München, Bayern, Deutschland

Munich is the capital of Bavaria, the most touristed city in Germany, and the most expensive city in Germany. It is teeming with life, history, and a large mix of ethnicities. Munich has a long and complex history like anyplace in Germany. Munich is king when it comes to Oktoberfest (and actually, the Lederhose is a more Bavarian tradition I’ve come to realize). This is where I stayed for a couple of weeks with my study abroad group in 2017. We had enough time here to see so many things that I’m going to summarize as many of the amazing places I saw that I can.

On the first day, I climbed up the top of Peterskirche (“Peter’s church” similarly named to Bremen’s St. Petri Dom/St. Peter’s Cathedral — it can get confusing) where I got to take pictures of the iconic Neues Rathaus and Frauenkirche.

As you can see, Munich is a vast city in expanse, but not in height of buildings. I absolutely love this kind of dynamic in many German and European cities. I’m used to measuring the size of a city based on skyscrapers (yes, Ohio has those). I believe in Munich and possibly many other cities in Germany, there is a law in place that no building is allowed to be taller than these churches. The only other building that comes close to these heights is the BMW headquarters (and as you read “BMW,” try and pronounce it the German way, “Beh-um-vey,” not “Bee-em-double-u”).

We got to see the museum with all the amazing, beautiful cars, designs, history, etc. And a couple people said this was their favorite part. We got to see the inside of the actual factory where the cars were being built. We learned that there are never two cars made alike in a year at BMW.

I had a fun time, but I’m no where near a car expert, so you can see by my amazing video skills above where I was documenting my experience like a historian and not like a car lover would. I, of course, was in love with the museums and palaces. Many of the palaces were also museums like Schloss Nymphenburg.

This palace was completed at the same time of the Palace of Versailles and although I’ve only seen pictures of Versailles, this palace has a close resemblance. It’s huge, amazing, and was housed by many Bavarian monarchs throughout the centuries. This palace is so huge that it has color-coated rooms of green, red, yellow, etc. There was also a room with 36 paintings of women from a multitude of social classes, which has a painting of a girl who was a shoe maker. I was interested to learn that because it broke my perception that monarchs only ever painted the upper classes.

The palace itself is entirely surrounded by a canal, which extends in front and behind it for almost a mile each way (over one kilometer). Behind it is a huge park with other smaller buildings dotting throughout. It felt like I was placed in an episode of the Tudors or something. The other palace in Munich that mirrors this is the Munich Residenz.

Now, from the outside, it doesn’t has the same style as the Schloss Nymphenburg. This building is much older and slowly but surely got buildings added onto it. To me, it starts to blend into the scenery until you stop to look closer and say, “Wait, this is all one building.”

What’s inside really impresses. There is a grand hall with a bust of every Roman emperor, his wife, his father, and his mother (see first picture below). There is an eerie room with ancient, Catholic artifacts; such as, what is claimed to be the head of John the Baptist and bones of other saints. And other rooms like a long dinner table with stacks of actual pure silverware (see second photo below). And there were dozens upon dozens of rooms with massive murals on the walls and/or ceilings. I love history and museums, but this place is bound to wear anyone out.

After all of these museums, I was super done and ready for some respite. I think the Englischer Garten is the perfect fit for this. Again, Germans tend to like their gardens more natural and wild, which is why this garden is named the “Englischer Garten” because this park is well-manicured like an English garden.

This is a huge park with multiple, exciting areas to it like the “Eisbachwelle” (a continuous wave for year-round surfing). The Haus der Kunst (house of art) at the southern end. And also the Chinese tower, which is also a Biergarten.

I had the chance to eat a picnic with my study abroad friends only a few yards from the above picture on our last day. It was peaceful and a great time.

Another place I enjoyed a good meal was the original Hofbräuhaus only a few blocks away from the garden — legendary beerhall dating back to the 16 century. It was loud and exciting here with obviously the best beer in the region followed up with the tasty food around. I’ve visited the Newport, Kentucky Hofbräuhaus before, which is modeled after the original one in Germany and it is very close in authenticity, I’d have to say. So you heard it here, confirmation on authenticity.

And this leads us to Ehron’s Takeaways

• A Must-See: The Schloss Nymphenburg is definitely on my top list with all the history, artwork, and the huge park behind this palace. You can get away with seeing a lot here without having to pay for everything.

• What I Recommend: I recommend going to the Englischer Garten — it’s so huge with so many unique and different places that you can easily spend a day here. And, of course, it’s free to do so. If you get bored of walking through the park, head to the southern end and go to the Haus der Kunst if you want to go indoors and see modern artwork.

• My Favorite Place: The best spot for me was probably Viktualienmarkt. Now, there’s Marienplatz, which has the massive church and courthouse, teeming with people, and filled with modern shops. But, I liked the Viktualienmarkt, which is a little more towards the back with more local, authentic shops and less name-brand stores. This is where there was a statue of Juliet (Romeo and Juliet). Again, with so many statues in Germany, it’s said that rubbing a spot of it brings you good luck. On this statue, you were supposed to place a rose in the crook of her arm and rub her right breast for good luck in your love-life. Yes, I did both of these things — it was the first and hopefully the last time I’ll have to grope a breast (no offense, Juliet).

Thanks for reading.

Until next time, lovelies,

Ehron