Karolinenplatz
Klenze's first classicist square in Munich, laid out in 1812 to plans by Karl von Fischer. At its centre the obelisk Klenze had erected in 1833 for the 30,000 Bavarian soldiers killed in Russia.
Traffic hub and memorial
Karolinenplatz was laid out in 1812 by Karl von Fischer as a star-shaped traffic junction in Munich's first expansion into Maxvorstadt — named after Queen Karoline, the second wife of Max I Joseph. Eight streets meet here; the square is today a small green island between Brienner Straße and Briennerstraße.
At its centre stands the obelisk: 29.5 metres tall, on a three-stepped granite plinth, the shaft of bronze-clad masonry. Erected in 1833 by Leo von Klenze as a memorial to the 30,000 Bavarian soldiers who lost their lives under Napoleon in the Russian winter of 1812/13 — recast metal from captured cannons. Inscriptions on the plinths: "They too died for the liberation of the fatherland".
Today Karolinenplatz is the seat of the Consulate General of the State of Israel in a rear building of the former lottery administration — the topographical doubling of the Nazi past and today's Jewish diplomatic seat is contained within just a few hundred metres.
More in the
Museum Quarter.
The other buildings of the area — galleries, museums, classicism, industrial history.