The Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm) and at the very beginning as the "Great Pagoda" - a wooden folly structure in the imperial Chinese style.
The tower was built between 1789 and 1790 by the architect Johan Baptist Lechner and designed by Josef Frey. In those years, the Chinese architectural style was fashionable in Europe. As a model model for the tower, a 50-meter Large pagoda in London's Royal Park was used, which, in turn, is a copy of the pagoda in the majolica technique in Beijing.
The Munich Pagoda opened to the public as a viewing platform in 1792 with the opening of the English Garden in which it is located.
The Chinese Tower burned down during the Second World War, but was restored again to match the original and opened on September 6, 1952.
In the 1970s, the tower was closed for security reasons, and since then only brass bands have been allowed in, which play regularly to this day.
Today, the tower is a landmark of the English Garden.
The tower has a height of 25 meters and consists of five floors: the ground roof has a diameter of 19 meters, and the top floor is 6 meters. The individual floors of the tower, connected by a spiral staircase, have curved shingle roofs decorated with golden bells. Climbing the tower is only possible on special occasions.
Near the Chinese tower, there is a Biedermeier-style indoor children's carousel with strollers, sleds and 20 carved wooden animals.
In addition to the carousel, there is a children's playground.
On the site near the Chinese tower is one of the largest beer gardens in Munich - "Restaurant am Chinesischen Turm" , having about 7,000 seats.
The open-air site near the Munich Chinese Tower hosts regular and irregular mass events, including:
- On the third Sunday of July, at 6:00 am, the classic dance festival "Kocherlball" is held, during which numerous women and men in traditional costumes perform folk dances and waltzes to the music;
- On Christmas and New Year's Eve, Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt am Chinesischen Turm), which is filled with stalls selling drinks, including warming mulled wine, snacks, sweets, souvenirs, etc.
There are tables in the open air, you can play sports, ride on a carousel or in a horse-drawn cart.
The Chinese Tower is located in the southern part of the English Garden (Englischer Garten), at the address: Englischer Garten, 3. Read more about the English Garden…
