Odeonsplatz

The name Odeonsplatz has come to be extended to the parvis (forecourt) of the Residenz, in front of the Theatine Church and terminated by the Feldherrnhalle, which lies to the south of it.

As early as 1790, plans were made in connection with the removal of the old city walls to replace the Schwabing Gate (Schwabinger Tor) with a new square and to make the beginning of the route from the Residenz to Nymphenburg Palace (the Fürstenweg, now Brienner Straße) more impressive.

[1][2] However, the Feldherrnhalle, erected to close the view at the southern end on the site of the demolished gate,[3] was commissioned from Klenze's rival Friedrich von Gärtner in 1840–41.

A memorial was erected for them to the east of the Feldherrnhalle, which all passersby were required to honour with the Hitler salute; this was demolished in 1945 and the four police officers remembered with a plaque on the pavement and in 2010 with one on the wall of the Residenz.

[5] Hitler featured in an almost legendary photograph of the Odeonsplatz taken by Heinrich Hoffmann showing Munich's cheering crowds celebrating the outbreak of the First World War on 2 August 1914.