Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel - Marstall

In Munich, within the royal Residence complex, stands a neoclassical building that began life holding the court's horses. Leo von Klenze designed the Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel - Marstall as a riding school and stables, raising it between 1817 and 1822. It replaced an older tournament house on the same spot. That first job is still written all over its decoration.

Johann Martin von Wagner's busts of Castor and Pollux flank a monumental arched portal at the centre of the facade. Stone reliefs depict the battle between the Centaurs and the Lapiths, and eight round bronze reliefs of horse heads stud the walls. Air raids in April 1944 left it badly damaged. A rebuild between 1969 and 1970 returned the exterior to Klenze's original design.

In 1972, as part of the Olympic cultural programme, the Marstall became the experimental stage of the Residenztheater, Munich's premier state theatre. Rehearsal rooms, workshops and stores for props and sets now occupy the interior. You can find the eight bronze horse heads on the facade, a reminder of the animals long gone from the rooms behind.