At precisely 12 o'clock the glockenspiel, located at a lofty height in the New Town Hall spire, begins to chime and figurines dance on two levels. On the top, the figurines tell the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine in 1568. The bottom half depicts the Schäfflertanz, or coopers' dance: these craftsmen are said to have danced through the streets to bring fresh vitality when the plague hit Munich in 1517. The figurines have been doing their dance now for over 100 years.

Munich's Frauenkirche church is not far from this square. Serving as the seat of the archbishop of Munich, the church's distinctive double towers, measuring nearly 100 meters, were meant to be reminiscent of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.