Ludwigstrasse (Munich)

The Ludwigstraße in Munich is one of the city's four royal avenues next to the Brienner Straße, the Maximilianstraße and the Prinzregentenstraße. Principal was King Ludwig I of Bavaria, the avenue is named in his honour. The city's grandest boulevard with its public buildings still maintains its architectural uniformity envisioned as a grand street "worthy the kingdom" as requested by the king. The Ludwigstraße has served also for state parades and funeral processions.

The Municipality of the royal residence and capital city of Munich was first not enthusiastic about the extent of the new boulevard. The city authorities sought to impose a cut of the road, as they wrongly considered Munich not to grow in 100 years up to 1 km beyond the former city walls. Only when King Ludwig I threatened to transfer the residence to another city, the magistrate relented and approved the General Plan.

The avenue begins at Odeonsplatz and runs from south to north, it leads from the Feldherrnhalle in the south to the Siegestor in the north, skirting the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, the St. Ludwig church, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek (Bavarian State Library) and other state ministries and palaces.

The southern part of the avenue was constructed in Italian renaissance style by Leo von Klenze from 1816 onwards. Klenzes last building was the Royal Ministry of War (Ludwigstr 14, today Bavarian State Archives; 1824-1830). Starting with the Bavarian State Library the northern part was then constructed since 1827 in line with a plan of Klenze's rival Friedrich von Gärtner. The appearance is strongly influenced by Italian romanesque architecture, which developed a new architectural style, the 'arched style' (Rundbogenstil).

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Wikipedia