The Hofgarten

The Hofgarten (or Court Garden) is a garden located between the Residenz and the Englischer Garden. In 1613 – 1617 Maximilian I, built the garden just outside the moat that surrounded the Palace, as an Italian style Renaissance garden.

The focal point of the garden is a pavilion (or Temple) for the goddess Diana.

On top of the pavilion, there is a bronze statue entitled “Tellus Bavarica”. The statue symbolizes the treasures of the Bavarian land namely grain, game, water, and salt.

Paths lead from each of the eight arches creating beautiful pathways to walk through and enjoy the gardens and the ambiance with the water fountains running in the background, which is truly peaceful.

The Englischer Garden

The Englischer Garden (German for English Garden) is a large public park in the centre of Munich, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. With an area of 910 acres, the Englischer Garden is one of the world’s largest urban public parks, even larger than New York’s Central Park. The name refers to its English garden form of informal landscape, a style popular in Britain from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century.

The English Garden is a beautiful place on a warm day to stroll or bike on the 78 kilometers long network of paths, or hang out at the Biergarten where locals and tourists alike, come to enjoy traditional beer garden food such as Schweinshaxe (roasted pork knuckle), Hendl (roast chicken) or a giant Pretzel. With 7,000 spots, the beer garden, right by the Chinese Tower whose distinctive pagoda soars 25 meters high, is Munich’s second largest.

At the southern end of the park, a man made river called the Eisbach, flows and has become Munich’s surfing destination. At any given time you will find at least one person surfing the icy waves, which never get above 15 degrees Celsius. A water pumping mechanism produces the standing wave. Surfers, in thermal wet suits line up along the bank taking turns entering the icy water with their boards. After a minute of successfully riding the wave, surfers will voluntarily drop out, returning to the end of the line allowing the next person in line an opportunity.