The Siegestor () in

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 ...

is a three-arched memorial arch, crowned with a statue of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

with a lion-

quadriga A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast and favoured for chariot racing in classical antiquity and the Roman Empire. The word derives from the Latin , a contraction of , from ': four, and ': yoke. In Latin the word is almos ...

. The monument was originally dedicated to the glory of the

Bavarian army The Bavarian Army () was the army of the Electorate of Bavaria, Electorate (1682–1806) and then Kingdom of Bavaria, Kingdom (1806–1918) of Bavaria. It existed from 1682 as the standing army of Bavaria until the merger of the military sovereig ...

. Since its restoration following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it now stands as a reminder to peace. The Siegestor is 21 meters high, 24 m wide, and 12 m deep. It is located between the

Ludwig Maximilian University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bav ...

and the Ohmstraße, where the Ludwigstraße (south) ends and the

Leopoldstraße Leopoldstraße is a street in the Munich districts Maxvorstadt, Schwabing and Milbertshofen. It is a major boulevard, and the main street of the Schwabing district. It is a continuation of Ludwigstraße, the boulevard of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, ...

(north) begins. It thus sits at the boundary between the two Munich districts of

Maxvorstadt Maxvorstadt (Central Bavarian: ''Maxvorstod'') is a central borough of Munich, Bavaria, Germany and forms the Stadtbezirk (borough) 3 Maxvorstadt. Since 1992, this borough comprises the former boroughs 5, 6 and 7 (Maxvorstadt-Universität, Maxvor ...

and

Schwabing Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the Capital (political), capital of the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Sc ...

History

The arch was commissioned by King

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

,Gavriel D. Rosenfeld, ''Munich and Memory: Architecture, Monuments, and the Legacy of the Third Reich'', (University of California Press, 2000), 117 designed by Friedrich von Gärtner and completed by

Eduard Mezger Friedrich Eduard Mezger (13 February 1807 – 16 September 1894) was a Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavarian architect, painter, professor, and a high civil officer of the royal buildings administration, called ''Oberbaurat'' (literally "top architect") ...

in 1852. The marble

was sculpted by Johann Martin von Wagner, artistic advisor to Ludwig and a professor at the University of Würzburg. Lions were likely used in the quadriga, instead of the horses, because the lion was a heraldic charge of the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, ...

, the ruling family of the Bavarian monarchy. The arch was originally dedicated to the glory of the Bavarian army (''Dem Bayerischen Heere''). Today, the Siegestor is a

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

and reminder to peace. After sustaining heavy damage in

it was to be demolished in July 1945, however, the arch was reconstructed and restored only partially, in a manner similar to the conservation of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. The new inscription on the back side by Wilhelm Hausenstein reads ''Dem Sieg geweiht, vom Krieg zerstört, zum Frieden mahnend'', "Dedicated to victory, destroyed by war, urging peace". In the early 21st century, the remaining statues were meticulously cleaned and restored.

In popular culture

In the second of the German language film series, '' Heimat 2'' by

Edgar Reitz Edgar Reitz (born 1 November 1932) is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung (State University of Design) in Karlsruhe. He is best-known for his internationally acclaimed Heimat (film series), ''Hei ...

, Evelyne and Ansgar meet and talk by the monument, on which the inscription honoring peace may be seen. In the ninth season of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality competition franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. ''The Amazing Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselv ...

'', the final Pit Stop for the third leg (a double length leg) was in front of the monument, where the last team to arrive was eliminated from ''The Amazing Race''.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 48, 09, 08, N, 11, 34, 55, E, region:DE-BY_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Munich Neoclassical architecture in Munich Triumphal arches in Germany Terminating vistas in Germany Buildings and structures completed in 1852 Maxvorstadt Registered historic buildings and monuments in Bavaria 1852 establishments in Bavaria Gates of Munich