In the 16th century, William V, Duke of Bavaria, built a new palace near the Michaelskirche and the Jesuit monastery on Neuhauserstraße. In 17th century this residence became known as “Herzog-Max-Burg” because of duke and regent Maximilian Philipp choosing this building as domicile.

During Second World War the Max-Burg had been destroyed almost completely. Only the tower remained more or less intact. From 1954 to 1957 Sep Ruf (1908-82; see also here and here) and Theo Pabst (1905-79; see also his department store) constructed a new building complex on this historical location: the “Neue Max-Burg”. The building had been used as a juridical building and is internationally acclaimed for the intelligent and innovative combination of old and new. Ruf and Pabst modeled the raster and color of the facade after the appearance of the renaissance tower. But they did this without any hint of historicism: the ferro-concrete construction remains visible. Another highlight is the freely suspended canopy above the entrance.

While architectural critics praised the Neue Max-Burg as one of the most interesting modern buildings in architecturally conservative Munich, the population needed much time to adapt to this building.