In the second half of the 18th century, Count von Zech the Elder fell victim to an ambush in Munich. Strangers have stretched a “string” right in front of his front door. In the darkness of the night, the Count stumbles across it – and is robbed. A Herr von Eckartshausen is also “baked” on his way home at night through the old town by a “man” with bad intentions, who can be driven away by loud shouting and gunshots. Both incidents are sparking debates in the city about how well the streets of Munich need to be lit to keep citizens safe. This is what Christine Rädlinger writes in her recently published book “Munich shines” on the history of street lighting in the city.
At first glance, the topic may seem quite profane and technical. But the historian manages to show that the development of street lighting is about more than lanterns, cables or fluorescent tubes. It’s about protecting people from criminals or accidents, about road safety, about resources and prestige – but also about how, with the increasing illumination of the city, what is now a natural part of urban life developed: evening visits to inns and theatres, concerts or dance events.
Such amusements were not common in Munich until modern times, as Rädlinger vividly explains. Because in the evening it got dark. There was no public street lighting. “Night in the city meant darkness of an intensity that one can no longer imagine today,” writes the author. In the middle of the 15th century, the curfew was nine o’clock in the summer and eight in the winter; private parties in the evening were the exception. So there was hardly any “night life”. Anyone who was out and about after dark had to carry a lantern with them, otherwise they would become suspicious.
The street lighting in Munich, which was still a bit dim at the beginning, could use reinforcement from above. Friedrich Eibner painted “The Anger Gate by Moonlight” around 1870.
(Photo: Munich City Museum)
A fundamental change did not take place until the 18th century. On November 3, 1731, the first “City Illumination” was introduced in Munich. In the meantime, Munich residents were increasingly drawn out in the evenings, to taverns, to performances by traveling theater troupes or to the opera house on Salvatorplatz. According to Rädlinger, another reason may have been important for the introduction of street lighting: the desire of the House of Wittelsbach to demonstrate wealth and power. Munich was late anyway, as cities like Paris and London, but also Hamburg and Berlin, had already introduced lighting in the 17th century.
Great lighting is always a question of prestige: on the occasion of Prince Luitpold’s 80th birthday on March 12, 1901, the New Town Hall on Marienplatz is festively illuminated.
(Photo: Munich City Archives)
Every evening, 24 lamplighters attached 600 lanterns to specially designed hooks on houses in the city. However, a problem soon arose that would keep the city busy for decades to come: the high costs. The number of lanterns was therefore significantly reduced after just a few months, especially in summer and when there was moonlight.
The new lighting really showed how inadequate the old one was
In this early phase of Munich street lighting, tallow was used as fuel, i.e. animal tallow, which is said to have had an unpleasant smell. A century later, a new technology found its way into Munich: In December 1850, the first 1000 gas lanterns were set up in the old town. However, they made other parts of the city appear all the more sinister. But gas only remained the gold standard for a short time, even if the last lantern in Munich was not to be switched off until 1966. Because in the 1890s, lighting was revolutionized again with the introduction of electric arc lamps and street lighting. Fire safety was incomparably higher than with gas, and the amount of light was significantly greater. At the end of the 19th century, Munich was considered the “best illuminated city in Europe”, writes Rädlinger. Night began to turn into day.
Lantern lighter in 1913 in the Au: In some parts of the city, street lighting remains inadequate for a long time.
(Photo: Georg Pettendorfer/Munich City Archives)
The difference between gas and electricity must have been significant. In the city center, electric arc lamps were installed early on both at Sendlinger-Tor-Platz and at Karlsplatz, while Sonnenstraße was initially lit with gas lamps. According to contemporaries, the contrast was as great as a “step into a darkroom”.
In the 20th century, the massive increase in car traffic was to determine the type of lighting. Traffic lights were introduced, and sophisticated concepts for the placement and luminous intensity of fluorescent tubes were created. Drivers should not be blinded, pedestrians should be able to easily see the faces of oncoming passers-by. Not too little, but rather too much light became a problem in large cities like Munich.
However, the history of street lighting does not represent an uninterrupted process towards more light. There were burglaries mainly during the world wars. But even today, as a result of the war in Ukraine, the lighting in Munich is turned down to save energy (which is no longer part of the book).
“Super lamp” from Osram’s research department: In 1958, to celebrate Munich’s 800th anniversary, what was then the “brightest lamp in the world” was erected at the intersection of Schwanthalerstrasse and Sonnenstrasse.
(Photo: Building Department Munich)
In her richly illustrated book, the historian Rädlinger shows how much thought was put into the expansion of street lighting over the centuries, how complex the problems were – and how all this is also related to social development. You may not have to follow the author in all the ramifications of the back and forth when introducing new technologies in order to benefit: “Munich shines” opens up a new and more precise look at something that surrounds us every day.
Christine Rädlinger: Munich shines. The history of Munich street lighting, ed. from the Munich City Archives, 230 pages, Franz Schiermeier Verlag, Munich 2022, 29.50 euros