"Metropolis on the Isar" a Munich Travel Page by nicolaitan

Thoughts on Munich

Munich is Germany's third largest city and second most frequented tourist destination. Sophisticated, cultured, and very prosperous, it has a remarkably quaint and earthy appeal as well. Munich is home to such international companies as Siemens and BMW as well as being an important trendsetter in the world of fashion and the arts, yet is equally famous for its beer gardens and the Oktoberfest. The many museums and palaces are justly world famous. Beautiful parks, theaters, haute upscale shopping on the Maximillianstrasse, and Michelin-starred restaurants share the same compact city center as beer halls, wurst-centric Bavarian eatieries, the throngs crowding the pedestrianized town center, and the street performers on the Marienplatz.

Munich offers something for everyone and too much for anyone to digest in the three days we spent here. Many of Munich's tourist attractions derive from its remarkable history, yet history is being made each day in this city as it continues to recover from the difficult 20th Century. The City of Monks is a great tourist destination.

The city we know as Munich has been settled since Roman times and was formally founded by Henry the Lion, the duke of Bavaria and Saxony, in 1158. In 1255, it became the residence of the Wittelsbach family, dukes of Bavaria, who would rule with few interruptions but considerable turmoil until the end of World War I. Devastated by several fires and occupied by Sweden during the Thirty Year War, it was rebuilt and recaptured, becomint the capitol of Bavaria in the early 19th Century. The Wittelsbachs became wealthy and powerful as Electors of the Holy Roman Emperor and several occupied that post over the centuries. Their trade monopolies and control of the Isar River crossing added general wealth to the city as well. The Frauenkirche, with its famed brick towers and onion shaped domes was constructed during this period, in the late 15th Century, and remains the symbol of Munich today.

The 18th Century saw Munich under Hapsburg rule. Under kings Ludwig I, Maximillian II, and Ludwig II in the 19th Century, Munich was a capitol of European culture and architecture. Some important touristic sites, such as the Nymphenberg Palace, were built in the 17th and 18th Centuries, but most of the city's great classical buildings were constructed during the 19th. Germany's golden age of painting was also centered in Munich during the 19th Century and forward.

After the loss of WWI, Bavaria's conservative environment led its designation as the "Capitol of the Movement" by the National Socialist Party led by Adolf Hitler. The Munich pact, in which Neville Chamberlain gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler, remains a reminder of the importance Hitler placed on this city. It remained a Nazi stronghold till defeat in 1945, bombed into destruction and defeat. Since that time, there has been extensive accurate rebuilding and Munich has achieved world renown hosting the 1972 Olympics and World Cup games. It is home to many of Germany's most prestigious corporations. And of course it hosts the Oktoberfest - a celebration of what is perhaps Munich's best known product.

1-10 - Residenz
11-20- Individual Tips
21-30 and Travelogue - Schloss Nymphenburg