Having visited Munich three times in the last 6 months I’ve decided the time has come to write a little bit about it.
As most will know, Munich is a city situated in the south of Germany, otherwise known as the capital of the free state of Bavaria, which makes the place, as well as the people, quite different to the rest of Germany. Remember the castle in ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? The lush green scenery of Bavaria? …And with a backdrop of the snow-capped mountains, Munich is a truly beautiful and exciting city to visit. Munich is easily accessible by plane from many UK airports and for anyone on a low budget or those of you who like a good deal, you can now fly on BMI Baby from East Midlands airport to Munich for a mere 25 pounds each way.
Munich has a wonderful history, recognised as being founded in the 12th century when Henry The Lion was looking for somewhere to set up a toll station for the passage of salt. The settlement at the river Isar attracted his attention and so the salt trade made Munich prosperous and the settlement rapidly grew into a proper town.
Over the years Munich continued to grow but has certainly seen troubled times. In 1348 the Black Death brought devastation and caused an abrupt economic decline and the currency was devalued. In 1632, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded Munich, it was a war lasting 30 yrs and taking a toll of one-third of the cities population.
The war of the Spanish Succession in 1701-1714 saw Munich fight on the losing side with the French and Munich then had to bear the burden of Austrian occupation from 1704 to 1714. In 1742 Hungarian Hussars took over the city and in 1800 it was occupied by French troops.
Despite the devastation Munich had suffered over the years, it developed a cultural ambience and many beautiful castles, theatres, art galleries and other buildings had been built. The artistic development of Munich also attracted a young painter from Vienna, a man named Adolf Hitler. His paintings were academic and attracted no attention so he turned to the clamour of German nationalism. In 1918 Hitler was working to re-educate soldiers in nationalistic, anti-marxist ideas and he joined the Deutsche Arbeiter-Partei, eventually becoming known as the Nazi party.
By 1920 the Nazi party had 2000 members but by 1923 the party had grown to 55,000 members and had 15,000 storm troops. Hitler was feeling strong and staged his famous Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, intended as a first move in the campaign to force the Bavarian state government to cooperate in a Nazi march on Berlin. Hitler’s career then took him to Berlin, but the Nazis kept their party headquarters in Munich at a place called ‘The Brown House’ and in 1935, Munich was named “Capital Of The (Nazi) movement”.
World War II came about bringing yet more devastation to the city, killing 6000 and wounding 16,000 and destroying much of the city, including many churches, palaces and monuments. After the war the people of Munich set about rebuilding the city. A triumph of hard work, loyal attachment, and the great traditions of the cities past. Munich rapidly expanded to become West Germanys third largest city and welcomed many Berliners and refugees from the former eastern territories. Once again Munich had become a cheerful place and in 1972 was host to the Olympic games although once more sadness struck as militant Palestinians raided the Olympic village and killed 12 Israeli Athletes.
Despite the conflicts the city has had, Munich continues to express good-will …Bavarian style. Munich combines the Germanic talent for getting things done with the Bavarian need to do them pleasantly. ‘If you’ve found a simple explanation for a problem, don’t look for a complicated one’, this is the laid back kind of thinking of the Bavarians and the darker years of 1918 to 1945 have now certainly been laid to rest.
Today Munich is a city for the Bavarians to be proud of, stunning architecture, breath taking scenery, a dynamic car industry, Olympic sports complex and an extremely impressive underground system which makes anyone’s visit to Munich much more pleasurable and easy on the feet.
Travel to the centre of Munich from the airport is a 30-minute completely hassle free journey on the train. On my last visit I purchased a four-day pass, which covered my journey to and from the airport plus unlimited use of the underground system in the city zone as well as my travel each morning to work, which is about half an hours ride out of Munich into ‘Zone 2’ of the train system. This four day pass covering Zones 1 and 2 only cost 14.80 euro (about 9.60GBP), the train staff all seemed to speak English, timetables are easy to understand and every single train was always on time. Our transport system certainly leaves a lot to be desired.
Finding a hotel to stay in Munich couldn’t be easier as there’s a great selection to choose from, many you’ll find on the internet or you could contact the tourist information in Munich who I’m sure you’ll find to be English speaking and most helpful and efficient.
Munich has a lot for its visitors to see such as museums, monuments, palaces, churches, outdoor cafes, bars and restaurants. Many years ago Munich expanded and the old city wall disappeared yet three of the gates still remain indicating the perimeter of the inner city. In the heart of this is a place called Marien Platz, until the middle of the 19th century the wheat market was held here, it was and still is the site of the town hall and was the place where criminals and other unpopular people were hanged. This is now also the central junction for the S-Bahn (surface) and U-Bahn (underground) trains, again making everywhere in and around the city very easily accessible.
Marien Platz is graced with flowers and outdoor cafes. At the town hall the main attraction is the 43-bell glockenspiel which comes to life each day at 11am and two groups of figures come out, one re-enacting the tournament held during the wedding of Duke Wihelm V and Loraine and the other recreating ‘the cooper dance’ that was performed to exorcise the plague of 1517. In the evening at 9pm, a night watchman with a lantern blows his horn and an angel of peace blesses the little Munich monk.
There is a whole host of museums, art galleries, monuments and fountains to look out for in Munich each with a quite fascinating history and churches with truly exquisite design.
Eating out can be interesting and good if you like cabbage because the Bavarians seem to love it. Eating and drinking is a major occupation of the Bavarians and restaurants and bars are a plenty and you’ll never have problem finding a nice beer garden to sit in. You’ll find restaurants serving traditional Bavarian dishes such as pork and dumplings, white sausages and sauerkraut or perhaps you’re in the mood for Italian cuisine, Italians themselves are said to claim that Munich has the best Italian restaurants north of the Alps. Thai, Indian, Mexican, you’ll find it all in Munich. On my last visit my boyfriend spotted a union jack flag outside a shop and a big sign saying ‘Fish & Chips’, so as you’ll see, there’s definitely something for everyone.
In Bavaria there’s good beer and there’s better beer, but there’s no bad beer. If you’re a cider drinker like I am then in Munich the time comes to change your palette, as there’s not a glass of Strongbow in sight. Beer if you’re lucky comes in half litre glasses in restaurants but everywhere else it’ll arrive in a one-litre tankard. A word of warning, the beer is lethal. Some can be very gassy or just highly intoxicating so get to know which you’re ok drinking before you go on a mad session.
As well as the restaurants, there is the theatre, the opera, the bars as well as the clubs which all provide a wealth of options to pass the night away. Over a hundred days of the year are officially devoted to festivals, processions, banquets and street dances, commemorating events such as the arrival of the first beer of the year. It seems any excuse will do and so wherever you go in Munich, there’s always a good time to be had.
Munich is a good city to shop with a wealth of shopping centres and chic boutiques as well as flea markets, delicatessens and gift shops. Being very up to date with technology, you’ll also fine a vast array of shops selling all the latest technology at much lower prices than in the UK.
Travelling outside of the city centre brings you to more attractions and places of interest. Dachau is situated 17km North-West and used to be a pretty little village with a 16th century chateau and 18th century facades until Hitler came in to power and designated it as the site of the first Nazi concentration camp. Today people still visit to admire the charming town centre but the discreet concentration camp museum displays a very sad yet thought provoking and educational history.
South of Munich you can admire the hills and lakes and of course there stands the Alps if you fancy a spot of skiing.
In Summer Munich gets hot, as you’d expect from a central European country, but when I went last month (November), I was horrified to get off the plane, having come from what I thought was a relatively cold UK (about 6oC) then flying south to a different country and getting off the plane to a chilling snowy –6oC. So, travelling to Munich in winter make sure you wrap up very well.
All in all, Munich is a city well worth visiting. I can’t wait for my next trip as I have a whole list of places I’ve yet to visit.
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