Munich capital of Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It is Bavaria’s largest city and the third largest city in Germany. Munich, by far the largest city in southern Germany, lies about 30 miles north of the edge of the Alps and along the Isar River, which flows through the middle of the city.

Munich is a global centre of art, science, technology,  publishing, culture, innovation, education, business and tourism. Munich has some outstanding museums and art galleries. The Alte Pinakothek, part of the Bavarian State Picture Galleries, houses the art treasures accumulated by the Wittelsbach family since the 16th century. Its collections of Renaissance-era German and Dutch paintings and Flemish Baroque paintings are especially strong, with many masterpieces by Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck. In addition to the Alte Pinakothek and the Glyptothek, there are the Neue New Pinakothek, which houses Munich’s main collection of 19th- and 20th-century art; the Bavarian National Museum, which contains German art and applied art since the Middle Ages; and the Residence Museum, which has paintings, sculpture, furniture, and ceramics. The Deutsches Museum, on an island in the Isar River, is a huge and comprehensive museum of science, engineering, and technology with a notable library.