5 Best Sights in Lehel, Munich

This colonnaded, classical-style building is one of Munich's most significant examples of Hitler-era architecture, and was officially opened as House of German Art by the Führer himself. During the Third Reich it only showed work deemed to reflect the Nazi aesthetic. One of its most successful postwar exhibitions was devoted to works banned by the Nazis. It now hosts cutting-edge exhibitions of art, photography, sculpture, and video installations, as well as theatrical and musical happenings. The adjacent P1 is one of the hottest clubs in town.

This striking example of the two Asam brothers' work in the Lehel district impresses visitors with its sense of movement and heroic scale. The ceiling fresco from 1729 by Cosmas Damian Asam glows in all its original glory. The ornate altar was also designed by the Asam brothers. Towering over the delicate little church, on the opposite side of the street, is the neo-Romanesque bulk of the 19th-century Parish Church of St. Anne. Stop at one of the stylish cafés, restaurants, and patisseries gathered at the junction of St.-Anna-Strasse and Gewürzmühlstrasse, about 250 feet from the churches.

Although the museum places emphasis on Bavarian cultural history, it has art and artifacts of international importance and regular exhibitions that attract worldwide attention. The museum is a journey through time, principally from the early Middle Ages to the 20th century, with medieval and Renaissance wood carvings, works by the great Renaissance sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, tapestries, arms and armor, a unique collection of Christmas crèches (the Krippenschau), Bavarian and German folk art, and a significant Jugendstil (art nouveau) collection.

Founded in 1862, this museum houses an enormous quantity of ethnographic articles from around the world, including arts, crafts, photographs, and library material. The extensive museum takes a peek into non-European cultures from Africa, America, Asia, Australia, the Near and Middle East, and the South Seas to see how they differ (or not) from Europe with both permanent displays and special exhibits.

Around 180 German 19th-century paintings from the Romantic era up to the periods of realism and symbolism make up the collections of the Sammlung Schack, originally the private collection of Count Adolf Friedrich von Schack.