Today, I went with some travel companions on a walking tour of Munich. This was definitely worth having the guide for Munich, especially since Munich has a different approach to tourist attractions, which I'll talk about later.
The tour started in Marienplatz, marked by a column with the Virgin Mary. This column is situated in front of the Old Rathaus, town hall. Here you can view the clock tower put on a show at 1100, 1200, and 1700. The clock tower has two prominent scenes that playout. The first scene marks the victorious jousting triumph of the knight representing Bayern over the knight of a rival kingdom.
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| Marien Column, which was erected after the Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years War. |
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| The Old Town Hall, with the Glockenspiel near the very top. |
It is of note that Munich has great pride in the Bavarian region of Germany. It is common to have the blue and white colors displayed prominently next to the German Flag or just displayed all by itself.
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| Bavarian pride! It is really reminiscent of the pride that people from Texas have in their state. |
The next scene on display is the dance of guildsmen. During the dark ages, the plague hit Munich multiple times. Due to its frequency, healthy people got used to locking themselves in their houses during the plague. The healthy wouldn't go out for any reason, not even beer. This practice led to the suffering of the local economy, which definitely affected the trade guilds. As such, the trade guilds would commission guild members to announce the end of the plague to get people out of their homes again.
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| The two scenes of the Glockenspiel |
Next up was the main cathedral of Munich. Unlike traditional cathedrals, this was built of local materials (mainly red brick) and only took 20 years to complete. According to legend, the reason for the short construction period was the work of the Devil. During initial construction, the Devil walked in the front of the cathedral. The dimly lit cathedral delighted the Devil, as he thought it was really a tribute to him. To expedite the process, the Devil made a deal with the architect, Jorg von Halsbach; don't place any more windows during construction and I, the Devil, will help to complete the building in a very short time. The architect thought about this very carefully, then accepted the offer. When the cathedral was completed, the Devil came to admire the building he thought was for him. This time, he came in the side entrance and saw a wall of windows. Feeling slighted, the Devil approached the architect proclaiming the architect did not hold up his end of the bargain. The architect smiled and told the Devil that there were just as many windows as when they started construction, the Devil just didn't see them because when you enter in the front of the cathedral all the windows are blocked by the columns. The Devil, furious that he was outwitted, stamped the ground so hard he left his footprint in the floor. In reality, it is actually the architect's footprint, but the legend is always more fun.
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| From this picture it is apparent that every column is perfectly aligned with the windows. |
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The Devil's/architect's footprint
Can you make out the flames from the heel of the foot? |
This cathedral also holds special significance because of its close ties to the Jewish community. During WWII and the persecution of the Jewish community, catholic priests helped the Jewish Rabbis preserve their sacred texts by storing them under the cathedral floor. In gratitude, the Jewish community raised over half of the funds needed to restore the badly bombed cathedral after the war. As a testament to this event, the Star of David was placed in the ceiling of the cathedral and a Cross is displayed in the ceiling of a local Jewish synagogue.
Afterwards, we walked along the path of Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch. This event, led to the Hitler's imprisonment and the spreading of his ideas during his trial and Mein Kempf. Although Munich experienced heavy bombing, you can still walk along the same route. This was due in part to the local community of Munich. Community members suspected war was imminent after the Nazi occupation of Czechloslovakia and knew Munich would probably be heavily bombed. In order to preserve their city after the war, local artists took detailed sketches of the roads, buildings, and fountains prior to WWII. As such, you can walk the path of the Beer Hall Putsch took in 1923.
During the Beer Hall Putsch, a total of 20 people died; 4 policemen and 16 Nazi party members. The Nazi party commemorates this event by placing a plaque where the Nazi mob encountered police resistance. In addition, they posted guards near the plaque and required all persons passing by the plaque to give the Nazi salute. It is important to note that even though the Nazi party started in Munich and Hitler often claimed it the city of the movement, only a small percentage of people in Munich supported the Nazi party. In small acts of defiance, citizens would go down a parallel street and thereby not salute the plaque. This side street became known as Dodger's Alley.
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| Dodger's Alley, as indicated by the gold cobblestones. |
As you can see, Dodger's Alley, given its significance, is only plainly marked. This is not an attempt to downplay its significance, but an effort to keep locals aware of this dark time in German history. The argument is that high presence and in your face landmarks will make locals jaded to the landmarks and thereby the landmarks lose their significance in the minds of the locals. Thus in Munich, landmarks and places of significance are only marked by a small blue placard instead of large billboards and prominent signs. In fact, there are 122 landmarks in Munich, which are scattered throughout the city. Munich encourages its citizens to hunt for all 122 landmarks. It is also fun for tourists looking for a scavenger hunt.
After stopping by Dodger's Alley, the guide stopped by the Munich Opera House and the plaza in front. The plaza in front is where the famous Oktoberfest takes place. The tradition dates back to the wedding party of Crown Prince Ludwig. In the next year, the Munich townspeople wanted another big celebration and this Oktoberfest was born. A few interesting facts about Oktoberfest:
1) The majority of participants in Oktoberfest are from Australia
2) Australia also has the most lost passports during Oktoberfest. As a result, Australia sets up a temporary embassy in the British embassy to help Australian tourist deal with lost passports.
3) Last year 33 children were "lost" as Oktoberfest. Lost meaning that when the tents closed during Oktoberfest, there were 33 kids whose parents were nowhere to be seen.
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The site of Oktoberfest
Currently it is very calm, but in about a month this placed will be packed with 1 L beers. |
On the topic of beer, I will devote one whole post to beer in Munich.
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