The Viktualienmarkt is a daily food market and a square in the center of Munich. The Viktualienmarkt developed from an original farmers’ market to a popular market for gourmets. In an area covering 22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft), 140 stalls and shops offer flowers, exotic fruit, game, poultry, spices, cheese, fish, juices and so on.
Most stalls and shops are open during the official opening hours (Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.); but the Biergarten doesn’t open until 9 a.m. Many stalls close at 6 p.m., before the standard closing time. There are special opening hours for flower shops, bakeries and restaurants.
When today’s Marienplatz (the former Schrannenplatz) as a market for cereals and other agricultural products had become too small, Viktualienmarkt as its official successor evolved where it is still situated today due to a decree issued by King Maximilian I on 2. May, 1807. The King ordered that those parts of the market between Heiliggeist Church and Frauenstraße should be relocated and told the municipal authorities to demolish the buildings of the charitable Heiliggeist hospice which had been acquired by the city. Thus the “green market” had its own place, which was also named “market place” for some time. It was only later that the word “Viktualien” (victuals), which is a Latin word for food, was used. From 1823 to 1829 the central market already had to be enlarged significantly. In 1885 the ancient Heiliggeist infirmary was demolished and the Heiliggeist Church was extended to the west. Thus a new image was created for both the market and the city. In 1852 the precursor of today’s Großmarkthalle (wholesale market hall), the Schrannenhalle, was built close to the ancient city wall at the end of Blumenstraße.
The market also hosts a number of traditional and folkloric events such as weighing celebrities, brewers’ day, gardeners’ day, opening of the asparagus season, summer festival, dance of the market women on Shrove Tuesday, etc. Hence the Viktualienmarkt, which has been a pedestrian zone since November 6, 1975 is also a meeting point. In a 2009 New York Times article about meals worth a plane trip across the Atlantic, food critic Mimi Sheraton picked a snack of sausages at the Viktualienmarkt.
