Fürstenried Palace

Fürstenried Palace is a Baroque palace in the southwest of Munich, Germany.

History
It was built by Joseph Effner for Elector Maximilian II Emanuel in 1715–17 as a hunting lodge. Two pavilions are added each in the south and north of the main building. A few years later (1726) a fire damaged the Fürstenried Palace. The following year, at the birth of the future Maximilian III, Fürstenried went as puerperal gift to the Princess Maria Amalia of Austria, the wife of the son of Maximilian Emanuel, Elector Charles Albert. From 1778 to 1796 Fürstenried Palace was the residence of the former Electress Maria Anna, the widow of Maximilian III.

The palace served as domicile for King Otto of Bavaria from 1883 onwards until his death. The King lived in an elegantly furnished apartment on the ground floor, while his servants lived on the first floor. Since 1925 the Catholic Retreat Hostel  for spiritual exercises has been housed in Fürstenried Palace. Pope Benedict XVI has said that, prior to his ordination as a deacon in the fall of 1950, he pondered his vocation to the priesthood "as I walked in the beautiful park of Fürstenried ... ."