Sights in Bavaria
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Deutsches Museum
You could spend days exploring the Deutsches Museum, said to be the world's largest science and technology collection. This vast museum occupies its own island southeast of Isartor (Isar Gate) and features just about anything ever invented. Interactive displays (including glass blowing and paper making), model coal and salt mines, and wonderful sections on musical instruments, caves, geodesy, micro-electronics and astronomy are just some of the delights on offer. Demonstrations take place throughout the day; a popular one is in the power hall where a staff member is raised in the insulated Faraday Cage and zapped with a 220,000V bolt of lightning. There is also a fascinat…
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Nuremberg Trials Courthouse
Nazis were tried for crimes against peace and humanity in the Schwurgerichtssaal 600 (Courtroom 600). The Allies chose Nuremberg for obvious symbolic reasons. The building was also easily accessible and one of few such complexes to survive the war intact. Held between 1945 and 1946, 22 leaders and 150 underlings were convicted; dozens were executed.
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Reichsparteitagsgelände
Nuremberg's role during the Third Reich is emblazoned in minds around the world through the images of rapturous Nazi supporters thronging the city's streets to salute their Führer. The rallies at the Reichsparteitagsgelände were part of an orchestrated propaganda campaign that began as early as 1927 to garner support for the NSDAP, which had a strong following in Nuremberg. In 1933, the party planned a ridiculously large purpose-built complex in the southeastern Luitpoldhain suburb.
In doing this Nazi leaders hoped to establish a metaphorical link between Nuremberg's illustrious past as Reichstagstadt (where parliament met during the Holy Roman Empire) and the Third Rei…
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Münchner Stadtmuseum
You could spend hours roaming through the collections of the rambling Münchner Stadtmuseum, making it a perfect rainy day destination.
Historical exhibits help you understand how the royal residence evolved into today's modern metropolis, but the main artistic draw is the ensemble of Erasmus Grasser's 10 spritelike Morris Dancers (1480), medieval travelling entertainers who performed at court and on market squares. The late Gothic figures originally adorned the ballroom of the Altes Rathaus.
Also of special note is the small but powerful section on Munich during the Third Reich that forms an enlightening complement to the nearby Jüdisches Museum (Jewish Museum). Set in a …
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Heilig-Geist-Ausstellungsraum
There may be no vineyards in this neck of the woods but - with a little divine intervention - the Heilig-Geist-Stift-Schenke (Holy Spirit Foundation) has been producing its own wine for centuries. Passau's most historic restaurant is actually part of a former Franciscan monastery. In 1358, a wealthy local family created a foundation here for the poor, where residents lived for free on the condition that they prayed for the family in the adjoining chapel.
To fund the foundation, the family established vineyards in Krems (then also part of the Habsburg Empire, and now in Austria). Wine was given to residents with meals as a gesture of respect (providing they kept up their p…
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Leopoldstrasse
Grab a table in a street-side café on Leopoldstrasse and watch the world on parade. What do you see? Bronzed lotharios in deep-buttoned white shirts. Faux blondes in tiny tees. Teens in tight premium jeans. Chic mamas walking designer dogs. Yup, no matter what you've heard or read, Schwabing's reputation as a boho stronghold of artists and students is a thing of the past.
Fact is, Schwabing is thoroughly gentrified, has some of the highest rents in town and is populated by lawyers, editors, professors and trust fund babies in beemers.
Some live in beautifully restored Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) buildings along such streets as Ainmillerstrasse and Gedonstrasse. Through it a…
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Hauptmarkt
This bustling square in the heart of the Altstadt is the site of daily markets as well as the famous Christkindlesmarkt. At the eastern end is the ornate Gothic Pfarrkirche Unsere Liebe Frau (1350-58), also known as simply the Frauenkirche. The work of Prague cathedral builder Peter Parler, it's the oldest Gothic hall church in Bavaria and stands on the ground of Nuremberg's first synagogue.
The western façade is beautifully ornamented and is where, every day at noon, crowds crane their necks to witness a spectacle called Männleinlaufen. It features seven figures, representing electoral princes, parading clockwise three times around Emperor Karl IV to chimed accompanime…
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Frauenkirche
The landmark Frauenkirche is Munich's spiritual heart and the 'Mt Everest' among its churches. No other building in the central city may stand taller than its onion-domed twin towers which reach a lofty 99m. From April to October, you can enjoy panoramic city views from the south tower.
Bombed to bits in WWII, the reconstruction is a soaring passage of light but otherwise fairly spartan. Of note is the epic cenotaph (empty tomb) of Ludwig the Bavarian just past the entrance and the bronze plaques of Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor John Paul II affixed to nearby pillars.
Churches come with legends, and the Frauenkirche has a particularly good one. As you enter the foy…
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Marienplatz
The heart and soul of the Altstadt, Marienplatz, is a popular gathering spot and packs a lot of personality into its relatively small frame. It's anchored by the Mariensäule (Mary's Column), built in 1638 to celebrate victory over Swedish forces during the Thirty Years' War; it's topped by a golden statue of the Virgin Mary balancing on a crescent moon.
At 11:00 and noon (also 17:00 March to October), the square jams up with tourists craning their necks to take in the animated Glockenspiel (carillon) in the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall), a neo-Gothic fantasy festooned with gargoyles, statues and a dragon scaling the turrets; the tourist office is on the ground floor. For…
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Maximilianstrasse
It's pricey and pretentious, but no trip to Munich would be complete without a saunter down Maximilianstrasse, one of the city's grandest boulevards. Starting at Max-Joseph-Platz, it's a 1km-long ribbon of style where sample-size fembots browse for Escada and Prada, and suits sip champagne in pavement cafés, with nary a hair out of place. Several of Munich's finest theatrical venues, including the Nationaltheater, the Kammerspiele and the Kleine Komödie am Max II are also here.
Built between 1852 and 1875, Maximilianstrasse was essentially an ego trip of King Max II. He harnessed the skills of architect Friedrich von Bürklein to create a unique stylistic hotchpotch rang…
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Hofgarten
Office workers catching some rays during their lunch break, stylish moms pushing prams, seniors on bikes, a gaggle of chatty nuns - everybody comes to the Hofgarten. The formal court gardens with fountains, radiant flower beds, lime tree-lined gravel paths and benches galore sits just north of the Residenz. Paths converge at the Dianatempel, a striking octagonal pavilion honouring the Roman goddess of the hunt. In summer it's a favourite spot for classical music recitals.
Boules players gather by the arcades on the park's north side, where the Deutsches Theatermuseum (German Theatre Museum) trains the spotlight on theatre in German-speaking countries with sets, props, cos…
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Englischer Garten
The sprawling Englischer Garten is among Europe's biggest city parks - bigger than even London's Hyde Park and New York's Central Park and a favourite playground for locals and visitors alike. It stretches north from Prinzregentenstrasse for about 5km and was conceived in 1789 - coincidentally (or perhaps not) the year of the French Revolution - as a 'garden for the people' by Elector Karl Theodor.
The design job went to Benjamin Thompson, an American-born scientist working as an advisor to the Bavarian government and at one time as its war minister.
Paths piddle around in dark stands of mature oak and maple before emerging into sunlit meadows of lush grass. Locals are min…
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Residenzplatz
Pride of place on this showy square belongs to the 18th-century Neue Bischöfliche Residenz (New Bishop's Residence). Melchior Hefele, a student of Balthasar Neumann, drafted the stucco-draped façade, as well as the rococo staircase, which winds towards a wonderfully over-the-top ceiling fresco entitled The Gods of Olympus Protecting Immortal Passau.
The bishops resided in these splendid digs until 1871. Today, the diocese administration occupies most of the rooms, but several have been set aside for the Domschatz und Diözesanmuseum (Cathedral Treasury & Museum). The ecclesiastical finery - including monstrances, vestments, sculptures and paintings - exemplifies the weal…
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Schloss Nymphenburg Gardens
The sprawling park behind Schloss Nymphenburg is a favourite spot with Münchners and visitors for strolling, jogging or whiling away a lazy afternoon. It's laid out in grand English style and accented with water features, including a large lake, a cascade and a canal popular for feeding swans, and ice-skating and ice-curling when it freezes over in winter.
The park is at its most magical without the masses, ie early in the morning and an hour before closing. But even in the daytime, you can usually commune in solitude with waterlilies and singing frogs at the Kugelweiher pond in the far northern corner.
The park's chief folly - and quite frilly to boot - the Amalienburg i…
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Bavaria Filmstadt
Movie magic made in Munich is the draw of the Bavaria Filmstadt, a theme park built around Bavaria Film, one of Germany's oldest studios founded in 1919. The top-grossing German film of all-time,Das Boot, was among the classics shot here but today's German audience is more interested in sets of the family soap, Marienhof. Films and TV are still produced today, and who knows, you might see a star during the guided 90-minute tours. The 13:00 tour is in English.
The crash-and-burn Stunt Show (show only around €9.50) is a runaway hit as well while kids are particularly fond of the wacky 4D cinema (tickets around €5.50) with seats that lurch and other special effects from sill…
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BMW Welt
Next to the Olympic Park, where Lerchenauer Strasse meets Petuelring, a glass and steel double-cone 'tornado' spirals skyward. It's arrested only by a roof the size of an aircraft carrier yet imbued with the lightness of a cloud. The BMW Welt is an architectural showstopper, a cathedral to cars, a place of pilgrimage for those who worship at the altar of the auto.
The lucky ones get to drive away with their dream car, for BMW Welt is first and foremost a car pick-up centre. Everyone else can admire the latest models, straddle a powerful motorbike, browse the 'lifestyle shop' or take a guided 80-minute tour. On the Junior Campus, kids learn about mobility, fancy themselve…
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Olympic Park
Built for the 1972 Olympic Games, Munich's Olympic Park remains an important part of life in the city. The park's lofty centrepiece is the 290m-high Olympia Tower, and the architecturally gargantuan 75,000-sq-m transparent 'tented' roof covering the Olympic Stadium is also impressive.
In the 19th century the site was a practice field for royal riders; in 1909, the first Zeppelin airship landed here; and in 1929, it became the site of Munich's first civil airport.
Today the Olympic complex is open as a collection of public facilities, and the grounds play host to numerous celebrations, concerts, fireworks displays and professional sporting matches throughout the year.
If y…
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Landgericht Nürnberg-Fürth
Nazis were tried in 1945 to 1946 for crimes against peace and humanity in Schwurgerichtssaal 600 (Court Room 600) of what is today the Landgericht Nürnberg-Fürth. The Allies held the trials in Nuremberg for obvious symbolic reasons, in addition to the fact that there was (and still is) a secure underground tunnel between the courthouse and adjacent prison (though today it only has female prisoners).
The initial and most famous trial, conducted by international prosecutors, saw 24 people accused, of which 19 were convicted and sentenced. Following trials also resulted in the conviction, sentencing and execution of Nazi leaders and underlings until 1949. Hermann Göring, t…
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Feldherrnhalle
Corking up Odeonsplatz's south side is the Feldherrnhalle, built by Klenze's main rival Friedrich von Gärnter and modelled on the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. Sombre and chunky, it honours the valour of the Bavarian army and positively drips with testosterone; just check out the statues of General Johann Tilly, who kicked the Swedes out of Munich during the Thirty Years' War; and Karl Phillip von Wrede, who first fought with, then against Napoleon in the early 19th century.
It was at the Feldherrnhalle where, on 9 November 1923, police stopped the so-called Beer Hall Putsch, Hitler's attempt to bring down the Weimar Republic. A fierce skirmish left 20 people, including …
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Tiergärtnerplatz
Ringed by charming half-timbered houses, the eastern edge of Tiergärtnerplatz is graced by the beautiful Pilatushaus. Out front is Jürgen Goertz's 1984 bronze sculpture Der Hase - Hommage á Dürer (The Hare - A Tribute to Dürer). This nod to Dürer's watercolour original called Junger Feldhase (1502) shows the dire results of tampering with nature.
During WWII, prescient officials moved key artworks to the Historischer Kunstbunker (historical art shelter), a network of caves underneath the Kaiserburg, as early as 1940. This was technically a form of resistance, since Hitler forbade such 'defeatist' thinking. There's also a film of the bombing of Nuremberg. Tours also …
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Museum Villa Stuck
Franz von Stuck was a leading light in Munich's art scene around the turn of the 20th century and his residence is one of the finest Jugendstil homes you'll ever see. Stuck himself came up with the intricate design, which forges tapestries, patterned floors, coffered ceilings and other elements into a harmonious work of art. His furniture even earned a gold medal at the Paris World Fair in 1900.
Today, his pad is open as the Museum Villa Stuck and presents changing exhibits, usually starring Stuck's contemporaries but also later 20th-century avant-gardists such as Nam June Paik and Cindy Sherman. The most famous Stuck painting is Die Sünde (Sin; 1893), infused with an un…
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Alte Pinakothek
The Alte Pinakothek is a veritable treasure trove of works by Old European Masters and an unmissable part of any visit to the city. Housed in a neoclassical temple built by King Ludwig I, it is one of the most important collections in the world. Just north of the gallery, the Neue Pinakothek contains an extensive collection of 18th- to early-20th-century paintings and sculpture, from rococo to Jugendstil (art nouveau). A block east of the gallery is the Pinakothek der Moderne. Opened in 2002 after six years of construction, it is Germany's biggest collection of modern art. The spectacular interior is dominated by a huge eyelike dome, spreading natural light throughout the…
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Neue Bischöfliche Residenz
Pride of place on this showy square belongs to the 18th-century Neue Bischöfliche Residenz (New Bishop's Residence). Melchior Hefele, a student of Balthasar Neumann, drafted the stucco-draped façade, as well as the rococo staircase, which winds towards a wonderfully over-the-top ceiling fresco entitled The Gods of Olympus Protecting Immortal Passau.
The bishops resided in these splendid digs until 1871. Today, the diocese administration occupies most of the rooms, but several have been set aside for the Domschatz und Diözesanmuseum (Cathedral Treasury & Museum). The ecclesiastical finery - including monstrances, vestments, sculptures and paintings - exemplifies the weal…
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Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
Bavaria's oldest university, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität started out as political football for its rulers. Founded in Ingolstadt in 1472, it moved to Landshut in 1800 before being lassoed to Munich in 1826 by newly crowned King Ludwig I. It has produced more than a dozen Nobel Prize winners, including Wilhelm Röntgen in 1901 and Theodor Hiersch in 2005.
The main building, by Gärtner of course, has cathedral-like dimensions and is accented with sculpture and other art work. A flight of stairs leads to a light court with a memorial to Die Weisse Rose, the Nazi resistance group founded by Hans and Sophie Scholl. To get the full story visit the exhibit called Denk S…
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Altes Rathaus
The eastern side of Marienplatz is dominated by the Altes Rathaus. Lightning got the better of the medieval original in 1460 and WWII bombs levelled its successor, so what you see is really the third incarnation of the building designed by Jörg von Halspach of Frauenkirche fame. On 9 November 1938 Joseph Goebbels gave a hate-filled speech here that launched the nationwide Kristallnacht pogroms.
Today it houses the adorable Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum) with its huge collection of rare and precious toys from throughout Europe and the US. Also, on the old town hall's south side you can pay your respects to Romeo's heart-throb Juliet, a beautiful bronze sculpture that was a …
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