Pedestrian zone

Munich's central pedestrian zone connects Karlsplatz, also known as Stachus, with Marienplatz. It's hard to imagine today: Where up to 120,000 passers-by now stroll every day, trams rattled, cars jostled and buses travelled in the 1960s. The pedestrian zone was opened on 30 June 1972, just in time for the Olympic Games. Today, the shopping mile is one of the busiest shopping streets in Germany. Munich has a far-sighted urban development plan to thank for this. Decades ago, it envisaged the gradual establishment of car-free zones. And without the creation of this spacious pedestrian zone, Munich's old town would certainly not have the flair for which it is famous all over the world today. The father of the pedestrian zone was the architect Bernhard Winkler. He designed the furniture and many of the fountains. In recent years, the pedestrian zone has been extended, for example to include Sendlinger Strasse. The extension of the pedestrian zone towards Isartor, the street in the valley, is also set to become a heavily pedestrianised or traffic-free area in the long term as part of the plans for the "Old Town for all".