Beer gardens
Königlicher Hirschgarten: Munich’s Largest Beer Garden
8,000 seats, Augustiner on tap and a deer enclosure next to the benches: Europe's largest beer garden sits between residential streets.
Prices and opening times last checked
The Königlicher Hirschgarten in Neuhausen-Nymphenburg holds around 8,000 seats, which makes it the largest beer garden in Munich and, by most counts, the largest in Europe. The number is not the interesting part. The location is: it does not sit in the old town or in the English Garden, but between residential streets in the west of the city, 1.1 km from Nymphenburg Palace.
One single garden holds 13 per cent of all beer garden seats in this guide. The runner-up is 1,000 seats behind.
The size
Why the Hirschgarten is the largest beer garden in Munich
The 24 gardens in this guide come to roughly 62,800 seats between them. The Hirschgarten alone accounts for 8,000 of those, 13 per cent, from one business. Second place goes to the garden am Chinesischen Turm at about 7,000 seats, and after that the list drops away quickly.
In practice the size means you will find a bench on a Saturday evening in July. In a garden with 850 seats you will not. That is the real difference behind the names that appear in every list of recommendations.
| Beer garden | Seats | Brewery | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Königlicher Hirschgarten | 8,000 | Augustiner | Neuhausen-Nymphenburg |
| Biergarten am Chinesischen Turm | 7,000 | Hofbräu | Englischer Garten |
| Augustiner-Keller | 5,000 | Augustiner | Maxvorstadt |
| Paulaner am Nockherberg | 4,000 | Paulaner | Au-Haidhausen |
| Aumeister | 2,500 | Hofbräu | Englischer Garten (Freimann) |
8,000
seats, 13 per cent of all beer garden seats in this guide, from a single garden.
The rule
What is a beer garden, and what makes this one legal
A Bavarian beer garden is not simply a pub with tables outside. The distinction that matters is written into the Bavarian beer garden regulation: a garden has a self-service area and, usually, a waited area next to it. Only in the self-service area may you unpack and eat food you brought yourself. In the waited part of the very same business you may not.
Drinks are always excluded: those come from the counter, everywhere. The Hirschgarten runs both kinds side by side, and its self-service area is documented by 2 independent sources. Across the whole guide a self-service area is documented for 8 of the 24 gardens; for the rest the point is simply not confirmed, so this guide does not claim it.
This is also why „bring your own food“ advice for Munich is so often wrong in both directions. It is not a rule about the city, and not a rule about a particular business; it is a rule about which part of the grounds you are standing on.
The fallow deer that gave the Hirschgarten its name
The name is a description rather than a brand: the grounds contain a deer enclosure with fallow deer in it. The beer garden lies inside that park and carries its name, which is why it is called Hirschgarten and not, like most of the others, after a brewery or a landlord.
Foto: Martinus KE · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The enclosure is free to walk up to and sits a few steps from the benches. For anyone travelling with children that is the one thing this garden has and the other large ones do not.
Which beer, and why you cannot choose
In Munich a beer garden is tied by contract to exactly one brewery, so the beer decides itself. The Hirschgarten pours Augustiner. The same brewery supplies 3 further gardens in this guide, and the practical alternative among them is the Augustiner-Keller with around 5,000 seats in Maxvorstadt, a few minutes on foot from the main station, which the Hirschgarten is not.
The full brewery-by-brewery breakdown, with seats and area for all 24 gardens, is in the Munich beer gardens overview.
Getting to the Hirschgarten
The shortest way is the S-Bahn: the München-Hirschgarten stop is at the grounds, and Laim station is 810 m away. Marienplatz is 5 km as the crow flies, so this is genuinely outside the centre, which is exactly why it is quieter than the garden at the Chinese Tower.
The obvious combination is to walk from the palace: 1.1 km from Nymphenburg Palace, less from the park behind it. Spend the afternoon in the park and walk here in the evening.
Common questions
Common questions
How many seats does the Hirschgarten have?
Around 8,000, which makes it the largest beer garden in Munich and in Europe. The second largest garden in the city holds about 7,000.
Can I bring my own food to the Hirschgarten?
In the self-service area yes, in the waited garden no. The Hirschgarten has both. Drinks always have to come from the counter.
What beer is served at the Hirschgarten?
Augustiner. Munich beer gardens are tied to a single brewery by contract, so the choice is made for you.
How do I get to the Hirschgarten?
Take the S-Bahn to München-Hirschgarten. From Laim station it is 810 m on foot, from Nymphenburg Palace 1.1 km.
Seat figures from the list in Munich beer gardens, with sources per garden. Compiled 2026-08-17.