I WAS RUMMAGING AROUND for Birthday/Christmas wrapping when I discovered an artifact from days when Cal’s Cameras/Video did all of R&T’s photo processing.
Its prints came from August 2002, about ten years prior to R&T’s California demise. I don’t recall precisely which trip, but it’s evident I spent a couple days of “early retirement” enjoying one of my favorite European cities. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits gleaned from the pics, together with my usual Internet sleuthing and recollections.
Part of the fun is seeing how much hasn’t changed in a long, long time, a contrast to our country’s more typical “fine dining since 1965.”
Munich History. Wikipedia identifies Munich as “the capital and most populous city of the Free State of Bavaria, Germany…. The city was first mentioned in 1158. Catholic Munich strongly resisted the Reformation and was a political point of divergence during the resulting Thirty Years’ War, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant Swedes.”
Der Marckt zu München, 1644. This was near the end of the Thirty Years’ War. Image from Kleinanzeigen.
Transitioning to more recently, Wikipedia notes, “City guides published in the early 1860s directed tourists to Munich’s architecture and art collections, which at the time were unique in Germany and are a legacy mainly of Ludwig I of Bavaria, with contributions from Maximilian II of Bavaria.”
A Handy Guidebook. On my relatively frequent trips (BMW and Audi are both headquartered there), I brought along my Baedeker’s Southern Germany, 1910. As these happy snaps show, its Munich city map is still a useful one.
Marienplatz. SimanaitisSays has been trippin’ to Munich’s central Marienplatz since 2013. As noted back then, “It’s part of a giant pedestrian mall stretching from Karlsplatz on the northwest to the Viktualienmarkt and beyond on the southeast.” It’s also a main junction of many U-Bahns (undergrounds, subways, metros.
Wikipedia notes, “The minimal damages to the New Town Hall that occurred during the air raids on Munich 1944 were rebuilt after the war. The portion constructed at the Marienplatz received an additional floor, which were hidden behind the neo-Gothic balustrade so that the building’s image was preserved.”
“The façade,” Wikipedia continues, “on the Landschaftstrasse was very simply restored. At the end of the 1990s, the New Town Hall was rebuilt and reconstructed identically, including the neo-Gothic ornaments, which crown the roof.”
The Neue Rathaus contains the Glockenspiel, famous for its animated figures celebrating the end of the plague in 1517 as well as the 1568 marriage festivities of Duke Wilhelm V.
On the east side of Marienplaz is the Altes Rathaus, first documented in 1310, redesigned in 1470-1480. Today it’s home to the Spielzeugmuseum.
Frauenkirche. Its twin towers visible from Marienplatz, the Dom zu Unsra Liabm Frau (Cathedral of Our Lady) is known to all as Frauenkirche.
Wikipedia notes, “It is the biggest hall church in the world.” Frauenkirche was consecrated in 1494, completed with its domes added in 1524.
A single-frau, sorta.
Kaufingerstrasse, “Buyers’ Street.” The pedestrian mall stretches west of Marienplatz to Karlsplatz. I’ve been a buyer several times, including a department store with a marvelous collection of music CDs and an optometrist where I found my first pair of round-rim glasses.
Buildings along the way display the Bavarian art of murals. I especially love this one.
Karlstor (“Karlsplatz gate”) marks at the eastern end of Kaufingerstrasse.
Tomorrow in Part 2 we amble south of Marienplatz into Viktualmarkt. We conclude in a corner of my own dining room. Yum. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com