The Diana temple
The octagonal pavilion where the paths converge — the garden's heart and echo.
Carsten Steger — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Flocci Nivis — CC BY 4.0 · Carsten Steger — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pixelwuwu — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Hofgarten is the palace garden: a seventeenth-century Italianate square between the Residenz and the English Garden, with straight gravel walks, rose beds and fountains, and at its centre the Diana temple — a lovely octagonal pavilion where the eight paths meet. It is a city-centre pause more than a destination: Munich office workers take their lunch on its benches, musicians play under the shaded arcades, and older locals have played boules on its gravel for decades. Under the pavilion your footsteps echo; from the western arcades you look onto the yellow dome of the Theatine church — the classic photo angle. Free and always open, it lies exactly between Marienplatz and the English Garden, so you pass through naturally — the right move is not to cross it but to sit in it for a quarter hour.
The octagonal pavilion where the paths converge — the garden's heart and echo.
Shaded arcades with historic murals framing two sides of the garden.
The church's yellow dome over the trees — the classic camera angle.
Hofgartenstrasse 1, 80538 Munich
The Diana TempleAn octagonal stone pavilion at the centre of Munich's Hofgarten, built in 1615 a1 minute walk4.8
Munich ResidenceThe Residence was the seat of the rulers of Bavaria for more than four hundred y3 minutes walk4.5
OdeonsplatzOdeonsplatz is a wide square north of central Munich, where the old town meets t3 minutes walk4.5
AntiquariumThe Antiquarium is the longest Renaissance hall north of the Alps, inside Munich3 minutes walk4.8
Palais PreysingAn early eighteenth-century town palace on Theatinerstraße in central Munich, an3 minutes walk4.7No — and that is no flaw: its value is being on the way between everything. The only mistake is hurrying through — ten minutes on a bench or at Tambosi and you see why locals love it.
The Bavarian State Chancellery with its glass dome, fronted by a sunken war memorial — worth a look on your way towards the English Garden.
Summer mornings before the heat, roses open and musicians starting; or evenings when the light softens on the arcades. In winter it loses its colour but stays a fine quiet passage.