Main information:

Residenz Museum

Kurfürstenzimmer (Electoral Apartments)

Until 1599 these rooms housed the ducal library. Later, they were given over to the heir of the reigning Elector who lived here until he succeeded to the title and moved into the apartments set aside for the ruler. Elector Maximilian III Joseph broke with this tradition by continuing to live in the rooms with his wife, Maria Anna, after becoming Elector in 1745.

In 1746 he had the apartments expanded and modernised, adapting the rooms to the ceremonial requirements of an Elector. This work was undertaken by the architect Johann Baptist Gunetzrhainer. Some 15 years later the Elector commissioned François Cuvilliés to redesign the furnishings and decoration in the Rococo style.

 

 

The Elector and the Electress each had their own set of apartments. They were reached from opposite ends of the tract and met in the middle.

The Kurfürstenzimmer were destroyed in the Second World War. Some works of art and some sections of wall panelling survived, however, so it was possible to reconstruct the main features of the rooms. Nevertheless, much of the furniture and many of the paintings and objects now on display here did not form part of the original furnishings.

 

 

 

 

 

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