Marienplatz
Marienplatz features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Munich. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type square
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Munich Munich guide
About Marienplatz
Munich's beating heart for nearly nine centuries: a former grain market crowned by a golden column raised in 1638, when the city gave thanks for surviving a war.
Marienplatz has been the heart of Munich since the city took shape around 1158, serving as the central marketplace of the young town. Known for centuries as the Schranne, the grain market, it was renamed Marienplatz in 1854 after the Marian column at its centre. That column, the Mariensäule, was erected in 1638 by Elector Maximilian I in thanks for Munich's deliverance during the Swedish occupation of Bavaria in the Thirty Years War; it was the first Marian column raised north of the Alps. Its gilded bronze Madonna, cast around 1593, is older than the column itself, and four bronze putti at the base battle beasts symbolising war, famine, plague and heresy. Today the square is framed by the neo-Gothic New Town Hall of 1908 and the tower of the Alter Peter, and it remains the ceremonial and geographic centre of the city.
Did you know? The golden Madonna on top is older than the column she crowns: the bronze figure was cast around 1593, and only mounted on the new Mariensäule in 1638, some forty-five years later.
How long is a visit to Marienplatz?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Marienplatz. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Marienplatz worth your time?
Marienplatz is among the 26 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Munich, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Munich
Hear the story of Marienplatz
Preview the Munich tour free in the Gingerguide app.