Munich was the »Capital of the Movement«; around Königsplatz the NSDAP maintained some 50 properties. This walk follows the traces of the party district — from the staging of power at Königsplatz through the administrative buildings to the places where bourgeoisie and movement met. Where possible, today's layer of remembrance and the present is read alongside.
The route- 01 · NS-Dokumentationszentrum (Braunes Haus)
- 02 · Königsplatz in der NS-Zeit
- 03 · Ehrentempel (Fundamente)
- 04 · Führerbau
- 05 · Verwaltungsbau der NSDAP
- 06 · Salon Bruckmann
- 07 · Oberste SA-Führung
- 08 · Generalkonsulat des Staates Israel
- 09 · Parteizentrale Schellingstraße
- 10 · Prinz-Carl-Palais
About Apple Maps: Each stop opens as its own pin in the Maps app. Apple Maps can only show one destination per link; for walking directions tap »Directions« in Maps and pick the walking icon. The stops are numbered in a sensible walking order.
Step by step.
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01
NS-Dokumentationszentrum (Braunes Haus)
Brienner Straße 34, 80333 München
The starting point as a place of learning: on the site of the »Brown House«, occupied by the NSDAP in 1930 — formerly the Jewish Barlow Palais — the Documentation Centre has stood since 2015. The permanent exhibition opens up »Munich and National Socialism«.
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02
Königsplatz in der NS-Zeit
Königsplatz, 80333 München
The National Socialists paved the square with 22,000 granite slabs to create a parade ground. Mass rallies and the 1933 book burning took place here. After 1945 the greenery was restored.
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03
Ehrentempel (Fundamente)
Brienner Straße / Arcisstraße, 80333 München
Two open pylon structures (Troost, 1935) held the sarcophagi of those killed in the 1923 Hitler putsch — cult sites of the regime. Blown up in 1947; the overgrown foundations are deliberately preserved as a warning.
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04
Führerbau
Arcisstraße 12, 80333 München
Troost's representative building (1933–1937) on the ground of the demolished Palais Pringsheim. The Munich Agreement was signed here on 29/30 September 1938. Today: the University of Music and Performing Arts.
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05
Verwaltungsbau der NSDAP
Katharina-von-Bora-Straße 10, 80333 München
The counterpart to the Führerbau housed the party administration and the membership archive. Today it is home to collections of the Kunstareal (including the Central Institute for Art History and the State Graphic Collection).
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06
Salon Bruckmann
Karolinenplatz 5, 80333 München
In the publishers' salon of Hugo and Elsa Bruckmann, Hitler gained early access to the upper middle class. A place that shows how the movement was made socially acceptable.
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07
Oberste SA-Führung
Barer Straße / Brienner Straße, 80333 München
One of the many offices with which the NSDAP covered the district. The sheer density of properties makes the totalitarian claim tangible in the cityscape.
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08
Generalkonsulat des Staates Israel
Karolinenplatz, 80333 München
The contemporary layer: since 2011 Israel has resided where the NSDAP had its headquarters — the only Israeli Consulate General in Europe. A deliberate, manifest symbolic reversal of the topography.
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09
Parteizentrale Schellingstraße
Schellingstraße 50, 80799 München
Before the move into the Brown House, the early party headquarters and the printing works of the »Völkischer Beobachter« were located on Schellingstraße. Close by: the Schelling-Salon and the Osteria, early meeting points of the movement.
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10
Prinz-Carl-Palais
Königinstraße 1, 80539 München
On the eastern edge: the neoclassical palace (Klenze school), during the Nazi era the official seat of the Bavarian prime minister. Today the representative seat of the Bavarian State Government.