MUNICH (MUCHEN)
Munich, with
a population of 1.3 million, is a
popular destination, so I’ll just relate a few tid bits of information you may
not know. The capitol of Bavaria is in one of Germany’s sixteen states.
Bavaria is
the largest state in the Federated Republic of Germany, and is about the size
of Montana. Located in the southeast part of the country it occupies about
one-fifth of Germany’s acreage. Munich became the capitol of Bavaria in 13th
century. Prior to that Regensburg was the capitol.
In 1810 Ludwig I married and threw a big
party, and Octoberfest has been held in late September / early October ever
since.
Each year
110 million gallons of beer are brewed in Munich and 70-80% of it is consumed
in the city. The drinking age is 16 for beer and wine, 18 for anything harder.
Interestingly beer is considered liquid bread and is taxed as bread, not as
alcohol. We were told the Lowenbrau
brewery’s cellars are under the street.
BMW stands
for Bavarian Motor Works. In 1916 they produced aircraft engines, in 1928 they
added automobiles. A car rolls off
the production line every 90
seconds---and only after it is ordered! Their home office is a three
cylindrical building that is full of windows. The BMW tower at 950 feet high is
visible from afar. It resembles the space needle, and a revolving restaurant is
at 650 feet.
The Nymphenburg Baroque summer palace and home of
previous kings was the King’s gift to
his wife in 1664 for delivering a son. The Wittelsbach dynasty ruled Bavaria
for 738 years, until 1918. The Palace is a half-mile long and is symmetrical
with equal buildings mirrored on each side. It took 150 years to finish the
Palace. There are 500 acres of park in the back. When the family moved to
Munich they hardly came alone considering they brought 500 horses and 1000
servants!
A local docent told us, “The city has 50
museums and 70 theaters. The population has doubled since the end of the war,
and 80% of the apartments are new. All the high rise buildings are in the
suburbs because an ordinance prohibits any building taller than Our Lady
Church. There are 210 churches in the city.”
The Opera House Pennies Built
Munich’s
Opera House, built 200 years ago, was the largest at that time. Unfortunately
it burned five years later, and there
was no money to replace it. So the people paid an extra penny for each beer and soon there was enough
money to finance the present building. It seats 2000 people and employs 1000
people. There is a rule that no opera will be performed on any
two successive days.
A Glockenspiel
I’ve seen
many unique clocks in my travels, and someday I’ll gather them all for one
post. So I was anxious to see the one in Munich. Just before lunch we
hurried to Maria Square where we joined
a large crowd gathered to watch the 10-minute performance of the glockenspiel
at noon. It is located in the tower of the new City Hall, which looks like a
large Gothic church. It plays at 11:00 AM (we missed that one) and again at
noon. The figures in the 1908 clock are about six feet tall. The bells ring
first, then the figures move around in a circle. It is over when the rooster at
the top flaps its wings and crows three times.
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