Munich History

Its founding is attributed to the Guelph Duke, Henry of the Lions, who was appointed Duke of Bavaria in 1156. On the site where Munich stands, now a town of approximately 1,4 million inhabitants, there existed at this time only a small settlement and a Benedictine monastery. A few kilometres afar, the salt road that was the route the salt traders used to transport their goods, wound past. This white gold was carried to Augsburg and further inland from the salt mines in Bad Reichenhall and Hallein. Along this route it was necessary to cross the river Isar. The only possibility was a bridge, which was subject to tolling and lay in the territory of the Bishop of Freising.

In order to reap the benefits of this toll system, Duke Henry demanded in 1158 that the old bridge near Oberföhring (today a part of the city of Munich) be destroyed and that a new bridge over the Isar be built on the site of the present Ludwigsbrücke. In the same year Emperor Frederick Barbarossa officially opened this new trade passage. The market and traditional currency of Freising was transferred to the area. Munichen that was later to be Munich was born! The town Apud Munichen derived its name from the then existing monastery: Bei den Mönchen (amongst the monks). At the site of this monastery today Munich’s oldest parish church.