Hoch zu Ross

The guy who's riding in on a horse here is Maximilian I., Duke of Bavaria and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled Bavaria for more than 50 years, from 1597-1651 and therefore during the entire Thirty Years' War. He was more interested in arts and architecture, though. He comissioned the enlargement of Munich's Residenz and added a number of exquisite paintings - from Albrecht Dürer and Peter Paul Rubens amongst others - to the Bavarian State Collection.

The pictured equestrian statue at Wittelsbacherplatz is surrounded by the Palais Arco-Zinneberg to the left, the Palais Ludwig Ferdinand (which houses the Siemens headquarters) to Max's back, and the Odeon to the right (which is not in the photo).

In December Wittelsbacherplatz is the venue of an medieval Christmas market