In 1903 the city of Munich has donated the "Kohleninsel" for the purpose of building the "Deutsche Museum". The Isar river sandbank had served for centuries as a landing stage for rafts and is considered as the cradle of Munich, for in 1158 Heinrich der Löwe built a bridge (today's Ludwigsbrücke) in order to divert the salt trade.

Munich and its museums – that's a love affair. The Deutsche Museum is the world's largest museum for natural scientific matters and attracts around 1,5 million people per year with its nearly 30.000 objects. Here, even kids become museum fans, being offered special exhibitions activities.

Playfulness is the key word at Museum der Phantasie in Bernried at Lake Starnberg. "Learning to see actively and using all senses" was the objective of founder Lothar-Günther Buchheim conceiving the art mansion which built right by the lake by Günter Behnisch. The author, photographer and art collector who died in 2007 dreamed of a research centre for expressionism. His own works blend in beautifully with exhibits of his private collection in this comprehensive venue.

After this excursion to the countyside we are right back at Kunstareal in Maxvorstadt, close-by the frederics apartments. The 3 "Pinakotheken" on Barer Straße are the heart for painting and modern art. While the Alte Pinakothek shows works from the medieval ages to the Mid 18th century, the Neue Pinakothek concentrates on painting and sculptures from the late 18th to the early 20th century. The Pinakothek der Moderne, which opened in 2002, unties 4 different museums into one and offers a great overview over the visual arts of modernity. Schack-Galerie Prinzregentenstraße, also part of the Kunstareal, is still closed temporarily due to renovation works. You will soon find works of romanticism and names like Carl Spitzweg there.

Also on Prinzregentenstraße, shortly after Friedensengel, you can find Villa Stuck, the residential house and studio of "Malerfürst" Franz von Stuck. The luxurious room staging including furniture was awarded in 1900 at the World Expo in Paris. The artist mansion from the 19th century is always worth a visit.

Further municipal museums are Lenbachhaus and Stadtmuseum. While Galerie im Lenbachhaus comes up with a rich collection of the group „Der Blaue Reiter“  offering the amazing exhibition venue Kunstbau, at Münchner Stadtmuseum you get auf Dokumente der Münchner Stadtgeschichte sowie auf allgemeine zivilisations- und kulturgeschichtliche Zeugnisse. Zudem lässt es sich gemütlich rasten im Stadtcafé nebenan.

The Munich Jewish Museum a few meters away is also very popular. The cube at the redesigned Jakobsplatz is the successful, longed for centre of Jewish life in Munich. The permanent exhibition conveys the foundations of Jewish identity and is completed by changing exhibitions.

Kunsthalle of Hypokulturstiftung in the Fünf Höfe near Marienplatz is also worth mentioning. It comes up with special exhibitions like Helmut Newton’s „Sex and Landscapes“ or a Mark Rothko retrospective. You can indulge in the arts daily until 8pm, having a coffee and watching people swing by.

by Christopher Willis