Carolina Square or Carolinenplatz is named after the second wife of King Maximilian I, Princess Caroline of Baden. Built in 1812, the square serves as a reminder of the difficult relationship between Bavaria and France in the early 19th century. In the center of the square stands a 29-meter-high bronze Obelisk, which perpetuated the memory of the Bavarian soldiers who died as part of the Napoleonic forces during the Russian campaign of 1812. The opening of the memorial took place in 1833 and was dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the allied forces near Leipzig. The obelisk on Karolineplatz is perhaps one of the few in world history, a monument not to victory, but to defeat. During the Napoleonic forces, Bavaria was in a difficult geopolitical situation. Sandwiched between rival Austria and France, she prudently chose to side with the latter. In the fall of 1805, Napoleon captured Austria, and on December 2, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Russian and Austrian forces near Austerlitz. Bavaria was rewarded by the solid territories of Austria and Prussia. However, subsequently a political union demanded the fulfillment of allied obligations, and in 1812 Bavaria put out thirty thousand soldiers for a campaign in Russia. Almost all of them died.
Initially, as conceived by architect Leo von Klenze, black marble steps adorned the approaches to the tetrahedral bronze monument. However, after the destruction of World War II, the cladding was replaced with local sandstone. Time and precipitation have made adjustments to the design of the obelisk. The buildings surrounding the square were also badly damaged during the Second World War; they did not begin to rebuild, so the modern Carolina Square is surrounded mainly by new buildings.
In Munich today, there are three roundabouts - rings in the squares around the central small square with the possibility of turning onto any of the adjacent tram lines. One of these rings is located in Carolina Square.