Historic Entrance Hall to the Imperial Guest Chambers
The Viersäulensaal on the ground floor of the Stone Room Wing is far more than a historic entrance hall – it stands as a stone witness to over 400 years of Bavarian-Palatinate history. Its four mighty columns not only support the magnificent imperial guest chambers above, but symbolise the centuries-old bond between Bavaria and the Palatinate, shaped by war and peace, separation and reunification.
Historic entrance hall to the former ducal guest rooms in the stone room wing of the residence.
This room was built between 1611 and 1619 during the most ambitious construction programme in the history of the Munich Residence under Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria. It served as the functional approach to the most exclusive guest apartments in the entire Empire – the legendary Stone Rooms on the upper floor, reserved solely for the Holy Roman Emperor and his consort. Since 1970, it has housed the Pfälzer Weinstube, uniquely bridging its historic role as a reception hall with the culinary traditions of the reunited Wittelsbach territories.
Architecture and Artistic Mastery
Hans Krumpper (c. 1570–1634), German sculptor, stucco artist and architect, delivered the master design for the Stone Rooms and their associated structures between 1612 and 1617. Peter Candid supervised the interior decoration, having directed the Residence’s painting programme since 1612. His ceiling paintings and tapestry designs developed an elaborate iconographic scheme glorifying princely virtue and power.
The Viersäulensaal, with its four supporting columns that give the room its name, formed the functional foundation of this vertical hierarchy. The floor displays a carefully preserved chequerboard pattern with individually numbered tiles, while the high vaulted ceilings rest upon the historic columns. Given its position directly beneath the imperial apartments, the room likely served as a reception hall, guardroom or service area for the guest chambers above – a threshold between the public and private spheres of power.
The upper floor contained the actual Stone Rooms – named for their lavish use of marble, stucco marble and coloured stucco marble inlays. During imperial visits, the walls were hung with the Residence’s most precious tapestries – golden pictorial hangings that Maximilian had commissioned between 1604 and 1611 from the Dutch master weaver Hans van der Biest, depicting the deeds of Count Palatine Otto I, the first Bavarian Duke of the House of Wittelsbach.
A Space Between History and the Present
Hans Krumpper (c. 1570–1634), German sculptor, stucco artist and architect, delivered the master design for the Stone Rooms and their associated structures between 1612 and 1617. Peter Candid supervised the interior decoration, having directed the Residence’s painting programme since 1612. His ceiling paintings and tapestry designs developed an elaborate iconographic scheme glorifying princely virtue and power.
The Viersäulensaal, with its four supporting columns that give the room its name, formed the functional foundation of this vertical hierarchy. The floor displays a carefully preserved chequerboard pattern with individually numbered tiles, while the high vaulted ceilings rest upon the historic columns. Given its position directly beneath the imperial apartments, the room likely served as a reception hall, guardroom or service area for the guest chambers above – a threshold between the public and private spheres of power.
The upper floor contained the actual Stone Rooms – named for their lavish use of marble, stucco marble and coloured stucco marble inlays. During imperial visits, the walls were hung with the Residence’s most precious tapestries – golden pictorial hangings that Maximilian had commissioned between 1604 and 1611 from the Dutch master weaver Hans van der Biest, depicting the deeds of Count Palatine Otto I, the first Bavarian Duke of the House of Wittelsbach.