August 13th
Ok, so today I turned thirty which was a good excuse to drink beer, and was in the beer capital of the World, but I had nobly decided that before we get on the sauce we should take up one of the tours that were going round Munich to fill us in on what we had been seeing over the last day or two. As we had such a good tour from NewEurope tours yesterday at Dachau, we took them up on their offer of a free tour of the city.
The tour started in the Marienplatz with the Neue Rathaus, the new town hall. The Rathaus has a Glockenspiel in which, twice or maybe three times a day, mechanical puppets come to life and tell tales of local legends in interpretive dance. We would later see the Alter Rathaus, or old town hall, which is newer than the "new" Rathaus due to it being bombed and completely destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt subsequently. In fact the majority of buildings in Munich are replicas re-built after the war as the city was heavily targeted by Allied bombers. This may have had something to do with Munich being known as the "Home of the Movement", i.e. the place where the National Socialist Party, or Nazi for short, began it's rise to power.
During the tour there were several references to the Nazi's and Adolf Hitler, who had fled Austria to avoid national service and gone to live in Munich. However, at the outbreak of the First World War he joined the German Army, was injured in a gas attack and hospitalised for temporary blindness. During this time the war ended in defeat for Germany. After the war he used his army pension to rent a flat in Munich.
It was post-war that he got involved in politics, disliking the newly created Republic of Germany after abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm, and joined the German Workers Party, later re-named the National Socialist German Workers Party. It is here in Munich that he gives speeches at beerhalls, like the ones we have been frequenting, and also stages the infamous "Beerhall Putsch" where he tries to stage a coup d'etat, leading to imprisonment in Landsberg am Lech. We went down the street they marched on afterwards before they were intercepted by the police, ending in a gun battle where three or four policement were killed along with fourteen putchists.
Also on this street there are four bavarian lions with golden roses on a shield at their feet. It's tradition when walking down this road that you rub three, but not four lions for good luck, wealth and happiness. Rub a fourth and you are considered greedy.
The St Cajetan church is at the end of this street and it's interior is quite unlike the others seen so far on this trip. While in detail it is as elaborate, there is only white inside this church and it makes for quite an experience.
Elsewhere you have the Church of our Lady, or Frauenkirch which is where the current Pope gave his sermons before taking up his papal office. This was allegedly built by the devil who was tricked by the chief architect and now always has a cool wind surrounding it, but that's another story.
We just had time to go round the market stalls in the Viktualienmarkt which is Munich's oldest market and holds a dazzling array of food and drink, before stopping at a Schneider Weisse inn to sample some more beers.
For the evening we headed back to the Augustina Braukeller, eat some fine Bavarian stodge before and learning some traditional beer songs about being happy and having a good time, which we very much were.
August 14th
Not much happened in the morning due to a significant aching of the bonnet, but in the early afternoon we had a look at the shops in Munich. I can't go on about this too much, but there are a couple of points to make. First is the Viktualienmarkt, mentioned earlier. This is quite amazing and could easily have been a day out in itself. Loads of tasters for cheese, dips and other produce and a mind-boggling array of choice. Second is the sports shops. Quite simply, they are huge (there are two we found in the centre). They have literally everything you need and one even has a rock climbing wall so you can test out your new kit before buying! Also on our gallivant around town we came across the Asamkirche with it's extravagant Rococo interior, which took the biscuit for interior design.
Later we had a drink in the Lowenbraukeller, and I can heartily recommend the Triompheter (strong beer) and Utype beers! This is also one of the Braukellers that Hitler frequented and gave speeches at. The floor plan doesn't seem designed for this though, but it is very grandiose and a fun place to have a beer.
We ended the evening at the Hofbrauhaus, about which many songs have been written, but I know of none. The entertainment was really enjoyable though, an Oompa band playing various classic Bavarian songs, interspersed with whip-cracking percussion (up to five fellows on stage all cracking whips in time with the band) and the occasion drinking song, to which we now knew the words and could sing along (it basically is an invitation to drink). There were other musical entertainments on other floors including this lovely-looking guitar and accordion. It was all great fun, food and company. and a lovely way to round off seeing the folks over the last few days. Cheers Mum and Dad for making the journey to Munich to meet up with us. I had a great birthday and we all had a great time and look forward to seeing you when we get back to Blighty!
August 15th
Sadly, after getting to know it so well, we had to leave Munich and head south to the land of Austria so after a brief pack up we hit the road and headed down to Salzburg. On the way the heavens predictably opened, but as we reached Bad Richenhall something magical happened. First a most complete rainbow appeared on the road ahead, as if to say "Yes, go to Austria!" and secondly the Alps loomed large over us, dark and forboding and very much like something from Tolkein in this weather. Later in Salzburg we managed to take this shot which doesn't show what I mean but still looks pretty cool.
Click here for our photostream (flickr)
Click here for our route (google maps)
Ok, so today I turned thirty which was a good excuse to drink beer, and was in the beer capital of the World, but I had nobly decided that before we get on the sauce we should take up one of the tours that were going round Munich to fill us in on what we had been seeing over the last day or two. As we had such a good tour from NewEurope tours yesterday at Dachau, we took them up on their offer of a free tour of the city.
The tour started in the Marienplatz with the Neue Rathaus, the new town hall. The Rathaus has a Glockenspiel in which, twice or maybe three times a day, mechanical puppets come to life and tell tales of local legends in interpretive dance. We would later see the Alter Rathaus, or old town hall, which is newer than the "new" Rathaus due to it being bombed and completely destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt subsequently. In fact the majority of buildings in Munich are replicas re-built after the war as the city was heavily targeted by Allied bombers. This may have had something to do with Munich being known as the "Home of the Movement", i.e. the place where the National Socialist Party, or Nazi for short, began it's rise to power.
During the tour there were several references to the Nazi's and Adolf Hitler, who had fled Austria to avoid national service and gone to live in Munich. However, at the outbreak of the First World War he joined the German Army, was injured in a gas attack and hospitalised for temporary blindness. During this time the war ended in defeat for Germany. After the war he used his army pension to rent a flat in Munich.
It was post-war that he got involved in politics, disliking the newly created Republic of Germany after abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm, and joined the German Workers Party, later re-named the National Socialist German Workers Party. It is here in Munich that he gives speeches at beerhalls, like the ones we have been frequenting, and also stages the infamous "Beerhall Putsch" where he tries to stage a coup d'etat, leading to imprisonment in Landsberg am Lech. We went down the street they marched on afterwards before they were intercepted by the police, ending in a gun battle where three or four policement were killed along with fourteen putchists.
Also on this street there are four bavarian lions with golden roses on a shield at their feet. It's tradition when walking down this road that you rub three, but not four lions for good luck, wealth and happiness. Rub a fourth and you are considered greedy.
The St Cajetan church is at the end of this street and it's interior is quite unlike the others seen so far on this trip. While in detail it is as elaborate, there is only white inside this church and it makes for quite an experience.
Elsewhere you have the Church of our Lady, or Frauenkirch which is where the current Pope gave his sermons before taking up his papal office. This was allegedly built by the devil who was tricked by the chief architect and now always has a cool wind surrounding it, but that's another story.
We just had time to go round the market stalls in the Viktualienmarkt which is Munich's oldest market and holds a dazzling array of food and drink, before stopping at a Schneider Weisse inn to sample some more beers.
For the evening we headed back to the Augustina Braukeller, eat some fine Bavarian stodge before and learning some traditional beer songs about being happy and having a good time, which we very much were.
August 14th
Not much happened in the morning due to a significant aching of the bonnet, but in the early afternoon we had a look at the shops in Munich. I can't go on about this too much, but there are a couple of points to make. First is the Viktualienmarkt, mentioned earlier. This is quite amazing and could easily have been a day out in itself. Loads of tasters for cheese, dips and other produce and a mind-boggling array of choice. Second is the sports shops. Quite simply, they are huge (there are two we found in the centre). They have literally everything you need and one even has a rock climbing wall so you can test out your new kit before buying! Also on our gallivant around town we came across the Asamkirche with it's extravagant Rococo interior, which took the biscuit for interior design.
Later we had a drink in the Lowenbraukeller, and I can heartily recommend the Triompheter (strong beer) and Utype beers! This is also one of the Braukellers that Hitler frequented and gave speeches at. The floor plan doesn't seem designed for this though, but it is very grandiose and a fun place to have a beer.
We ended the evening at the Hofbrauhaus, about which many songs have been written, but I know of none. The entertainment was really enjoyable though, an Oompa band playing various classic Bavarian songs, interspersed with whip-cracking percussion (up to five fellows on stage all cracking whips in time with the band) and the occasion drinking song, to which we now knew the words and could sing along (it basically is an invitation to drink). There were other musical entertainments on other floors including this lovely-looking guitar and accordion. It was all great fun, food and company. and a lovely way to round off seeing the folks over the last few days. Cheers Mum and Dad for making the journey to Munich to meet up with us. I had a great birthday and we all had a great time and look forward to seeing you when we get back to Blighty!
August 15th
Sadly, after getting to know it so well, we had to leave Munich and head south to the land of Austria so after a brief pack up we hit the road and headed down to Salzburg. On the way the heavens predictably opened, but as we reached Bad Richenhall something magical happened. First a most complete rainbow appeared on the road ahead, as if to say "Yes, go to Austria!" and secondly the Alps loomed large over us, dark and forboding and very much like something from Tolkein in this weather. Later in Salzburg we managed to take this shot which doesn't show what I mean but still looks pretty cool.
Click here for our photostream (flickr)
Click here for our route (google maps)
Glad you had a great 30th Birthday Matt. We really enjoyed seeing you, Rachel and Nailz, and had a lovely time. Cheers Munich !!!!
ReplyDeleteLinda & Phil x