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| I specifically made sure that I was in a good photo-taking spot at dusk. I definitely succeeded! More photos from this vantage point below |
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| My wintry day started outside of the city center. Here, Munich's TV Tower |
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| The Olympic Stadium for the 1972 Summer Games |
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| My first destination that morning: BMW Welt, or "BMW World" in English. If you've never thought to look it up, BMW stands for "Bayerische Motoren Werke," which reflects its Bavarian heritage. BMW World is BMW's largest and fanciest showroom, and is located right next to the firm's global headquarters and factory |
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| Although I'm no big car fan, the free admission was enough to draw me in. I left wanting a BMW. I'd even settle for this Rolls Royce |
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| How much do you think this futuristic i8 costs? Answer: 137,530 Euros! |
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| Loving the architecture |
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| The cylindrical building is BMW's headquarters |
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| Sweet, more cool architecture. This part of the BMW World is called "The Cone" |
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| Probably the only time I'll be in the driver's seat of a BMW... until I became rich and famous, at least |
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| Back to the city center! The Feldherrnhalle on Odeonsplatz, built in the 1840s, honors Bavarian generals and is modeled after a famous loggia in Florence |
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| The Hofgarten, behind the Residenz Palace |
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| Time for one of Munich's top sights - the Residenz. This palace was the seat of government of the Wittelsbach family of Bavarian rulers from 1508 to 1918, when the last king had to leave the Residenz. During this period, the palace developed into one of the most lavish complexes in Europe. I walked through 130 rooms in 2 hours, many with original or period furniture and artwork. The Residenz, of course, was severely damaged during World War II, but later faithfully restored |
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| The Grotto Courtyard was built in the late 1500s and exquisitely decorated with colorful shells and crystals. This fountain once spurted red wine |
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| The room was meant to demonstrate man's ability to control nature. After it was destroyed in WWII, Bavarians donated shells to help with the reconstruction |
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| The Antiquarium is another one of Munich's most memorable sights. I remember this from my last trip, too. Completed in 1571, it was meant to serve as an exhibition room for Duke Albrecht V's antiques. His collection was later supplemented by 16th, 17th, and 18th century works. Apparently it's the largest Renaissance hall north of the Alps |
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| Small paintings in the room's arches show 120 Bavarian villages as they looked in 1550. In that oval is Munich's painting |
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| Here you can see how it was later converted into a banquet hall |
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| Lots of statues line the wall, some dating back to Roman times |
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| The Black Hall, built in 1590. Check out the painting on the ceiling that gives the illusion of height |
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| The Audience Chamber: In this room, the ruling Elector received envoys and diplomats |
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| The Elector's bedroom. The original wall decorations were destroyed in WWII, but the silk covering still dates to the late 1700s |
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| This place is huge. One of a number of courtyards |
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| This room was built in 1615 and was originally meant for guests. The tapestries also date back to the 17th century |
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| A look at the Room of Judgement's decorative ceiling, adorned with a painting that displays an allegory of selection and judgement |
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| The Emperor's Hall, built between 1612 and 1616 |
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| More relics! Relics, remember, are pieces of dead saints or other holy figures. Apparently praying next to one would was supposed to bring you closer to God. I find them to be a little unsettling. Here's a good look at a bone |
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| And here, a mummified hand. This is the third mummified hand I have seen in the last 4 months. See another here! You know you want to... |
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| The Court Chapel was built in 1600 and reserved for members of the royal court. It was here where the funeral of "Mad" King Ludwig II took place (he was the king that built the famous Neuschwanstein Castle). And 75 years before his funeral, his grandfather was married here. After the wedding, he joined his guests and subjects at a huge, rowdy reception. That reception was so fun that it became an annual tradition that today is known as... Oktoberfest! |
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| The Ornate Chapel was built in 1607 and, naturally, destroyed in WWII before being rebuilt. On the wall are more relics |
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| A better look at the gold leaf and mini dome |
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| The Green Gallery, built in 1733 |
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| On to the last big room - the Ancestral Gallery of the Wittelsbach Family, built in the 1740s. All guests had to pass through here to meet the Duke. In 1939, all of the museums in Germany were closed and gradually evacuated in anticipation of bombings. But public buildings like this palace were kept open to instill confidence in the public, and thus most of their artworks were not removed. Nevertheless, some paintings, such as this one, were hastily cut out of their frames and hidden away (you can still see where it was cut before bombs destroyed this room). What the Nazis did not rescue, they photographed. That helped immensely during the reconstruction of this palace |
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| Now that's a family tree! The Wittelsbachs decided oh-so-modestly to have Hercules pictured at the bottom, planting their tree |
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| One last stop before I left the Residenz - the Cuvilliés Theatre. I shelled out a few extra euros just to come in here and get some photos of the former court theater's grand interior. It was built in the 1750s in the Rococo style. Mozart conducted here a few times |
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| Cool! |
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| Leaving the Residenz behind, I headed into the nearby Baroque Theatinerkirche, built in 1662 |
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| The next day, Monday, I wanted to take a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, so I had to squeeze all my Munich sightseeing in on this Sunday. So after my visit to the Residenz, it was back on a train and out to Nymphenburg Palace. Located in the outskirts of Munich, it was the summer quarters of the Wittelsbachs. A Bavarian ruler gave this piece of land to his wife in 1662 as a gift, as she had finally given birth to a male heir. The wife then proceeded to build this Baroque palace |
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| The gardens are huge and made for a fun, wintry walk |
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| It was super snowy. I had never really been in that much continuous heavy snow before |
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| And now back to the pedestrian zone in the city center. This city gate, the Karlstor, was first built in the 1300s and repeatedly rebuilt thereafter |
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| The Bürgersaalkirche, built in the early 18th century |
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| Bürgersaalkirche |
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| I headed next to St. Michael's Church to get this daytime picture of its interior. It was built in the late 1500s by Jesuits determined to counter the Reformation |
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| Inside Munich's famous cathedral, the Frauenkirche. Built in the late 1400s, it also houses this grave of Ludwig the Bavarian, a Wittelsbach King who died in 1347 |
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| You can see the Frauenkirche's famous domes in my last post as well as below |
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| Next up - St. Peter's Church, the oldest church in town (it dates back to the 11th century). That's Peter crucified upside-down on the ceiling |
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| All along, there was a method to my mad dash around the city - just as I had hoped to do, I made up here, the top of tall spire of the St. Peter's church, just in time for dusk. Time for some great pictures! All they cost me was 50 minutes in the freezing wind, 1.50 euro, and some seriously cold fingers. Seriously. I thought I had frostbite until they warmed up 10 minutes after my descent |
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| Marienplatz and Munich's New Town Hall (built 1867-1909) |
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| Frauenkirche in the background, on the left. My favorite shot of the day! |
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| The Old Town Hall on the right |
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| The Hotel Bayerischer Hof is the city's most luxurious, and often hosted VIPs like Michael Jackson |
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| One of the many shopping passageways that wind through Munich's Old Town |
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| The rollicking Hofbräuhaus is the world's most famous beer hall. The structure was built in 1880 and seats 5,000 inside. The crown in the logo demonstrates that the brand was the Wittelsbachs' favorite beer. The beer hall is meant as a welcoming place for commoners and elites to relax and drink side-by-side, so I waltzed right in just to take a look around. Plenty were doing the same. The hall even has its own gift shop! Inside, I was met with the most quintessentially German scene I have ever seen. Even at 7 p.m. on a Sunday night, the benches were full of chatty Germans (some wearing lederhosen, of course) gobbling up traditional dishes, which included sausages, potatoes, and Bavarian pretzels, all while washing everything down with liter-sized glasses of beer. Live traditional music added to the din. A dark side of the building's history: Hitler (who was Austrian, as the Germans would like me to remind you) had settled in Munich and began making his first inflammatory speeches in the 1920s. He made these speeches in different beer halls in the city - including this one |
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| The Hofbräuhaus is located in the Platzl, the heart of medieval Munich. All of these buildings, like half of Munich, were flattened in 1945. After the war, Munich had a vote to decide whether to restore its old town or simply build up more modern buildings. A narrow majority decided to rebuild the old town. (Other cities, like Frankfurt, decided against such an approach - hence while Frankfurt has a much more modern feel.) Generous American aid helped along the rebuilding process, which preserved the original street plan and neo-Gothic facades such as these. For most buildings, refurbishment lasted all the way to 2000 |
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| Another look at the Max-Joseph Platz and the statue of Bavarian King Max Joseph. One wall of the enormous Residenz looms behind his statue |
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| Another look at the National Theater (opened in 1818) |
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| Close to this alley is Odeonsplatz, which played host to Hitler's failed coup in 1923. Sixteen of his followers were killed during his attempt at revolution, and he was sent to jail. Once he came to power ten years later, he made a memorial at Odeonsplatz to his fallen allies. Any German passing by was required to raise their arm for the Sieg Heil salute as they passed the memorial. But rather than have to salute Nazism, most Germans decided to instead detour down this alley when they would otherwise have to walk by the memorial. This stream of shiny golden cobblestones on the ground marks the path they took |
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| This memorial commemorates victims of Nazism. Himmler's Gestapo headquarters were once here |
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| My last stop of the day: Siegestor, or Victory Gate. This triumphal arch was built in 1852 and is topped with a statue of Bavaria with a chariot pulled by lions, although today it is supposed to be a monument for peace: the text reads "Dedicated to victory, destroyed by war, urging peace" |
That was more than enough sightseeing that day, even for me and my usually inexhaustible energy reserves. I saw everything important in Munich and got plenty of great pictures, though, so that's what counts. It has also made for my longest and most informative blog post to date! I feel like I have written almost as much about Munich as Berlin.
That night, I had to rest up for my early morning trip to one of Germany's most famous sights - Neuschwanstein Castle! Coming up next.