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The New Rathaus (town hall) is in the heart of the pedestrian district in the old town. Built in the late 1800s, with its neo-Gothic façade it pretty much stands out against the many shops in the area. The façade has 40 statues of figures from Bavarian history and legend (kings, saints, mythological) including a complete equestrian statue that sticks out from the side of the façade. On the left corner of the New Rathaus is a unique dragon climbing up the building. I remembered him from my first trip to Munich and hoped to get a good photo this trip, but renovations made that impossible since scaffolding was blocking the dragon.
In the very center of the façade is the clock tower that stands 260 feet high and is the home of the Glockenspiel, in which mechanical characters reenact a jousting tournament from a wedding celebration and men dance to rid the city of the plague.
We thought after seeing how crowded the Marienplatz was in the evening that we would come early in the morning to get photos when there were no crowds. I guess many others had the same idea as us because there were still lots of people in the morning as well!
At the bottom of the clock tower is an arched entrance to the central courtyard of the New Rathaus. This was interesting to see the older interior (and not so Gothic looking). On the walls leading to the courtyard were interesting plaques of different events or historical periods. It is free to walk through this area and look at everything. There are tours you can take of the clock tower and the entrance is in this area – it costs €2 to take the elevator up (daily from May-October, and weekdays only the rest of the year).
The New Rathaus was not destroyed during the bombings in World War II and was used as headquarters for the US forces in 1945.
Later in the day, we looked our watches and noticed that we were nearby and it was Glockenspiel time. So we joined the thousands of people in the Marienplatz to watch the show, which lasted about five minutes. It started off very slow, but then it livened up and we enjoyed the joust the best.
You can also get a good view of the New Rathaus from the top of the tower in St. Peter’s Church. After it was too late, we thought it might be a neat place to watch the Glockenspiel show.
Updated May 1, 2012
Address: Marienplatz 8, Munich
Website: http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/
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The Glockenspiel (which means carillon or bells) is in the center of the clock tower of Munich’s New Rathaus, added to the building in 1908. Famous for its twice daily shows (three times in the summer) of two events in Munich’s history: on the upper level, mechanical knights celebrate a royal wedding with a jousting tournament – root for your favorite knight (but remember that the Bavarian colors are blue and white!); and just below the jousting are coopers, or barrel makers, doing a celebratory dance for the ending of the plague.
There are 32 life-sized mechanical figures that participate in the Glockenspiel’s shows – easily seen from the Marienplatz below. When we watched the show, the square was filled with several thousand people watching (and this was low season for tourists).
You know it is time when the bells begin to play. At first, we stood there listening and nothing was happened – and we were beginning to wonder if this was all there was. And then the joust began and the dancers celebrated. When it was all over, the bells played some more before it was all over. The entire show lasted about five minutes.
If you won’t be in Munich to see the Glockenspiel, you can watch the show on this YouTube video and hear the bells play.
Daily at 11:00 am and noon all year long with a third show at 5:00 pm from May to October.
Written May 1, 2012
Address: Marienplatz 8, Munich
Website: http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/
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Munich’s Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus), located on the east side of Marienplatz, is the original city hall building, dating back to the 14th century. In 1874, when the building became to small, Munich’s municipality moved into the New Town Hall on the other side of the square. Completely destroyed in World War II, the Old Town Hall has been rebuilt after original plans in neo-gothic style and now houses Munich’s toy museum, a collection of unique historic toys from Europe and the U.S.
Written Apr 27, 2012
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The first thing you see when coming to Munich's Marienplatz is the impressive New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus); its over 300 feet long and elaborately decorated façade with hundreds of statues, turrets and arches dominates the whole square. Although it seems like the New Town Hall dates back to the middle Ages, the building was constructed between 1867 and 1909 in Flanders Gothic style. The New Town Hall is home to the city government, the Munich Tourism Office, and the restaurant “Ratskeller” on the ground floor of the building.
Written Apr 27, 2012
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The Neues Rathaus, [ new town hall ] is in Marienplatz . In the tower is a glockenspiel that plays 2 or 3 times a day. The building is festooned with statues and gargoyles. The tower has a free lift to 4 th floor, then to top from 4 th a charge of 1 euro 50. Great view but a bit windy.
Written Jun 11, 2011
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The New Town Hall situated on Marienplatz is a stunning example of Gothic style architecture created by architect Georg von Hauberrisser. It is a grand building housing a restaurant and tourist information office.
The main point of interest on the town hall is the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a clock that charms the audience below with performances at 11am, 12 pm and 5pm in summer months. It is a very strange spectacle as everyone in the Marienplatz stops and looks up to see the stories unfold above!
Written May 20, 2011
Address: Marienplatz
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One of the first things you will notice when you enter Marienplatz is the spires and towers of the Neues Rathaus. Definately a building that captured my attention, and even though I have spent quite a bit of time studying the building, I still have this feeling that I was not able to take it all in and have missed some details.
Updated Oct 1, 2010
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Dominating Marienplatz is the Neues Rathaus attracting millions of visitors to watch the Glockenspiel whose 43 bells play a 15 minute carillon at 11h00, 12h00 & 17h00. Whilst the bells are playing, 32 mechanical figurines re-enact the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V to Renate von Lothringen in 1568.
Written Sep 30, 2010
Address: Marienplatz
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The New Townhall of Munich is located right at the Marienplatz. To be honest and my partial absurdity made me mistake it for a church, silly!
Well, with it's very intricate gothic revival design and those statues and gargoyles who would have thought - I would.
The tourist info center is just at the ground floor of the building and a big resto - Ratskeller.
It's the first structure in the area that will definitely catch your attention, it's an icon isn't it?
Written Jun 17, 2010
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The New Town Hall faces and dominates Mareinplatz and houses the city offices, mayor's office, and a tourist centre. The basement is occupied by the huge Ratskeller restaurant. The rear faces the Marienhof Park. Under plans by a young architectural student, George von Hauberisser, this Gothic style construction replaced 24 demolished buildings and was built between 1867-74 to provide additional office space. By the time it was opened, it was already too small and additions including the tower and glockenspiel were addended over the next 30 years. The 280 foot tower is one of the Munich landscape's dominant features. Unfortunately, the red bricks of the first section clashed with the yellower bricks of the additions. To unify the architecture, statuary and other fripperies were added to the exterior - saints, bizarre creatures, and most importantly figures of the Wittelsbach family. The New Town Hall appears much older than the Old Town Hall because it miraculously avoided serious damage during WWII both external and internal.
The Glockenspiel was shrouded by construction during our visit and we did not see the allegedly famous performances given several times a day honoring events from Munich's past including a royal wedding and a dance commemmorating the end of a plague.
Of note - as one of the few major buildings to survive WWII bombing relatively intact, it housed the US Military Headquarters after WWII.
Updated May 11, 2009
Address: North Side of Marienplatz
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