Munich: Dispute about Max-Joseph-Platz in front of the opera – will it turn green? – Munich

King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria once had his own ideas about the design of the square in front of the National Theater. Because he absolutely did not want to be immortalized in a sitting position as a monument, people simply waited. And so the cast by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier was not installed until 1835, ten years after the king’s death. Almost 200 years later, the aesthetic views have changed as to how this large Max-Joseph-Platz should best look in a prominent location so that the people of Munich, the guests from near and far and the opera fans feel comfortable.

The opera square, which the court architect Leo von Klenze designed around 1820 based on the model of the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, has a checkered history. Carriages once bumped through the impressive scenery, after the Second World War the construction of a large car garage began, which opened in 1964 with 500 parking spaces and whose curved access ramp would no longer win a beauty prize from the point of view of today’s city planners.

Since then, under the eyes of the Max Joseph statue, a wide variety of things have happened and the square has been used in different ways: the opera for everyone, demonstrations of impressive size from left to right, state visits, parades, and, yes, during the International Motor Show, the Opernplatz is used sometimes furnished like a PS temple. At regular intervals, however, there are also a wide variety of suggestions on how to make the gray slope more homely.

An interim design is now slowly taking shape: Because the Marienhof will remain a dusty construction site for a long time to come due to the work on the second trunk line, a kind of green oasis of balance is to be created on the Opernplatz over the next three to four years: more space for pedestrians through a narrower driveway to the garage, greenery with large shrubs in pots in front of the Residenz and the National Theater, perennials and flowering meadows on the roundabout.

The city council is due to decide on the temporary makeover in the near future. Munich’s Mayor Katrin Habenschaden (Greens) is pushing the plans: “Max-Joseph-Platz is one of the most central places in Munich, but it doesn’t invite you to linger. There are no places to sit, there’s no shade in summer, and the concrete floor is peppered with pebbles a stumbling block. In view of the increasingly hot summers, we need more cooling greenery in Munich.”

The presence

(Photo: Robert Haas)

The Max-Joseph-Platz in its entirety. Usually it is empty. But if something is going on, then it’s right: Since 1990, “Opera for All” has been broadcast here during the Munich Opera Festival, a real musical hustle and bustle around the roundabout, which is covered with large Isar pebbles and is now in need of renovation. In the north of the square is the royal building of the Munich Residence, which was badly damaged in the war and rebuilt. To the east is the Residenztheater, affectionately known as “Resi”, and next to it is the Nationaltheater. In the illuminated arcades of the Palais’ Toerring-Jettenbach in the south of the Opernplatz, the former main post office, you can dine and admire the scenery.

But this is an image with a massive blemish – and has been for decades. Max-Joseph-Platz has degenerated into a traffic hub with its entrances and exits to the underground car park, which lead across the middle of the square. At least the tour buses that used to pull up in front of the opera have now been banned. But one question still remains unsolved: How do you design the underground car park development in such a way that a beautiful, traffic-calmed town square can really be created? Relocating access and exit ramps to Maximilianstrasse, which many in the city council see as the best solution – preservationists are still vehemently opposed to this.

A model for the near future

Debate about Max-Joseph-Platz: undefined
(Photo: Baureferat/Instagram.com/ka)

In three to four years, a green compensation area for the Marienhof construction site is to be created here as an interim solution. The key points are: a narrower driveway to the garage, mobile planters to give pedestrians more space. Because of the underground car park, no planting with trees is possible. The roundabout made of dilapidated Isar pebbles is also to be greened and beautified. The city council is due to make a decision on the plans in the near future.

Glorious past

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(Photo: SZ Photo)

This is where Munich can make a statement: The city presents its magnificent appearance on Max-Joseph-Platz with the monumental buildings that were destroyed and rebuilt during the Second World War. In 1962, French President Charles de Gaulle visited the Bavarian capital. Many people stood on the side of the road and cheered as de Gaulle drove to the residence together with Prime Minister Hans Ehard. But in one of the most beautiful and representative places in the city, which cars cross again and again in everyday life, nothing really invites you to linger. In the course of the detailed planning for a nicer Max-Joseph-Platz, new problems keep popping up. Traffic experts, city planners and last but not least the preservationists should finally agree on a proposal.

spectacle arena

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(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)

It’s usually comparatively civilized here, like ten years ago at the “Dinner in White”. An art installation was once spectacular. On the occasion of the 1998 Opera Festival, the artist Ottmar Hörl installed 4,000 garden gnomes around the statue of the first Bavarian king. As part of the 2012 Opera Festival, the American artist Spencer Tunick photographed 1,700 naked people on Max-Joseph-Platz. The participants, painted with red and gold body paints, formed a ring around the monument of King Max I Joseph. In 2014, the installation “Trojan Horse” by Sebastian Hirn caused irritation. An overturned semi-trailer truck lay on the site. The roof of the truck involved in the accident was torn open, art transport crates were scattered across the square.

Square or piazza?

Debate about Max-Joseph-Platz: undefined
(Photo: Google Earth)

More greenery in a central location in the city – that sounds good at first. But are plants, bushes and trees on Max-Joseph-Platz a really desirable solution and the right way to deal with Munich’s architectural past? The square is effective because of the impressive complexes that border it. The royal building of the residence, the national theatre, the former residence post office and the row of town houses, all grouped around the monument to King Maximilian, create a unique residence square that does not require greening, monument experts argue. Too much of a good thing is just a shame. At the very least, careful consideration must be given to the design elements that will turn the square into a piazza where everyone likes to be.

Unused opportunities

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(Photo: Rumpf, Stephan)

“A place for everyone” – with this motto, students at the Technical University developed design ideas nine years ago and thus attracted a lot of public attention. One of the main ideas was to use the area “as flexibly as possible”. So that means a rather economical design, which on the one hand creates “quality of stay”, but also continues to allow events such as “opera for all”. The proposals showed very different approaches to the new concept. It became clear what great, untapped potential Max-Joseph-Platz has. The result was sobering. For decades there have been ideas of what Munich’s most beautiful city square could look like. They were ultimately rejected again and again.


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