Munich & Bavaria

It's been a bit since I posted something other than links to my opera blog. I had to get those opera reviews out of the way so it didn't get to be too long after their showing date and so that I could remember enough of the details. Now though, I'd like to touch on my trip to Munich and Bavaria last week, with a post about Salzburg to follow.

My first real view of Munich

I'm quickly learning that the night train experience is not the best for getting rest. It's true that it gets you there sooner than you could get there otherwise, and it is cheaper (because of already having a EURail pass, of course, but also) because you don't have to pay for accommodations that night. Still, I arrived in Munich pretty exhausted. Also, it wasn't convenient to be arriving there in the very early morning (before seven). I found my way from the train station to the hotel (fortunately it wasn't far) and then got some work done. At one point I went back to the train station because, unlike Vienna, that was the only place I could find a coffee shop to get some hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant. I did some reading here before heading back and actually checking into the hotel. Exhausted, I slept before getting dinner at an Italian place that said, "we no speak americano."

The New City Hall (to one side of the clock tower)

Statue of Mary for which the plaza is named

It wasn't until the next day that my actual exploration of Munich began. I had been informed by the front desk that there was a three hour walking tour of the city. I had intended to go on it the previous day, but the way it was explained to me I thought it left from the hotel, and it did not. I headed down to the city's central square, Marienplatz. The square is, unsurprisingly, named after the Virgin Mary, who is the patron saint of the city (there's some historical background to why this is, they inherited her somehow, but I can't recall it off the top of my head). The three main attractions in this area are the New City Hall, its clock tower, and the statue of Mary in the center of the square. My primary objective upon arriving, however, was to get lunch. I stopped into a little restaurant and had a sandwich and some hot chocolate while I read and waited for it to be about time for the walking tour.

I met the tour guide under the watchful eyes of Mary in the center of the square. She explained that she was from the U.S. but had a German grandmother and is now going to school here while teaching English. Definitely interesting. She also seemed to have a non-American accent, which intrigued me since in every other way she claimed to be native to the U.S. Nonetheless, she was an excellent guide, knowledgeable about the city, and able to impart poignancy to some of the weightier topics but lighten other moments with wit.

We started by having her explain about the statue in the center of the square and then discuss the New City Hall. Apparently the old one was not sufficient and so they started created the new one in a neo-gothic style. When it was finally completed, the old city hall got turned into a toy museum, which can still be visited, today (though I didn't go). The neo-gothic style was amazing, in large part because when the gothic period was actually in vogue the technology was somewhat insufficient to actually realize glorious projects in all but the most prestigious places. Neo-gothic was able to take those ideas and realize them with more modern technology. The flowers in the New City Hall were beautiful, too. It was also at this time the guide explained to us the monk symbol for the city of "München" because the city developed out of the existence of surrounding monasteries and the name means "where the monks are" or "where the monks go."

The Devil's footprint?!

The illusion is somewhat visible
(Minus the later-added stain-glass window)

Our next stop was the "church the Devil himself built." The myth about this church was that the Devil was upset upon visiting the church because he thought "oh, another house of God." He then realized upon walking in that there were no windows in the design and therefore the light of God could not enter in. He was pleased by this and decided to actually offer the architect his assistance. What he did not realize is that the architect actually had planned an optical illusion. When you walk into the church all the columns block the windows. You have to fully be inside the church before the light of God shines on you. When the devil realized this he was furious. There is a footprint on the floor that is supposedly the Devil's footprint, but more likely is the architect's. Later, however, a stained glass window was added to the back of the church.

Clocks!

Like so much of Germania, and Europe as a whole, Munich has history very closely tied to World War II. We learned from our guide how Hitler, loving his lands but eager for war, recognized destruction would be wrought on his cities and therefore had photos and plans taken down to the tiniest details like the directions of tiles in the street to reconstruct the cities after the war. In Munich, these plans were followed (if not by Hitler's regime). In Berlin, the Soviets were not interested in this precise reconstruction, preferring to allow symbolic change in the city. Two examples of this were particularly prescient. The first was actually a failure (and may not have been from World War II, now that I think on it). One particular church lost some of its towers and they were not rebuilt. The clocks, however, were retained. Therefore, its one clock tower now has eight clocks on it, two for each direction. The other is the presence of a cannonball lodged in a church near its windows. This had been there prior to World War II, and in the reconstructions efforts the builders followed the plans right down to replacing the cannonball. Apparently it falls out every once and a while, and they have to glue it back in again.

Cannonball!! (upper right)

Inside the Hofbrauhaus

Besides its World War II history, Munich is of course famous for the original Oktoberfest. We walked by the main Hofbrauhaus, one of this festival's focal points. It was also interesting to go inside and see the rustic atmosphere. Apparently the service can be incredibly slow because it is so huge. Unless, that is, you happen to possess one of the special tables that can only be obtained through huge sums of money or by being a regular for decades. Unfortunately, here too, there is relationship to Hitler, as it was here that he did some of his plotting for and announcing of his new order.

The cathedral's wall with two different paints

A brief reprieve from these gloomier aspects of Munich's history was the opportunity to see the opera house. It was not possible to go in (certainly not on the walking tour, and I tried to look later but it was shut up pretty tight). Still, it was interesting to see a massive opera house and concert house right next to each other, such a fixture in the city. 

The interior

Also, at the next square was a beautiful Church with not so beautiful paint. One strip of the paint, however, was apparently what had been chosen by popular vote for repainting the cathedral. It was cool to see that they were doing this. The pale, pale yellow did look like it would be nice, but I did wonder how quickly it would become muddied and dark like the old yellow paint. The inside of this cathedral, whatever the outside paint, was nonetheless exquisite.

Opera house exterior

It was on the way to this square that we saw a monument laid in gold into the cobblestones of the street. On the right side of this street was one of the great palaces of an earlier era. It sits on a major thoroughfare toward another part of Munich, as well as one of the universities. Unfortunately, the Nazis decided to put up a checkpoint on this thoroughfare, requiring passerby to hail Hitler before going on. Those who did not were immediately taken to Dachau (the first Nazi concentration camp and a "model" camp where training was done). Objectors began to use the side street where this monument is to avoid this possibility. The monument is there to show their path. Apparently the guide once had a man come up to her in the tour and say, "Are you telling them about this monument? Tell them my father walked through here every day for months, because he would not follow the Nazis." Sadly, eventually the Nazis placed a guard at the end of that street, as well, and if you did not have a good reason for going that way, you were also sent to Dachau.

Once we arrived at the actual square, we were met with how impressive it is. It is unsurprising that Hitler loved to give his rallies here and make speeches from the steps. Indeed, it was somewhat horrifying to be able to stand exactly in that center spot and imagine what happened during that time. We also learned a story that when he first marched for revolution, he apparently ducked and ran when bullets started firing from police against the protest he had riled up. He stole and ambulance, took a girl with a skinned knee to the hospital, and kept going. Still, an ally of his who was a general never forgave him for his cowardice.

After the tour was over I tipped our guide. The system is interesting because she actually pays the agency 2.50 euros to advertise for her, and she charges nothing. Her recouping her costs and her income is based entirely on tips. Afterward I stopped back at the opera but wasn't able to get in. The next stop was the market. The guide had explained earlier on the tour that the market was a big part of the culture of Munich and you could get all sorts of things there. It smelled great due to the potpourri, fruit, vegetables, and flowers, though these weren't the only things they sold. The pole in the center of the market is apparently a tradition that marks what the market and the town as a whole has to offer. Towns all around Bavaria follow this tradition, raising them during Oktoberfest. A town can steal another town's representational pole and then the town that lost it has to provide food to the thief. Some funny stories have ensued when tiny towns have had a prank played on them by towns with thousands upon thousands of residents. Following that, I went back to see the clock tower. The guide had explained that it goes off three times a day, but that you have to wait a couple minutes after it starts ringing to see the figures actually start moving. Because of this, I took the time to stop into a music shop and pick up a full copy of Schubert's Die schöne Müllerin, in anticipation of singing parts of it. When I came back, the clock tower was going off! I tried to post a video, but the blog kept rejecting it. Of course the little figures are primitive by our standards of things today, but it's amazing to think the mechanics that must have gone into creating the effect when the clock tower was designed over a hundred years ago!

I returned to the italian place from the previous day for some pasta before turning in. The next morning I realized that I had done most everything I actually wanted to do in Munich and it might be best I headed to Salzburg. I was glad I did this because Salzburg is one of the most amazing places I've ever been. On the way, I also got to see some of the bucolic Bavarian countryside, though I think it might have been even more beautiful if I had been going a direction other than East. I was leaving Bavaria rather than going deeper into it. Indeed, I might have liked to get to Neuschwanstein, but it was simply impossible since the castle is really not close to anything. Some other time! Up next: the exquisite beauty of Salzburg!

One more photo: