English Garden

When you see how many young people are mingling in the English Garden, you can hardly believe how old the park actually is: in 1789, Elector Carl Theodor commissioned Britain’s Benjamin Thompson to landscape the west bank of the Isar in the style of a traditional English country park– hence the name “English Garden”.

The 78 km-long network of paths affords strollers, joggers and cyclists a variety of choices – after all, the English Garden is actually the world’s largest inner-city park. Its must-see landmarks include the temple-like Monopteros which, together with the hill, was added in 1836;  the Japanese Tea House is of a much more recent date (1972), standing on an artificial island created in the Schwabing stream.

In the now legendary year of 1968, when youth culture was at its height in Schwabing, the English Garden was the talk of the town, not least because of those who proclaimed a sexual revolution there, often basking out on the park’s fields sporting only their birthday suits. Rumor has it, many continue that same tradition to this day.