72 Best Sights in Munich, Germany

Bavaria's original National Theater at Max-Joseph-Platz didn't last long. Opened in 1818, it burned to the ground in 1823 before it was completely finished. By 1825 it was rebuilt with its eight-column portico, and went on to premiere Richard Wagner's world-famous Tristan und Isolde (1865), Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868), Rheingold (1869), and Walküre (1870). Allied bombs destroyed much of the interior in 1943, and its facade and elements of its interior were rebuilt as it was prewar. It finally reopened in 1963. Today, it is one of Europe's largest opera houses and contains some of the world's most advanced stage technologies. As the principal home to the Bavarian State Opera, it is considered one of the world's outstanding opera houses. Family opera is also available for children under 18 with an accompanying adult. The Munich Opera Festival takes place in late June and July, including performances, free open-air Opera for All events, and live streaming opera online with Staatsoper TV.

Located at the very site where the "Brown House," the former Nazi Party headquarters, once stood, this important history museum tells the story of the rise of national socialism in Germany. Its exhibitions, which include a permanent exhibit called "Munich and National Socialism," and educational programs focus on the past while providing a present and future perspective. 

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.

St. Jakob, Dachau's parish church, was built in 1624–25 in late-Renaissance style on the foundations of a 13th-century Gothic structure. Baroque features and a characteristic onion dome were added in 1676–78. On the south wall you can admire a very fine sundial from 1699, which displays the month, the zodiac, and the time.

The Staatliche Antikensammlung, which is housed in a "temple of art" built by Georg Friedrich Ziebland between 1838 and 1848, showcases works of art and everyday objects dating back to the 3rd century BC. Known as pieces of minor art, the collection of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman antiquities comprises objects made of ceramics, metal, and stone. The museum's other branch, the Glyptothek, is located across the Staatliche Antikensammlung and solely displays ancient sculpture; it has a lovely café in its courtyard.

More than 300,000 coins, banknotes, medals, and precious stones, some 5,000 years old, are among the treasures of the Bavarian State Coin Collection.

Various Bavarian rulers were fascinated with the ancient world and in the 19th century accumulated huge quantities of significant Egyptian treasures, part of which make up the Staatliche Sammlung Ägyptischer Kunst. The collection is housed in an impressive modern building in Munich's superb Kunstareal.

This glorious baroque church owes its Italian appearance to its founder, Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, who commissioned it in gratitude for the long-awaited birth of her son and heir, Max Emanuel, in 1662. A native of Turin, the princess mistrusted Bavarian architects and builders and thus summoned Agostino Barelli, a master builder from Bologna, to construct her church. It is modeled on Rome's Sant'Andrea della Valle. Barelli worked on the building for 12 years, but he was dismissed as too quarrelsome. It was another 100 years before the building was finished in a style similar to today's. Its striking yellow facade stands out, and its two lofty towers, topped by delightful cupolas, frame the entrance, with the central dome at the back. The superb stucco work on the inside has a remarkably light feeling owing to its brilliant white color. The expansive Odeonsplatz in front of the Feldherrnhalle and Theatinerkirche is often used for outdoor stage events.

On the Isar, just upstream from the city, this attractive zoo has many parklike enclosures but a minimum of cages. Founded in 1911, the zoo is slightly different from many others in that it's a self-styled nature reserve, and it follows a concept called Geo-zoo, which means care has been taken to group animals according to their natural and geographical habitats. Critics of the concept of zoos won't agree, but supporters appreciate the extra attention to detail. The huge zoo area, covering nearly 100 acres, also includes restaurants and children's areas, and some of the older buildings are in typical art nouveau style.

Connoisseurs of airplanes and flying machines will appreciate this magnificent offshoot of the Deutsches Museum, some 20 km (12 miles) north of the City Center in Oberschleissheim. These buildings, constructed in the early 20th century by the Königlich-Bayerische Fliegertruppen (Royal Bavarian Flying corps), tell the story of aviation history. It's an ideal complement to a visit to Schloss Schleissheim.