Malerische Topographie des Königreichs Bayern

Title

Malerische Topographie des Königreichs Bayern

Description

Book after the lithographs by C. Lebschée 1830 by Hermann & Barth, Munich. With a city map of Munich, and 45 views of Munich and the surrounding area such as, Seeshaupt on Lake Starnberg, Starnberg, the Isar Valley, Schleißheim Palace, Bogenhausen and many more with a French and German description. Published by Verlagsgruppe Bertelsmann GmbH/ Bertelsmann Kunstverlag.

c. 1971

Artist

Lebschée

Historical Description

Munich was first mentioned in documents in 1158. In 1255, the city became the seat of the Bavarian duke, was the imperial residence from 1328 and became the sole capital of Bavaria in 1506. Munich is the seat of numerous national and international authorities as well as important universities and colleges, major museums and theatres. Due to a large number of buildings worth seeing, international sporting events, trade fairs and congresses as well as the Oktoberfest, Munich is a centre of attraction for tourism. The name Munich is interpreted as formerly - to the monks, founded in the designation forum apud Munichen, with which the city was named when it was first documented in the Augsburg Schied of 14 June 1158 by Emperor Frederick I. It is not certain whether a monk settlement existed when Munich was founded, or whether munichen already represented a fixed place name that went back to an earlier monk settlement that no longer existed. When Henry the Lion was outlawed by the Emperor in 1180, Bavaria fell to the Wittelsbach dynasty and Munich to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich also came into Wittelsbach possession and became a ducal residence as early as 1255 after the first division of the land. From 1314 Duke Ludwig IV was German King, and from 1328 also Roman-German Emperor, and Munich was considerably extended as his residence by a new second ring of walls. At this time, Munich adopted the colours of the old empire, black and gold, as its city colours. From the end of the 14th century, there were repeated uprisings of the citizenry against the dukes, who then moved their seat of government from the Old Court to the new residence on the outskirts of the city. Because of the threat from the Hussites, the city fortifications were reinforced with an outer ring of walls in 1429. After the city had experienced a new cultural heyday in the late Gothic period, Munich became the capital of all of Upper and Lower Bavaria in 1506 with the reunification of the duchies by Albrecht IV (1465-1508). In the period that followed, the influence of the citizens declined further and further and the Wittelsbach dynasty henceforth determined the development of the city. Under the rule of Wilhelm IV (1508-1550) and Albrecht V (1550-1579), Munich became a centre of the Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation. In 1589 the Hofbräuhaus was founded by Wilhelm V (1579-1597). Two early views of the city are illustrated in Georg Braun, Franz Hogenberg: "Civitates orbis terrarum" from 1572. Although Munich became an imperial residence as early as 1328, its rise to a major city did not begin until 450 years later. Towards the end of the 18th century, Munich grew rapidly, a process that was accelerated in 1806 when Bavaria was elevated by Napoleon to the Kingdom of Bavaria, making Munich the capital of a country twice its size.