Experience Munich (2024)

24/03/2023

Tours can be very rewarding

23/02/2023

80 years ago. The White Rose.

22/02/2023

Places to visit outside of Munich.

16/09/2022

Happiness

21/05/2022

Gave a tour this afternoon. Always stand up for what’s right.

21/03/2022

The ubahn is under construction, and to make peoples miring easier the MVG is giving away free pretzels.

28/05/2021

There are nearly 30 golf courses within 30km (19miles) of Munich. Just one more fun activity here in the summer time.

23/05/2021

Munich is back! Restrictions are loosening, restaurant patios are open, shops are opening, museums are open, tourism is back, and I got my second vaccination yesterday.

Is starting to look like summer.

09/02/2021

How do you strudel?
Vanillasoße or Ice (ice cream)?

27/01/2021

76 years ago today Auschwitz Birkenau was liberated by the Soviet Army. This liberation date is now International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We honor those who parished in the war, and in the camps. We honor our family members who survived Auschwitz as well.

It’s important to know that the Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers. It started with words in the small back rooms of bierhalls in Munich Germany. It escalated when people allowed the words and eventual crimes to go unpunished.

We believe that to learn we must have honest open conversations about history. We try to educate and teach this tragic history, as we hope for a better and more just future.

10/01/2021

Winter on Marienplatz

01/01/2021

Happy New Year.
We know your resolutions: 1 health 2 visit Munich

#2021

28/12/2020

Winter in Bavaria, an hour south of Munich.
Happy Holidays!!!

#2021

24/12/2020

Weihnachten

Merry Christmas

There are many traditions in Germany for Christmas and Christmas Eve. For example in Bavaria most familes eat sausage and potato salad for dinner. Not everywhere but certainly in Bayern (much of Austria too).

Christmas Eve or Heilig Abend is a time for familes, even in 2020 when many celebrations are smaller and toned down. Tonight is when most families will be opening presents and exchanging gifts. Christmas Eve for Germans is Christmas and the next two days are days off to enjoy so free time. Shops are closed and even in a normal year it can be difficult to find restaurants. What was fun for us was shopping for the next 3 days because all grocery stores are closed to. None that is import at but it’s nice that the holiday is the 25th and 26th here in Germany.

We wish everyone a safe and merry Christmas.

Question: do you open gifts Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

23/12/2020

Advent 23
River Surfing

Year round you can find people surfing in the English Garden. The eisbach wave is located very close to the Haus Der Kunst and is a must stop on a trip but it’s not the only wave to surf in Munich.

River surfing is probably not the best last minute gift idea, but coming to see the surfers is a very good idea.

Merry Christmas

22/12/2020

Advent 22
Bavaria

The Bavaria statue overlooking theresienwiese at night.

Built from 1844 to 1850 this masterpiece of bronze was cast by JB Stiglmair and commissioned by King Ludwig I. It stands proudly before the Bavarian Hall of Fame.

Come visit in 2021. We recommend the end of September.

#2021

21/12/2020

Advent 21
Schloss Blutenburg

The exact founding of this beautiful castle is unknown. Evidence of 13th century dwellings was uncovered in 1981 but previously the date was assumed to have been the early 1400s.

Bavarian Duke Albrecht III had added buildings to make this his country residence. It’s only about 25 min from Munich city center today but in 1430 that was a long day to get there.

This small castle in a section of the Würm valley west of Munich was the hunting lodge and summer get away for the royal family before Nymphenburg Place.

Today this cute Gothic Castle with a well preserved church is home or an international children’s library and a great restaurant. Bring the kids.

Every May there’s a wine fest and in December a Christmas market. Thought the year the palace hold events and concerts too.

-insider tip it’s also close to the botanical garden of Munich and there’s a few other great restaurants near by.

20/12/2020

Advent
Nymphenburg Palace

The summer palace of the Wittlesbach Royal Family is worth a visit year round.

Construction began on the palace in 1664, as a gift from Duke Elector Ferdinand Maria to Duchess Henrietta Adelaide of Savoy for the birth of her son Max Emanuel. Originally the palace was only the center square building pictured, but additional wings, galleries, buildings and fountains were added over the next one hundred years. Once Max Emanuel became Elector he was responsible for a large amount of the additions.

By the 1750s the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory had moved into the palace complex and in 1798 the gardens were opened to the public. Today visitors should be prepared for opulent Baroque Rocco design and ornamentation throughout.

In the summer there are several cafes, areas to picnic, familes, bikers, joggers, dogs (on leashes), and bus loads of tourists enjoying the wonderful park. Several times through the year the palace has formal dinner and concert events When the weather changes and deep winter sets in, the place canals freeze and are used for ice skating and other fun family games.

The palace is now a museum and tours inside are available

For any questions please let us know

Happy 4th Advent.

19/12/2020

Advent 19
Olympiapark

So much to do, so much to see, or just relax and enjoy.

In 1966 Munich was awarded the Olympic Games and construction on the park, a former and neglected airport, began in 1968.

The eye-catching tensile structure that covers much of the park was designed by German architect and engineer Frei Otto with Günther Behnisch. It wasn’t designed originally to be permanent but 50years later it still looks good.

Those games are remembered because of the Israeli athletes killed by terrorists and there are several memorials through the park.

The stadium now hold a capacity crowd of 70,000 as was last used in 2019 for concerts for artists, Metallica, Pink, Rihanna, Rammstein, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney. If you don’t wanna go into the show there are several spots in the park where one can hear everything and have a relaxing night.

The old venues are still in use for events, sports, conventions, and you can swim in the swim hall. Yay Mark Spitz

In the summer time the Tollwood festival runs from June into July and it’s a great place for smaller shows, live music, international food, and fun.

The park has a beautiful mountain (it’s a hill), popular with families and dog owners. On the top of the hill are great city views. Check out the photo of the alps. Make sure to stop at the Olympic Alm where you can get Biergarten food and some drinks and enjoy a day outside.

The park is an essential stop on any Munich visit, only 10 minutes from Marienplatz on the U3. We offer tours, just ask.

Get ready to visit in 2021.

18/12/2020

Advent 18
Lenbachhaus

Munich is an underrated art city. Countless galaries, and many outstanding collections, exhibitions, and museums as well. But the Lenbachhaus next to Königsplatz is lesser known hidden gem.

Franz von Lenbach was a 19th century portrait artist favored by royals who built himself a Florentine Villa in the center of Munich. In 1924 it became a museum.

Many local Munich artists are featured in the museum but the collection of works by Der Blaue Reiter is unparalleled. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, Paul Klee, August Macke and Gabriele Münter. Setting out in 1911 and 12 to change the art establishment, they perused styles that were unconventional at the time.

The building was renovated and added onto in 2013, and it’s another reason to visit Munich.

For more information [email protected]

#2021

18/12/2020

Looking forward to 2021

17/12/2020

Advent 17 Hanukkah 8
Siegestor

The Siegestor is a classic triumphal arch and it’s chief architect Fredrick von Gartner was inspired by Constantine’s Arch in Rom.

Commissioned by the Bavarian King Ludwig I the Siegestor was built between 1843-1850 to commemorate the Bavarian success against Napoleons Empire. The first army to March around the gate was the Bavarian army returning from the Franco Prussian war in 1871 which unified Germany but cost Bavaria its autonomy. The gate was destroyed in 1945 during the bombings in WWII.

It was rebuilt and intentionally simplified as a reminder against war in 1954. Clearly visible is the inscription “Dem Sieg geweiht, vom Krieg zerstört, zum Frieden mahnend”, Dedicated to victory, destroyed by war, urging peace.

This victory gate, 24m tall and 22m wide, divides the neighborhoods of Maxvorstadt and Schwabing in the north of Munich. It’s also 1 km away from another monumental building the Feldhernhalle on Odeonsplatz.

Today I took a walk in Schwabing decided to see this old gate and took a few photos. It was cold but a beautiful. Even in a lock down we can go for a walk and be optimistic for next year.

For more information or tours in 2021 contact me [email protected]

Have a great last night of Hannukah and stay safe.

16/12/2020

Advent 16 Hannukah 7
The Hofgarten or Court Garden

In the middle of Munich is a 400 year old garden originally for royals familes and now open to the public.

In the 16th century our Duke wanted a private garden next to his place and for the next few hundred years the garden grew. The center Temple of Diane was created in 1610, but the surrounding arcades werent built until the late 1700s. In 1800 a large army barracks was erected but taken down and replaced with a war museum in 1900. All of which was destroyed by allied bombing in wwii.

Walking through the Hofgarten today is incredibly peaceful even though you’re in the center of busy Munich. In the arcades is a theater museum, several galleries, an outstanding cocktail bar called Schumanns, a Casino, a Starbucks (of course), and the Tombosi which is Munich oldest coffee house. There are picnics, bikers, musicians or buskers, and around the park can be hundreds of people playing a type of Boules or Bocci ball.

A stroll through the Hofgarten is can be quick or you can enjoy some quite and enjoy a park bench. It’s an amazing place to visit in the winter or summer.

For any question or a tour of Munich [email protected]

Nurses and Drs get a free tour!

15/12/2020

Advent 15 Hanukah 6 and Health 1
Klinikum Großhadern and Heilig Geist Spital

Today’s post will be incredibly personal because about my girls.

11 months ago today, my life changed for the better at this big ugly hospital nicknamed the toaster (kinda fits). My baby girls were born here and are doing wonderful. There were complications and we all spent 2 weeks in the hospital. I even moved in for a week.

The nurses cared for all four of us and were patient and helpful and professional and unbelievably kind. There was one Nurse Rachet but 99% were great.

Munich’s largest hospital, Klinikum Großhadern is a teaching and research hospital south west of the city. It has the nearly 2000 beds and there’s a missive research campus around the main building.

Also pictured is Munich’s first hospital which dates from 1208 and was located in the center of the city. Heilig Geist Spital moved in 1807 and that location is now the wonderful Viktualian Markt. (This is a Munich History Tour company after all).

If you want to comment about the virus, healthcare, nurses, drs, vaccines, or anything please feel free. 2020 has been a difficult frustrating and hard year. But my family is ok, and because of research done in Germany I will get to see my American friends and family soon. I know this Covid Crisis isn’t over but we can be safe AND optimistic.

To show my thanks:
ANY Health Care Worker (and their family) gets a free 1 hour tour in 2021, or an extra hour on any tour. 2021 is wide open
[email protected]

Germany is a safe country with a great healthcare system. so when travel opens up, and IT WILL, come to Munich.

Thank you to the drs and nurses who help so many people, stay safe, be smart, and when you visit, we are here.

#2021

14/12/2020

Advent 14 Hannukah 5
Jakobs Platz

In the center of Munich’s old city is Jakobs Platz, home to the Synagogue Ohel Jakob (Jacob’s Tent), the Jewish Museum, and Jewish Cultural Center. Munich’s City Museum, est 1888, is also located on the square.

The square Jakobs Platz dates to just after the founding of Munich, when Franciscan Monks ran Jacob’s Chapel which is still nearby, though rebuilt in 1955. In the early 2000s it was planned that the growing Jewish community in Munich would build a center on the square.

Ohel Jakob is not the site of the original synagogue in Munich. The original Ohel Jakob was located about a km away, but it was destroyed in June of 1938 because the N**i regime wanted a car park in that location.

The history of the Jewish community in Munich is understandably tragic. Munich is the city where the N**i Party began, but there are more Jews in Munich today than there were in 1933 (though far fewer in Germany overall).

This synagogue at Hanukkah, the story of homecoming despite great odds, is a good example of perseverance. It’s also a prime example of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, a German term meaning, the struggle to come to terms with the past. Today a once persecuted community is now honored by the city with a historic location.

If you’re interested to see how Munich publicly discusses, honors, or acknowledges its past, I will gladly give you a tour around the city and discuss various monuments.

Today Munich is a wonderful multicultural multiracial multiethnic multilingual city. My family is also a multi mix and we call Munich home.

Happy Hannukah. Merry Christmas.

13/12/2020

Advent 13 and Hanukkah 4
Ludwig’s Castles

For years guests from around the world have said, “I came to Germany to see this castle” or “I’ve wanted to see this my whole life” or “I had this castle as a poster in my room for years”.

The most popular, and arguably most spectacular, day trip from Munich is Schloß Neuschwanstein.

Started in 1869 and never finished, visited by 1.5 million people annually and featured in many films it is beautiful. This castle inspired Walt Disney!! For many people Neuschwanstein (The New Swan Stone) is worth a trip to Germany to see.

Ludwig II aka the fairytale king, also built Linderhof Palace and Herrenchiemsee.

Of Ludwig II’s three palaces Neuschwanstein is the most famous, Linderhof was the one he spent the most time in, and Herrenchiemsee was the most expensive. All 3 are beautiful and all 3 are worth a visit.

The life of Ludwig II is Shakespearean: King as a teenager, failed in love, stripped of power, and murdered (we think) before he was 41. A life story that is almost as fantastic and opulent as his castles. Let us know if you’d like to learn more.

2020 taught us that nothing is certain, and so if world travel is your goal, start planing what you want to see as the world opens up again next year.

There will be a German wide lockdown starting Wednesday but we are ok and we look forward to seeing you soon enough.

For the next week of Advent we will focus on sites, places, buildings or areas in Munich.

#2021

12/12/2020

Advent 12 and Hanukkah 3
Herzogstand

50 miles south of Munich is one of Munich’s most well known mountains Herzogstand. This hike is beloved as one of the top rated Münchner Hausberge, code for mountains near the city that are perfect for a day tour. And it’s one of my favorite day trips out of the city.

The peak is just under 6,000 feet (1736m) and usually takes 2.5 hours from the most common parking lot near the gondola. Yeah there’s a gondola but if you want to walk, enjoy fresh air, experience natural beauty, and achieve something... why just ride up?

There is a royal history to the peak as well (not just the breathtaking view). In the 1600s Duke Wilhelm IV built a hunting lodge on the mountain and a few centuries later King LudwigII built a bridge near the mountain as well. It’s name comes from Duke Wilhelm, as Herzog is the German word for Duke.

The best aspect about a Bavarian hike is the hütte on every mountain. At the top there’s always a restaurant, or hut, run by locals with great food. I recommend a kaiserschmarn and maybe a beer. Yeah if you hike up for over 2 hours you can eat what you want. It also means you don’t have to bring everything with you.

Walk down or take the gondola is your choice but on the way back to Munich try to find the statue of Der Schmied von Kochel with his spiked club.

Kochelsee and Walchensee are both beautiful lakes that are worth a day of resting and swimming in the summer even without a hike.

One thing to love about Munich is the outdoor activity and the ability to be immersed in nature only 50 miles away.

For a cool video of the ride up the mountain check out or for some jokes making fun of hikers in German “this is herzogstand not Everest”.

Munich has hundreds of options for days trips and hundreds of hikes too. I could write up a report on a different hike everyday but herzogstand is one of the most well known and something to look forward to in 2021.

11/12/2020

Advent 11 and Hanukkah 2

Nüremberg

There is no better city in Bayern to experience the last 1000 years of German History than Nuremberg (Nüremberg).

First mentioned in 1050 this is now the 2nd largest city in Bayern and is the unofficial capital of Franconia, a lovely region in the center of Germany and now a part of Bayern. But please note, people in Franconia don’t like to be called Bavarian.

Anyway Nuremberg grew to importance when Emperor Charles IV (builder of the bridge in Prague) created a set of laws that required future emperors to hold meetings in Nuremberg, called The Golden Bull. For the next serval centuries the city, castle, wealth and area controlled by the city all grew. In the 15th and 16 centuries Nuremberg was one of the most important cities in Europe.

During that explosion in wealth Albrecht Dürer changed German art by combing it with Italian Renaissance. His self portrait hangs in the Alte Pinakoteka in Munich and was considered shocking and immodest at the time. notice his eyes follow you.

Nuremberg was also an early transportation hub in the 1800s. It was because of its imperial history and location that the N**i party used Nuremberg for rallies and propaganda.

The N**i impact on the city can be see in old unfinished buildings, the court house where N**i criminals were tried after the war, and because of the destruction of the city. Of the 200 churches in Nuremberg only one was undamaged from the war. In the ridiculous and unfinished Congress Hall there is a very well done Documentation Center about the party rise.

And yet the city is amazing, with beautiful sandstone buildings, gothic charm, it’s old castle, and the largest Christmas market in Germany.

To appreciate Nuremberg you should visit more than once, but if you have to pick only one time come at Christmas. Warm up with a guhlwein, and try the famous tinny sausages roasted over a fire and chatt with a stranger to enjoy some holiday spirit.

An easy day trip and very worth it. Ask about a tour.

10/12/2020

Advent 10: Regensburg

At the northern most point of the Danube River is the ancient city of Regensburg. Evidence of settlements since the Stone Age have been found near the altstadt. Celts named this area Radasbona and in 79 AD Romans built a fort, which was renamed in 179 as Castra Regina during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (yeah the one from Gladiator). The Porta Preatoria is pictured.

By the reign of Charlemage the city had over 20,000 inhabitants and that number grew to 40,000 by the year 1000. From 1135-1146 the stone bridge was constructed across the Danube (Donau). This bridge was an overland link to the north and south of Europe and allowed Regensburg to continue to prosper as a city of wealth.

From the 1200s through 1803 Regensburg hosted royal families from throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Regensburg was more important than Munich for centuries.

The local royal family is Turn and Taxis, they still own the St Emmerams Palace and every year host a lavish Christmas market.

The Gothic Cathedral took 400 years to build and has numerous monuments.

The city also has one of the oldest sausage stands in the world located next to the bridge, and across the river are a few beautiful Biergartens. Oscar Schindler lived here and the house he lived in for several years is open for visitors.

This city is a medieval masterpiece and worth a day trip from Munich.

08/12/2020

Advent 8: Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Located less than an hour south of Munich (depending on traffic) is the ski resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. This town is one of the best day trips from Munich for anyone who loves mountains.

Partenkirchen was a Roman trade route established two thousand years ago and its main road still follows the old Roman path. Garmisch was fist mentioned about 800 years later. In 1935 the two towns formed into one as they prepared to host the 1936 Winter Olympics. Ski racing was introduced as an Olympic sport that year and in the photo you can still see an original Olympic stadium for the ski jump. (Yes that was the same year as the Jesse Owens Summer Olympics in Berlin).

Germany’s tallest mountain, the Zugspitze is located in Garmisch and there is a cable car to take people to the top (9.718 ft).

In winter one can get a regional train from Munich central station to the mountain with lift ticket included for 60€. Not bad. The station is called Hausberg and is pictured with some skiers getting ready to head home. Every year Garmisch hosts the Kandahar downhill.

In the summer time visitors can have a leasuirly stroll around the beautiful Eibsee or for a little more difficult hike try the Partnachklamm Gorge.

If you want to spend a night there, the Edelweiss Hotel located in the middle of town, has been a destination for American servicemen and women and their families for decades.

Garmisch’s Sister City is Aspen CO, my last home before moving to Munich. Another reason for me to like this Bavarian town in the mountains.

Garmisch has ancient history, modern history and offers great adventures year round.

Experience Munich

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