Isartor
The only medieval gate in Munich that still has its original main tower — and a comedian lives upstairs.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Munich offline.
Built in 1337 to finish Munich's second city wall, the Isartor was restored in 1833–35 by Friedrich von Gärtner to near-original dimensions. Frescos painted by Bernhard von Neher in 1835 show Emperor Louis IV riding home victorious from the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf. The tower now holds a humorous museum dedicated to Bavarian comedian and actor Karl Valentin, with a café tucked in beside it.
What to look for
- The Neher frescos (1835) depicting Emperor Louis IV's victorious return from the Battle of Mühldorf
- The two flanking side towers, added as a barbican after the main gate tower was built
- The Karl Valentin museum inside the gate itself
S-Bahn station Isartor is at Isartorplatz, right beside the gate; two tram lines also cross the square.
Isartor is one of 37 sights worth the detour in Munich, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Munich pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Munich
- Allianz ArenaThe world's first stadium with a full color-changing exterior — 75,000 seats wrapped in inflated ETFE plastic panels that can change color across the entire facade.
- Deutsches Museum125,000 objects across 50 fields of science and technology — all on a former coal island in the Isar.
- Nymphenburg PalaceAt 632 metres across, this Baroque summer palace is wider than Versailles — and it started as a birth announcement.
- Alte PinakothekThe gallery that taught Europe how to build a museum — then filled it with five centuries of Old Masters.
- FrauenkircheThe twin towers top out at just over 98 meters — Munich caps the entire city at 99 m, so nothing can overtake them on the skyline.
- Englischer GartenA Massachusetts-born American Loyalist, fleeing Britain after the Revolution, drew up plans for what became one of the world's largest urban parks.