Coaches of the Marstallmuseum

The Marstallmuseum has a large collection of the different coaches and sledges the Kings and Electors of Bavaria during the time the Wittelsbach were ruling this part of Germany. The collection supposedly is one of the best in the world and if you are not the biggest fan of old coaches this collection is still impressive

The jewel of the collection is the coach used by Emperor Charles VII for his coronation as German emperor in 1742. The coronation coach is the first of the coaches you will meet when you go inside the museum and it is a very elaborately decorated coach. The coach was built in Paris in 1741 and used when the new emperor entered Frankfurt on the 31 January 1742. A year later the coach was dismantled and sent to Munich in pieces where it was reassembled and used for more than a century on special occasions by the rulers of Bavaria.

In addition to the emperors coronation coach there is a collection of other important coaches which has been used by the rulers of Bavaria. There is a coronation coach which was used at the coronation of the first king of Bavaria in 1806 – before this time the ruler of Bavaria had only held the less prestigious title of Elector.

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There are a few more prestigious coaches in the collection in addition to some sledges used to transport the rulers during the cold month of the year. Some of the sledges are also pretty elaborately decorated and there is a model of a horse on display dressed in special cover with a lot of bells making the horse jingle when it was running across the snow with the sledge. When you move by the horse there is a recreation of the sound of the jingling of the horse.

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In addition to the grown up coaches and sledges there are a couple of small coaches and sledges which has been used by the kids of the royal family on the palace ground. These were not drawn by horses but by large dogs, sheep’s or goats. The latter part doesn’t sound particularly royal – but I guess it is ok for kids.

When we finished the main part of the museum we walked across the cobble stones of the gate to look on the other side. Across the street there is an extra part of the museum. It contains several more coaches – though they are not quite as prestigious as the main exhibition. So we don’t spend as long looking at these coaches but they do give an impression of how a more standard coach looked in the old days before the invention of the automobile.

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If you go up the first floor there is a further exhibition of china. There are some impressive pieces of china from different eras which can be interesting to have a quick look at when you are done with the coaches.