Strafjustizzentrum München, Criminal courthouse in Maxvorstadt, Germany

The Strafjustizzentrum München is a judicial complex at Dachauer Straße, corner Schwere-Reiter-Straße, in Munich-Neuhausen, opened in May 2026 after ten years of construction. The seven-storey building toward Leonrodplatz has a closed exterior with three planted inner courtyards, some used for prisoner transport access. Its dense facade grid of near floor-to-ceiling windows is broken by a two-storey glazed recess revealing the library from the street. It holds 54 courtrooms, the largest nearly 300 square metres.

The old Strafjustizzentrum on Nymphenburger Straße was built on the site of the Arzberger Keller, an 1881 establishment destroyed in the Second World War, and opened in 1977. It housed the criminal divisions of the Amtsgericht and the Landgerichte München I and II, with Staatsanwaltschaft München I in a connected building on Linprunstraße. Deemed dilapidated, it was replaced by a new complex at Leonrodplatz, inaugurated in May 2026 after ten years of construction.

The center's name reflects its function: only criminal divisions and chambers sit here, while civil cases are handled elsewhere in Munich. Its courtrooms hosted proceedings against chef Alfons Schuhbeck, actor Günther Kaufmann and footballers Jérôme Boateng and Jens Lehmann, as well as the murders of Walter Sedlmayr and Rudolph Moshammer and the NSU trial of Beate Zschäpe, which ran over 400 hearing days in more than five years.

Access is restricted to those with legitimate business in the courts, as this is an active judicial facility. Visitors should inquire ahead about what procedures are required and which areas they can enter.

The new building at Dachauer Straße, corner Schwere-Reiter-Straße, opened in May 2026 after ten years of construction and cost 434 million euros. Its largest of 54 courtrooms covers almost 300 square metres, among the largest in Germany. Three planted inner courtyards serve partly for prisoner transport vehicles.