IV.

History

Munich was founded in 1158 as a mint and marketplace by Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony. In 1255, the powerful Wittelsbach family, who ruled as the dukes of Bavaria, made the city their residence. Munich was destroyed by fire in 1327 and later rebuilt by Louis IV, Holy Roman emperor. In 1632, during the Thirty Years' War, the city was captured by Gustav II Adolph of Sweden. Much of the modern development and splendid architecture of Munich date from the reigns of three kings of Bavaria: Maximilian I, Louis I, and Louis II. After World War I (1914-1918) the city was the center of the political unrest that led to the rise of National Socialism under Adolf Hitler. In 1923 Hitler staged the abortive “beer hall putsch,” or revolt, in Munich. In 1938 representatives of the major European powers signed the Munich Pact in the city, ceding to Germany the Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia. Heavily damaged during World War II, the city has been carefully rebuilt to a master plan that included reconstruction wherever possible. Population (2005 estimate) 1,249,200.