The City of Munich is rich in history that includes good German food and beer. Located to the north of the Bavarian Alps, on the River Isar, Munich is Germany’s third largest city, and is where the country’s wealthy trendsetters like to ‘see and be seen’.
A City Gate of Munich
The city’s motto is “München mag Dich” (Munich Likes You). Before 2006, it was “Weltstadt mit Herz” (Cosmopolitan city with a heart). Its native name, München, is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning “by the monks’ place”. The city’s name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city’s coat of arms. Black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the city’s official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian.
The City Center of Munich
At the center of the city is the Marienplatz—a large open square named after the Mariensäule, a Marian column in its centre—with the Old and the New Town Hall. Its tower contains the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification have survived to this day—the Isartor in the east, the Sendlinger Tor in the south and the Karlstor in the west of the inner city. The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a grand square dominated by the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) and a fountain