapel was the private place of worship of Duke Maximilian I and his wife.
Right: The Emporer's Hall was the largest and most important room for festivities.

There are paintings, sculpture, metalwork plated in gold and silver, fancy ceramic dinnerware, huge rooms and small rooms covered with tapestries and artwork and filled with the finest furniture of the day.  And, as in the churches, the nobleman were very proud of their religious relics.

   
Left: Where the Bavarian royalty entertained their guests.
Center: Magnificent containers like this were created to hold precious religious relics.
Right:  One of those low-energy chandeliers from the 16th century.

This place is just too hard to describe so I'll have to let my pictures do most of the talking.  If you're interested, you can read a lot more about the Residenz on that internet thing.  Let's see if you can tell the difference between the olden times and today.  Which of the two rooms below is in the Residenz and which is our hotel room in Munich?  (Hint: When was television invented?)

Even though it's interesting to see such opulence, it always reminds me of the incredible disparity that there is today between the rich and the poor. 

'Munich'
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