Munich is the most expensive city in Germany. Prices such as here for renting and buying real estate, restaurants, clothes and more can be found only in the most luxurious districts of Berlin, but even then you will have to try very hard. Berliners, by the way, treat the inhabitants of the capital of Bavaria condescendingly - like an enlightened intelligentsia to people from the countryside. Munich residents are not at all offended by this, believing that Berliners are “a lot of ado about nothing,” and are investing their savings in another piece of land.
Munich is not a metropolitan city in the usual sense of the word: this is not Vienna, Moscow or Paris. But it is here that the main German car manufacturers are based and the headquarters of the largest international insurance and development firms are located.
At the same time, we must not forget that after the Second World War the city was practically rebuilt in a very German way: qualitatively, but very simply, without a hint of aesthetic "excesses". Such housing in a good area already costs a lot, and if it still has a hint of historical value and beauty, then it is really expensive.
The development company Frankonia Eurobau decided to combine all possible "factors of attractiveness" in its project of an elite quarter called "Lenbach Gärten": a good location in the city center, "historical" style, quality, exclusivity, comfort. Previously, in this place, in the immediate vicinity of the beautiful botanical gardens, everything was completely unattractive: here were the chemical, pharmaceutical and zoological institutes of the Technical University of Munich, which were distinguished by an extremely stingy architecture. Now the abode of knowledge has been moved to Garching, which, given the remoteness of this area from the center, would be more appropriate to call it a link.
And in the vacant place, as is customary, it was decided to make the area very expensive, of very high quality and "not for everyone." The appropriate architects were called -
Hilmer & Sattler und Albrecht, according to which, "architecture should have less to do with ingenuity than combining existing styles", and Otto Staidle, who did not differ in such radical views, but was at that time one of the most famous, if not the most famous architect of Munich.
Hilmer & Sattler und Albrecht worked at Lenbach Gerten on a 5-star Rocco Forte hotel, an office building on Luisen Strasse, Max Palais and the St. Bonifaz. Staidle, unfortunately, passed away in 2004, when work on the project was just beginning, and the loft apartments, the Klenze Palazzo building and the St. Bonifaz were created by his bureau without his participation.
Now let's take a closer look at the components that make up Munich's most elite neighborhood.
Max Palais is an Art Deco house that, as its name suggests, offers residents a “palace” lifestyle. The apartments here overlook the old botanical garden; there are relatively few of them, and their area starts from 120 m2. On the roof - penthouse: apartments with terraces. In addition, residents of Max Palais can use all the services of The Charles Hotel, which is part of the Lenbach Gerten complex, and the concierge services around the clock (this option is surprisingly exclusive for Munich, although it does not surprise at all, for example, no one like me, lived in Milan: there are concierges there not only in elite, but also in average houses). The interior of the lobby is decorated with American cherry wood, which is also used for all the furniture located there. From the lobby you enter the courtyard with columns and a fountain: it is practically invisible from the street and acts as a kind of retreat for the residents.
The building of Staidle lofts is located nearby: the area of apartments here varies from 160 to 200 m2, and their layout can be changed if necessary. Floor-to-ceiling windows (some spanning two floors at once) also face the old botanical gardens. This openness of the house to nature is due to the idea of the Steidle bureau "to let all the seasons in the interior". This building, in comparison with the works of Hilmer & Sattler und Albrecht, does not imitate historical styles so much and, in keeping with the proposed context, tries to use more modern solutions.
Between Max Palais and the Staidle lofts lies the Palazzo Klenze, named after the famous German architect of the 19th century, famous for his palaces and museums. There are only 9 apartments in the building, ranging from 75 to 170 m2.
In Munich, during the construction of new residential complexes and residential areas, the law requires that 20% of apartments be allocated to civil servants, who can sometimes buy such apartments, but more often get them on long-term lease. And these civil servants are not only MPs, as you might imagine. Such housing, even in elite new buildings, is provided at affordable prices, and doctors, teachers, university professors, etc. can afford it.
"Lenbach Gerten" did not become here, and indeed it could not be an exception. A fifth of the apartments here are indeed rented out to government officials. However, as you might have guessed, these apartments do not overlook the botanical garden, do not differ in an improved layout, are most often located on the ground floor, or there are other problems, for example, lack of sunlight. So, formally, a civil servant lives in an elite house, but not in the most comfortable conditions. Naturally, most of these apartments were left without the attention of the “privileged recipients”, and it was decided to sell them. They were sold to foreigners, mainly to our compatriots, as a "special offer" and a profitable investment in luxury housing, emphasizing the value of such an investment by the fact that real estate prices in Munich are steadily growing. As a result, after a few years, Russian buyers of such apartments with great difficulty, but still managed to sell them for almost the same amount as the original price.
My favorite part, Lenbach Gerten, faces a chamber square with a fountain towards the Abbey of St. Bonifaz, which resembles a typical Italian city. On the square there are tables and chairs of a small Italian restaurant, and here you really forget that you are not somewhere in Veneto, but in Bavaria. On both sides of the square are the houses-parts of the complex, named after the abbey, St. Bonifaz 1 and 2. The apartments here are of a more moderate price category than those facing the botanical gardens, but each of them has access to a landscaped balcony, and if the apartments are on the ground floor, to a small garden.
In Lenbach Gerten, not only residential functions, but also office functions are envisaged: two office buildings in the classic spirit (14,000 m2 and 11,000 m2, respectively) have been erected, where companies such as McKinsey and Condé Nast are located. The finishing touch was The Charles Hotel (800 m2) with 160 rooms, restaurants, spa and fitness center. As you remember, the hotel provides all its services to residents of Max Palais and is connected to it by an underground passage.
It is pleasantly surprising that Lenbach Gerten does not evoke the feeling of artificiality, which is often characteristic of Russian new buildings in “historical styles”. And the point here, obviously, is not only in the correctly selected finishing materials, but also in the urban planning solution with a well-thought-out ratio of housing and nature: the array turned out to be very green and really justifies its name - "Lenbach gardens". Of course, there are disadvantages that are inevitable in any large project: very loud ventilation of the hotel, which greatly disrupts the quiet atmosphere of the quarter, waste containers in elegant squares …
When you examine Lenbach Gerten, it seems that the architects tried to create a piece of Italy in the center of Munich, but they got honest German architecture, which is probably not a minus at all, but just a statement of fact.
