If you've ever been to Florence this one may ring a bell. The hall was designed with the Tuscan capital's Loggia dei Lanza in mind. Like many of the buildings around it the Feldherrnhalle was commissioned by King Ludwig I as the southern bookend to Ludwig Strasse, the grand boulevard he hoped would rival Paris' Avenue des Champs Élysées.
The hall became an important Nazi shrine following the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, and after Hitler took power in 1933 passersby had to give the Nazi salute. Those who preferred not to ducked down an alleyway behind Odeonsplatz then dubbed Drückebergergasse (The Dodgers' Alley).
Stand on the steps in between the lions for a great view all the way down Ludwig/Lutipold Strasse. There's an equestrian statue of King Ludwig I a few hundred metres up on the left. Further up is the Geschwister Scholl Platz, a fountain-crowned square and the heart of Munich's main uni. The two towers to the right mark the Ludwigskirche. The Siegestor triumphal arch is dead centre and beyond you can make out the outline of Munich's tallest skyscraper (146m) Uptown München. I don't like what the Feldherrnhalle stands for - to me it just seems to have been built to glorify war. I find the Italianate structure pretty cool though and it's just impossible to imagine Odeonsplatz without it.
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