München

In the Fall, after visiting Spain, we continued through Europe to München (which means “Munich”). It is the capital of Bavaria and located in Southeastern Germany.

Munich was a stop along the way as we continued to our next destination, so we spent all of our time there trying to experience the city as much as possible.

Visiting a restaurant in Old Town Munich to have traditional beer with dinner. While there, we met a solo traveler from South Korea and have kept in touch with her ever since.

Wiener schnitzel (breaded and fried veal cutlet). The yellow pouch contained lemons which were used to flavor the wiener schnitzel, along with the cranberries.

Since we had so little time to see the city, we scheduled a tour with a group of about 6 or so others. The tour met here at the Odeonsplatz, a historical market square built in the early 1800’s.

Our tour guide, Julia, took us on a 90 minute tour through the heart of Munich which began with this beautiful church called, in German, Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan.

The Catholic church took nearly 30 years to build and was completed in 1690. It was built by Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, in thanks to God after the birth of their long awaited heir to the Bavarian crown, Prince Max Emanuel, who was born in 1662.

Leaving the church we continued to a large square in the middle of Munich called Max-Joseph-Platz, named after Maximilian I Joseph (1756-1825).

Maximilian I Joseph, a King of Bavaria and at one point an ally to Napoleon.

Behind the statue of Max I Joseph was the The National Theatre: a historical opera house.

It was originally built in 1818 but was destroyed in a fire a few years later. It was then rebuilt in 1825 but was again destroyed, this time during WWII. It was rebuilt for the final time in 1963.

These shops with apartments above them were to the right of the Max-Joseph-Platz and, as Americans, we found their style and quaintness intriguing.

Surprisingly, the most memorable part of our tour was a single pedestrian only street called the Viscardigasse alley which has a path of bronze bricks down the center of it.

Drückebergergasse (“Shirker’s Alley”), also commonly referred to as the “golden path”.

During WWII, Germans were required to pass by a statue on a nearby street and give the Nazi salute. Many did not support the Nazi party or Hilter, so to demonstrate a passive protest, many Germans took a detour down the Viscardigasse alley to avoid saluting the statue.

shirker's alley — The path now commemorates the brave Germans who had courage to resist Hilter.
*not our photo

Maneuvering through the heart of Munich, we visited the Hofbräuhaus beer hall, which has been a special place in the city since the 16th century.

Regular patrons to the beer hall keep their steins (mugs) stored in lockers at the Hofbräuhaus.

Through the years, many people have frequented this beer hall. Mozart, for instance, lived just up the street and apparently completed some of his musical work after several inspirational visits to the beer hall. Hitler also held several meetings here during the 1920’s.

Hitler painting of beer hall — Watercolor painting done by Hitler of the Hofbräuhaus beer hall.

Nearing the end of our tour, we walked past the Frauenkirche, which is also known as the “Cathedral of Our Dear Lady”. It was built in the 12th century.

Although the church was bombed in WWII, the towers withstood the destruction and are still standing tall today.

Our tour ended in the Marienplatz, the central square in the center of Munich (it’s been the main city square since the 1100’s).

The reason for gathering here was to see the The Rathaus-Glockenspiel which is a clock that reenacts two old and famous stories from the 1500’s.

We took this picture the next morning, when there were less crowds and it was easier to capture. The Glockenspiel is made of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures.

The top half of the Glockenspiel reenacts the honorary fight (that took place after the marriage of a local Duke) between knights on horseback who represent Bavaria (red and white) and Lothringen (white and blue). Naturally, the Bavarian knights always win.

The lower half of the Glockenspiel shows Schäfflertanz (the coopers’ dance). Apparently there was a plague in Munich in 1517 and it is said that coopers danced through the streets to encourage and strengthen anyone who was fearful. The dance now symbolizes perseverance and loyalty to authority during hard times.

Rathaus-Glockenspiel — The marriage and accompanying joust on top; coopers’ dance on bottom.
*not our photo

The show ended with 3 crows from the golden rooster at the top of the Glockenspiel.

On the following days after the tour, we explored outside of downtown Munich to visit some local parks.

On one morning, we happened upon several surfers who were taking turns riding waves in a river.

We also re-visited many of the places we were shown on our tour (as we were still reminiscing over the memories we’d made), and found a few new places as well, such as the local markets.