Alter Hof

The Alter Hof (Old Court) in the center of Munich is the former imperial residence of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and consists of five wings: Burgstock, Zwingerstock, Lorenzistock, Pfisterstock and Brunnenstock.

[1] The late Gothic westwings (the Burgstock with its tower and its decorated oriel window and the Zwingerstock), which were altered under Duke Sigismund have been preserved.

Portions of it (Lorenzistock, Pfisterstock and Brunnenstock) were redeveloped in post modernist style to serve as offices and luxury apartments in 2005/2006, very much to public dismay.

A short film (german/english) illustrates the history of the Old Court, the city of Munich and the life and rule of its well-known resident Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Into the Bavarian National Museum were moved the donation plate from 1324, a relief depicting the Emperor Louis and his second wife Margaret of Holland, with the enthroned Mother of God with the child in the center, which was formerly on the north side of the nave, as well as a fresco for an ancestral hall, dating back to 1460, depicting the ancestors of the Wittelsbach dukes with their coat of arms.

An arch in the north connects the Alter Hof with a Renaissance style building which originally served for the ducal stables and the art collections of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria.