St. Bonifaz: Where the King of Isar-Athens Lies
Why is it significant?
Step off busy Karlstraße into the brick basilica of St. Bonifaz, and let your eyes adjust to its calm. Outside, cars and delivery vans; inside, a long hall of round arches, the murmur of a Benedictine community that has lived here since the 1850s.
Key Facts
| Place | St. Bonifaz: Where the King of Isar-Athens Lies |
|---|---|
| Address | Karlstraße 34, 80333 München, Germany |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.14410, 11.56420 |
| Part of Walk | Isar-Athens: Munich's Königsplatz, the Pinakotheks & the Blue Rider |
| Generated | Generated |
Step off busy Karlstraße into the brick basilica of St. Bonifaz, and let your eyes adjust to its calm. Outside, cars and delivery vans; inside, a long hall of round arches, the murmur of a Benedictine community that has lived here since the 1850s. And somewhere in this hush lies the man who invented everything you are about to see.
King Ludwig the First of Bavaria wanted a new Athens on the Isar. He collected Greek statues before he was even king, and he poured his fortune into museums, academies and avenues. He also wanted a church for the growing district beside his museums, and his architect Georg Friedrich Ziebland built this one between 1835 and 1850, in the style of the earliest Christian basilicas of Rome.
Ludwig's reign ended badly. In 1848, in the middle of revolution and a scandal over his infatuation with the dancer Lola Montez, he abdicated. But he went on building with his own money for twenty more years. When he died in Nice in 1868, he was not laid with his ancestors in the royal crypts of the old city. He was brought here, to his own monks, and placed in a marble sarcophagus.
Bombs in the Second World War destroyed much of the church, and it was rebuilt in a smaller, plainer form. So you are standing in a survivor that has learned to be modest... which is rather fitting for a king who ended his life as a private citizen with an extraordinary building habit. Today the Benedictines of St. Bonifaz are known across Munich for something far from royal: their daily work with homeless people.
Think about the geography for a moment. The old king lies a few steps behind the museum he built for his ancient statues, as if he still wanted to keep an eye on the collection. Now walk round the side of the church to Königsplatz, just behind it, where a colossal gateway with two towers waits at the western end of the square.