The English Garden

The English Garden is the largest city park in Germany, and with an area of 4,17 km2, one of the world’s largest public urban parks: New York’s Central Park, for example, has an area of 3,4 km2, while Montreal’s Mont-Royal spreads over 2,14 km2.  

Created in 1789, it was the first public garden on continental Europe. Its name refers to the fact that it was laid out on the model of English landscape gardening. 

The English Garden is situated in the heart of Munich and offers many leisure activities: hundreds of people go there for picnics in the summer, for a swim in the Eisbach, an icy stream running through the parc, or to enjoy a beer in several beer gardens, such as the Chinese Tower or the Seehaus (lake house) at the Kleinhesseloher Lake. 

The Monopteros, built in 1936, is certainly one of the most splendid buildings in the English Garden. It is a circular Greek style temple located on a hill in the center of the park. The view from there is a lovely take at Munich’s church towers filled skyline behind a curtain of trees. 

One of the most special attractions of the English Garden are the surfers in the Eisbach: A stone step constructed under water creates a standing wave that can be used for surfing all year round. Spectators can watch the expert surfers perform daring stunts from a bridge on Prinzregentenstraße, just a few steps away from the Staatskanzlei building.