The photographer Rainer Viertlböck captures the Bavarian capital in a series of portraits – from the Angel of Peace to the Eisbach wave, he paints a multifaceted picture of the city, which has now been published in book form by Schirmer-Mosel in an expanded edition.
Sandra Hofmeister
Rainer Viertlböck, München in Farbe, Nicola Borgmann (ed.), 180 pages, text: German, Schirmer/Mosel, München 2026, → order now
Munich is by the sea. Sometimes the city on the Isar has a tremendous amount of Mediterranean flair. ‘The northernmost city in Italy,’ my father always used to say. And yes, Italy is much closer than Berlin – just beyond the Alps lies the sea. If you can’t make it there, you can make do with the Eisbach wave at the Haus der Kunst for the time being. People always say it’s something quite extraordinary, and that’s true. When I was in Montreal a few years ago, my friends were desperate to show me their wave on the St Lawrence River – they told me at the time that it was almost as good as the Eisbach wave.
© Rainer Viertlböck
Just in time for the new mayor, Dominik Krause, to take office – yes, Munich has a Green mayor, and he’s 35 years old. So, right after his election victory and his official inauguration on 11 May, he was able to reopen the Eisbach wave after a long break. There had been problems for some time – it was a tricky business. In any case, the bed of the stream had been cleaned to such an extent that the wave was no longer there... But that’s all water under the bridge now; a brighter future lies ahead!
© Rainer Viertlböck
Rainer Viertlböck is also from Munich, just like Dominik Krause and myself. He has created a wonderful portrait of the city for Schirmer-Mosel-Verlag, which has now been published in an expanded edition, featuring his photographs up to 2025. The world-famous landmarks, main thoroughfares and hidden gems. Even for us Munich locals, there are quite a few of these, because we often don’t look at our city quite as closely as Rainer Viertlböck does. Sometimes Munich looks like a village in his photos, then again kitsch, or like a traffic nightmare. At the very least, it has quite a few faces, which can be explored in 108 cityscapes in the photographer’s new Munich volume.
© Rainer Viertlböck
And yes, I almost forgot: of course, Rainer Viertlböck has also captured the Eisbach wave – Munich’s secret landmark and one of the reasons why the city is back by the sea after a long break. Why not give it a go?
Rainer Viertlböck
München in Farbe
Nicola Borgmann (ed.),
108 Stadtbilder von 2009 bis 2025
texts in English
180 pages
Schirmer-Mosel, München 2026
ISBN 978-3-8296-1028-5
