Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/34

24 M U N M U N MUNGOOS, or MONGOOS. See ICHNEUMON, vol. xii. p. 629. MUNICH (in German, Miincheii), the capital of the kingdom of Bavaria and the fourth largest town in the German empire, is situated in an elevated and barren plain to the north of the Bavarian Alps, in 48 8 N. lat. and 11 35 E. long. Owing to its lofty site (1700 feet above the sea) and the proximity of the Alps the climate is rather changeable, and its mean annual temperature, 49 to 50 Fahr., is little higher than that of many places much farther to the north. The annual rainfall is stated at nearly 30 inches. The situation of Munich is devoid of physical advantages, and the surrounding district is in no way remarkable for its wealth, but the construction of roads and railways has counterbalanced the lack of natiiral highways, while the central position of the town makes it easy of access from all parts of Europe. Munich is divided into nineteen municipal districts, fourteen of Avhich, including the old town, lie on the left bank of the small river Isar, while the suburban districts of Au, Haidhausen, Giesing, and Eamersdorf are on the opposite bank. The old town, still containing many narrow and irregular streets, forms a semicircle with its diameter towards the river, Avhile round its periphery has sprung up the greater part of modern Munich, including the hand some Maximilian and Laidwig districts. The wall with which Munich was formerly surrounded has been pulled down, but some of the gates have been left standing. The most interesting of these is the Isar Thor, restored in 1835 and adorned with modern frescos. The Sieges Thor or gate of victory is a modern imitation of the arch of Constantino at Rome, while the stately Propylaea is a reproduction of the gates of the Athenian Acropolis. At the beginning of the present century Munich was in no way distinguishable from the crowd of second-rate German towns, but since the accession of Louis I. in 1825 it has undergone a metamorphosis of the most remarkable character. This splendour-loving prince devoted himself heart and soul to the embellishment of his "residence," and his successors have followed in his footsteps with such zeal that Munich is now almost unrivalled for archi tectural magnificence among the smaller capitals of Europe, while its collections of art entitle it to rank alongside of Dresden and Berlin. Most of the modern buildings have been erected, after celebrated prototypes of other countries and eras, so that, as has been said by Carriere, a walk through Munich affords a picture of the architecture and art of two thousand years. The want of local colouring is perhaps a blemish in this " museum of architecture," and it has also been objected that the prevailing uniformity of surface in the buildings does not produce sufficient contrast of light and shade. In carrying out his plans Louis I. was ably seconded by the architect Klenze, while the external decorations of painting and sculpture were mainly designed by Cornelius, Kaulbach, and Schwanthaler. A large proportion of the most notable buildings in Munich are in two streets, the Ludwigstrasse and the Maximilianstrasse, the creations of the monarchs whose names they bear. The former, three-quarters of a mile long and 60 yards wide, chiefly contains buildings in the Re naissance style by Gartner. The most striking of these are the palaces of Duke Max and Prince Luitpold ; the Odeon, a large building for concerts, adorned with frescos and marble busts; the war office; the royal library, in the Florentine Pala tial style ; the blind asylum ; the Ludwigskirche, a success ful reproduction of the Italian Romanesque style, containing a huge fresco of the Last Judgment by Cornelius ; and, lastly, the university. At one end this street is terminated by the above-mentioned Sieges Thor, while at the other is the Feldherrnhalle or hall of the marshals, a copy of the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence, containing statues of Tilly and Wrede. Adjacent is the church of the Theatines, an imposing though somewhat over-ornamented example of the Italian Rococo style ; it contains the royal burial- vaults. In the Maximilianstrasse, which extends from Haid hausen on the right bank of the Isar to the Max-Joseph Platz, King Maximilian II. tried to introduce an entirely novel style of domestic architecture, formed by the com bination of older forms. At the east end it is closed by the Maximilianeum, an extensive and imposing edifice for the instruction of civil servants, adorned externally with large sculptural groups and internally with huge paintings representing the chief scenes in the history of the world. Descending the street towards the west we pass in succes sion the national museum, the new gymnasium, the pro vincial government buildings for Upper Bavaria (in Avhich the composite style of Maximilian has been most consistently carried out), and the mint. On the north side of the Max- Joseph Platz lies the royal palace, an extensive building, consisting of the Alte Residenz, the Konigsbau, and the Festsaalbau. The old palace, dating from 1601 to 1616, was designed by Peter Candid, and was formerly considered a very fine building. The apartments are handsomely fitted up in the Rococo style, and the private chapel and the trea sury contain numerous interesting and valuable objects. The Festsaalbau, erected by Klenze in the Italian Renaissance style, is profusely adorned with mural paintings and sculptures, while the Konigsbau, a reduced copy of the Pitti Palace, contains a series of admirable frescos from the Niebelungenlied by Schnorr. Adjoining the palace are two theatres, the Residenz or private theatre, and the handsome Hoftheater, the largest theatre in Germany, accommodating 2500 spectators. The Allerheiligen-Hof- kirche or court-church is a tasteful little edifice in the Byzantine style with a Romanesque fagade, somewhat recalling St Mark s at Venice. The Ludwigstrasse and the Maximilianstrasse both end at no great distance from the Marien Platz in the centre of the old town. Here stands the Frauenkirche, the cathedral-church of the archbishop of Munich-Freising, with its lofty cupola-capped towers dominating the whole town. Though scarcely a pleasing piece of architecture, it is imposing from its size, and interesting as one of the few examples of indigenous Munich art. On other sides of this square are the old town-house, restored in 1865, and the new town-house, the latter a handsome modern Gothic erection, freely embellished with statues, frescos, and stained-glass windows. The column in the centre of the square was erected to commemorate the defeat of the Protestants near Prague in the Thirty Years War (1638). Among the other churches of Munich the town con tains about forty in all the chief place is perhaps due to St Boniface s, an admirable copy of an early Christian basilica. It is adorned with a cycle of religious paintings by Hess, and the dome is supported by sixty-four mono liths of grey Tyrolese marble. The new parish church of Au, in the Early Gothic style, contains gigantic stained- glass windows and some excellent wood-carving ; and the church of St John in Haidhausen is another fine Gothic structure. St Michael s, in the Renaissance style, erected for the Jesuits in 1583 to 1595, contains the monument of Eugene Beauharnais by Thorwaldsen. The fagade is divided into stories, and the general effect is by no means ecclesiastical. St Peter s is interesting as the oldest church in Munich (12th century), though no trace of the original basilica remains. One of the two Protestant churches is also a tasteful Gothic building. The valuable collections of Munich, in virtue of which it ranks among the art-centres of Europe, are enshrined in handsome and appropriate buildings, most of them in