Iberia Business Class Between Chicago and Munich
The Kimpton DeWitt, Amsterdam
AIM: Our Time in Amsterdam
The Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center
The Radisson Blu 1919, Reykjavik
The Center Hotel Plaza, Reykjavik
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part I
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part II
AIM: Our Time in Iceland, Part III
The aloft Munich
AIM: Our Time at Dachau
AIM: Our Time in Munich
The Hilton Munich Airport
Our time to explore Munich was a little "chopped up". We had Saturday afternoon/evening after arriving from Iceland, Sunday afternoon/evening after going to Dachau and all day Monday before returning to the US on Tuesday. We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather the whole time, fortunately. Though we normally like to do the hop-on/hop-off bus on our first day in a city, just to get the lay of the land, in this case we didn't have much choice but to save it for the last day but it worked out fine. Here are a few of the sights we saw:
Karlstor
A "tor" is a city gate and this is one of the three original city gates. Karl Theodor was the elector in the late 1700s and he had the old city walls torn down to create space for a number of new plazas but he did have these gates preserved. This one was previously known as Neuhauser Tor when it was built in the 14th century but it renamed for Karl Theodor and was integrated into this semi-circular wing of the Rondell am Sacchus.
Michaelskirche
The largest Renaissance church north of the Alps, St. Michael's is so big it had to be built in two stages between 1583-1588 and 1590-1597. It was heavily damaged in WW II though it was restored quickly thereafter. Additional work was done in the 1980s and its barrel-vaulted roof is second only to St. Peter's in Rome. Though we didn't go down ot the tombs, this is the final resting place for Duke Wilhelm V (who had the church built in the first place), “Mad” King Ludwig II, Emperor Maximilian I and King Otto of Bavaria.
Marienplatz
This plaza is said to be the city's heart as it was once the marketplace in the center of the city. The weekend we arrived it was hosting a music festival with a stage at one end and various tents along the sides. The large building pictured here is the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall), home of a famous Glockenspiel. This being Europe, not the US, "new" means "newer than the old one" as this one was constructed 1867-1909 while the Old Town Hall dates to the 15th century.
At 11 AM, 12 noon and 5 PM the Glockenspiel will play its tune and the figures will dance and twirl the Cooper's Dance. This is in memory of the people who performed that dance here at the Marienplatz in 1517 to celebrate the end of the plague.
The St. Mary's Column is on the plaza in front of the New Town Hall. It commemorates the end of the Swedish invasion in 1638. The statue of Mary is actually even older; it was created in 1590. With the crowd gathering for the Glockenspiel performance I couldn't get a good shot of the entire column but on each corner of the base are these putti (aka a cherub) fighting a creature that represents one of the things the city has overcome: war, pestilence, hunger and heresy.
Paulskirche
St. Paul's is located in the neighborhood behind our hotel. We were just out exploring on foot, turned a corner and saw the imposing building. We did not go in as a service was in progress.
Odeonsplatz
This plaza is named for the Odeon, the former concert hall located on one side. That building is now the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior but is actually modeled on the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. There are a couple of other buildings built in the Italian style on this plaza.Theatinerkirche
When the sun lights it up it's hard not to notice the bright yellow church officially known as St. Cajetan's Church. St. Cajetan was Italian-born and founded a religious order known as the Theatines. This building's creation was ordered to celebrate the birth of Prince Max Emanuel in 1662. Designed by Italian architects, its Rococo style give it a different feel from other churches in Munich.
Feldherrnhalle
The Field Marshal's Hall is right across the street from Theatinerkirche and was built in the early 1840s. This was the site of one of the city's former gates and is designed as an open colonnade, modeled after one in Florence. Inside you'll see statues of some of Bavaria's most revered generals.
In 1923 this was the site of a clash between the Bavarian police and followers of Adolf Hitler. The supporters began the “Beer Hall Putsch (coup)” at one of the city’s largest beer halls and marched toward Feldherrnhalle to start the “people’s revolution”. When they failed to obey the state police’s orders to stop, the police opened fire and 16 marchers were killed as were four policeman. Following this march, Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for a short time.
Max-Joseph-Platz
Maximilian I Joseph was the first king of Bavaria and this plaza is named for him. His statue is in the middle of the square and dates to 1835. Behind it is the grand opera theater, the Nationaltheater. This version of the theater was built 1958-1963 to replace the second version of the theater that was destroyed during the war. The first version of the theater burned in 1823, just five years after its initial completion.
Munich Olympic Park
I really love the Olympics so I was excited that this was a stop on the hop-on/hop-off bus route. Since there were no events going on it was quiet but the grounds were still in use by the public as there are jogging trails and a small lake with ducks and a playground nearby. You can pay to go up in the tower and have a look, though we did not do that. The venues seem so small by today's standards! But the café was open and had a surprisingly nice variety of food and, of course, the gift shop was open. I shouldn't have been surprised there was no 1972 memorabilia available but I'm not sure how many Olympic sites have 46-year-old souvenirs on hand! |
| Olympic Rings planted in the hillside |
The English Garden
Named for the landscape style, this long, thin stretch of green was designated Munich's first city park in 1792. Larger than NYC's Central Park at 910 acres, it did remind me of that urban park where there were people sitting out on blankets reading, soaking up the sun and watching their children play. There were lots of paths throughout with joggers and walkers taking advantage of the glorious weather. The Chinese Pagoda was constructed as an answer to the pagoda in London's Royal Botanical Garden. The tower was built in the late 1700s but was bombed during the war. It was then rebuilt to the original design and is at the center of Munich's second-largest biergarten.
As we waited for the bus to take us back to our hotel, we saw two last points of interest.
Walking Man
Exiting the English Garden as we looked each way to find the bus stop there was no way to miss this giant statue. Created in Los Angeles in 1995 it stands 56 feet tall. It was shipped to Germany in nine pieces and reassembled here.
Siegestor
Looking to the right from our bus stop we saw the Victory Gate or Siegestor. Commissioned by King Ludwig I and built 1843-1852 it commemorates the bravery of the Bavarian army and its success in the Napoleonic War of liberation. It sits on Ludwigstraße (Ludwig Street) and at the other end of the street is the Odeonplatz at the Feldherrnhalle, which also honors the Bavarian army.
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