The Old Academy (German: ''Alte Akademie''), also called Wilhelminum, is a building in the center of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Dating from the 16th century, it has a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

facade and four inner courtyards.

History

William V, Duke of Bavaria ordered the construction of a building for the college and the school of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

next to his St. Michael's Church. The college was established 1583–1590. It is unclear who designed the building, but it was probably as Friedrich Sustris. After the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1773 the building became a cantonment for cadets of the army. From 1783 to 1826, it housed the Court Library and Archives, and then a school of painting and sculpture (hence the designation "Academy"). From 1826 to 1840, the Ludwig Maximilian University had its temporary domicile in the building. After severe destruction during the Second World War (1944) it was rebuilt by Josef Wiedemann to house the ''Bavarian Statistical Office''. The Old Academy is under renovation from 2020 to 2023 and shops, offices and apartments should come in there when the renovation is finished. The Japanese fashion retail group Fast Retailing signed a lease for a new flagship store of its fashion brand Uniqlo in autumn 2022 and Uniqlo will open a store when the renovation is fished in 2023 or 2024 (not certain when).

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1590 Buildings and structures in Munich Renaissance architecture in Munich Renaissance architecture in Germany {{Bavaria-struct-stub

History

See also

References