The Munich Residence originated as a small moated castle, built in 1385, and was gradually expanded by the Wittelsbach rulers who used it until 1918 as their residence and seat of government.

Antiquarium

Highlights are the Antiquarium (Hall of Antiquities), the largest secular Renaissance hall north of the Alps, the early 17th-century rooms, including the Reiche Kapelle (Ornate Chapel), the Steinzimmer (Stone Rooms) and the Trierzimmer (Trier Rooms), the magnificent Rococo Rooms (Ancestral Gallery and Ornate Rooms by François Cuvilliés the Elder) and the neoclassical Königsbau (King's Tract) created by Leo von Klenze. Also on display are special collections such as silver, ecclesiastical vestments and porcelain from Europe and East Asia.

The tour of the Munich Residence comprises the remarkable Nottbohm Collection of European Miniatures, an extensive collection of fine miniatures dating from the late sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century.