Hofgarten & Diana's Temple: Renaissance Symmetry

Why is it significant?

Pass through the classical gateway into the gravel pathways of the Hofgarten and walk to the central twelve-sided pavilion known as Diana's Temple.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Pass through the classical gateway into the gravel pathways of the Hofgarten and walk to the central twelve-sided pavilion known as Diana's Temple. Look around at the symmetrical flowerbeds, clipped lime trees, and whispering fountains: laid out in sixteen thirteen by Elector Maximilian the First, this is one of the finest preserved Italian Renaissance pleasure gardens north of the Alps.

Look up at the bronze statue crowning the cupola of the pavilion. Created by sculptor Hubert Gerhard in fifteen ninety-four, it represents Tellus Bavarica, the allegorical mother of Bavaria, bearing symbols of the land's agricultural abundance: grain, sheep, and salt casks. Beneath the open stone arches, eight radiating paths align with the cardinal directions, creating an acoustic sweet spot where violinists and tango dancers frequently gather on warm summer evenings.

Along the northern arcade, painted frescoes depict the history of the House of Wittelsbach. During World War Two, heavy aerial bombs destroyed the garden paths and pavilion, but postwar citizens lovingly restored every gravel walkway to its seventeen-century perfection.

Exit the eastern garden gates toward the lush woodland of the English Garden to witness Munich's famous river surfers.