The Secret Life of a Treasure

What makes something a treasure? This experience, led by art historian Diana, explores that question through three extraordinary places in the heart of Munich: the Asamkirche, St. Peter's Church, and the Treasury of the Munich Residenz. Your journey begins inside the Asamkirche, the private church that Bavarian artist brothers Egid Quirin and Cosmas Damian Asam built for themselves as a calling card for their art. You explore the Baroque relationship between faith, sacred art, and almost theatrical spectacle. At St. Peter's, Munich's oldest recorded parish church, the story expands to the city's religious traditions and dynastic history. The experience culminates in the Treasury, inside the Munich Residenz, where you hear the story of the Blue Wittelsbach Diamond, set in the crown of Bavaria's kings for more than a century. Diana tells it almost like a biography, tracing its journey, its connection to generations of the Wittelsbachs, and the meaning and symbolism attached to it.

Diana brings deep academic expertise paired with a lively narrative style. An art historian, she shows how three seemingly different and unconnected places tell a single story of art, power, and dynasty. Most Munich tours treat these as separate sights: the churches as stops on an Old Town walk, or the Treasury as a visit with an audio guide. Diana links them so that the three stops reveal layer after layer of meaning. She invites you to look closely, make connections, and understand why and how certain objects become treasures over time. The Blue Wittelsbach Diamond becomes the climax of a story that spans centuries, told in a Treasury whose collection, Duke Albrecht V decreed in 1565, must never be sold. Diana's doctoral research explored how later generations received and reinterpreted medieval art. She takes you through the history of the city and of the people who created art, wove stories, and imagined symbols of power that have lost none of their force.

Diana Stürz was born in Berlin to a German father and a South Korean mother, and raised in Munich, the city she calls home. Growing up between two cultures has deepened her appreciation for different traditions and ways of seeing the world, and fueled her passion for showing how history and culture can bring people together. With a PhD in art history and a role at the Technical University of Munich, Diana combines her academic background with her love for Munich's art, architecture, and history. She shares that enthusiasm with every guest, whether at the city's famous sights or in the details that reveal its distinctive character.

Comfortable shoes, and a small bag only if you need one; larger bags must be left in the Treasury's lockers or coat check.