Englischer Garten Muenchen - The English Gardens in Munich Germany

Munich’s Largest Park The "Englischer Garten" (English Garden) is Munich's largest park. In addition to its beer gardens, this location is a recreational dream for all hobby athletes: cyclists and joggers who have a great chance to use paths spreading across seventy-eight kilometres. In spring, summer and fall, tightrope walkers stretch their slack lines between trees, Frisbee players throw their discs and amateur kickers meet for soccer games. Kleinhesseloher See The Kleinhesseloher See (lake) at the border of the northern English Garden is a fine place to relax. It has to be remembered that the lake is not suitable for swimming, but you can spend a calm day on the water with a rowing or pedal boat. Hundreds of people like to sit at the shore during summer and look the swans and Mallard ducks that glide through it. These swans, geese and Mallard ducks also fearlessly move out of the lake and have a gala feeding time across vast expanse of fields and lawns. Monopteros Temple No matter what time of the day or year, the Monopteros offers a spectacular view of streams and trees, making you feel fine. It is no wonder then that the temple in the English Garden has come to embody the cosmopolitan nature of the city of Munich. The Monopteros is about fifty-five feet in height and reaches almost as deep into the ground. The stylish temple is built upon a strong brick foundation that is elegantly hidden by a man-made hill. This gives the Monopteros a secure base while offering a superlative view of the city and makes it a part of the English Garden that can be seen from afar. Along with the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower), it is one of the best known locations in this world-famous park. History King Ludwig I specially ordered his court architect Leo von Klenze to build a Greek-style temple. The Monopteros was constructed between 1832 and 1837 in honour of Elector Karl Theodor and King Maximilian. A green dome with a red top was supported by ten columns made of Kelheim limestone. The construction of a temple was first suggested by the urban planner Friedrich Ludwig Sckell, who proposed the idea of a pantheon in a specially designed wooded area in 1807. It was visualised as a place to honour Bavarian personalities. His nephew, the landscape gardener Carl August Sckell, managed to convince King Ludwig I to put those plans into action. Sckell Jr. spent many years designing the embankment around the firm foundations and planting trees in certain areas. Ludwig I of Bavaria modeled Munich into his own “Athens on the Isar” thought and many of the city buildings still are evidence of his undertaking today.