Munich (Ger. München), the capital of Bavaria, is situated in a flat, barren plain, 1700 feet above the sea-level, chiefly on the left or west bank of the impetuous Isar, a tributary of the Danube. By rail it is 440 miles SSW. of Berlin, 272 W. of Vienna, and 867 SE. of London. Seven bridges, including a railway bridge, span the river to the suburbs on the right bank. The elevated site of the city and the neighbourhood of the Alps render it liable to sudden changes of temperature, sometimes ranging over 20° in twenty-four hours. The population in 1885 was 261,981, of whom about 84 per cent. were Roman Catholics; by 1890 it had increased to 350,710; in 1880 it was 230,023; in 1801 only 48,885. Munich is one of the handsomest cities in Germany, and perhaps the richest in treasures of art, while itself famous for its school of painting. Within the last two generations, and especially under King Ludwig I. (1825-48), who spent nearly 7,000,000 thalers in beautifying the city, it has been decorated with buildings of almost every style of architecture, many of them ornamented with frescoes and sculpture; wide and handsome streets have been constructed; and the squares and gardens adorned with statues and other monuments. Among the imposing edifices raised for the accommodation of the public collections are the Glyptothek (1816-30), with its magnificent collection of ancient and modern sculpture, including the famous Æginetan marbles, discovered in 1811; the Old Pinakothek (1826-36), containing paintings by the old masters, besides 168,000 engravings and 22,000 drawings, and a priceless collection of 1500 antique vases; the New Pinakothek (1846-53), devoted to the works of modern painters; the Royal and National Library, with over 1,000,000 volumes and 30,000 MSS.; and the Bavarian National Museum, illustrating the history of civilisation and art. The New Palace includes an older palace and chapel, the Königsbau (1826-35), in the style of the Pitti Palace at Florence, with Schnorr's frescoes of the Nibelungenlied, and the sumptuously-adorned Banqueting Hall building. Other public structures are the Court Theatre, one of the largest in Germany, with room for 2600 spectators; the old and the new town-house; the Temple of Fame, a Doric colonnaded building containing busts of eighty illustrious Bavarians, in front of which rises the colossal statue of Bavaria, 65 feet high; the Generals' Portico (1844), a copy of the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence; the conspicuous Maximilianneum, on its terrace on the right bank of the Isar, a college for civil servants, containing a gallery of modern historical paintings; and various palaces and administrative buildings. Among the gates of Munich the most beautiful are the Gate of Victory, designed after Constantine's triumphal arch in the Forum; the old Isar gate, with its elaborate frescoes; and the Propylæa (1862), commemorating the Greek war of independence. The numerous churches are all, except two or three, Roman Catholic. The oldest is St Peter's (1294). The huge brick church of Our Lady (1468-88), the cathedral of the archbishopric of Munich-Freising, is remarkable for its two unfinished towers (325 feet), now capped with cupolas; in the interior is the elaborate tomb of the Emperor Louis the Bavarian. St Michael's, or the Jesuits' church (1583-91), contains a monument by Thorwaldsen to Eugène Beauharnais; the Theatine Church (1767) contains the royal burial-vault; the Louis Church (1830-44) is embellished with Cornelius's fresco of the 'Last Judgment;' the beautiful church of St Mariahilf (1831-39) is noted for its gorgeous painted glass and fine wood-carvings; and the basilica of St Boniface (1835-50) for its sixty-six monoliths of gray Tyrolean marble and resplendent interior decoration. The Court Chapel of All Saints is a perfect casket of art-treasures. Munich is admirably endowed with scholastic, literary, scientific, and benevolent institutions, including Royal Academies of Art and Science, a Polytechnic School, &c. The university, removed from Landshut to Munich in 1826, has 171 professors and teachers, and over 3000 students; its library contains over 300,000 volumes; and its subsidiary institutions are numerous and well equipped. Adjoining the palace is the Court Garden, bounded on two sides by arcades adorned with frescoes; farther north is the English Garden, a park 600 acres in area; and on the right bank of the Isar are the attractive Gasteig promenades.
The industrial development of Munich lags behind its æsthetic development. Its stained-glass works, iron, brass, and bell foundries, lithographing and engraving works, and manufactories of optical and mathematical instruments, and various artistic articles are, however, deservedly noted. Still more famous are the enormous breweries of Bavarian beer, which annually produce about 49,000,000 gallons, of which 37,000,000 are consumed in the city itself. Munich carries on a large trade in grain and in objects of art.
In 1158 Henry the Lion raised the Villa Munichen from its previous obscurity by establishing a mint and a salt-emporium within its precincts, the name (also appearing as Forum ad Monachos) being derived from the monks who owned the site. In the 13th century the dukes of the Wittelsbach dynasty selected Munich for their residence and fortified the town. In 1327 the old town was nearly destroyed by fire, and was rebuilt by the Emperor Louis the Bavarian very much on the plan which it still exhibits; but it was not until the fortifications were razed at the close of the 18th century that the limits of the town were enlarged to any extent. The true history of modern Munich is the account of its artistic development in the 19th century, with which the artists most closely identified are Klenze and Gärtner the architects, Schwantner the sculptor, and Cornelius and Kaulbach the painters. The modern Munich school of painting, headed by K. von Piloty and W. Diez, is characterised by marked realism in colour and detail, in contrast to the romanticism of the older masters.
See works by Sötl (1854), Reber (1876), Mailinger (3 vols. 1876), Regnet (1878), and Trautwein (13th ed. 1887); also Mrs Howitt-Watts' Art-student in Munich (2d ed. 1879).