Here's a brief history of the city. Munich began when Henry the Lion muscled his way in to the salt industry. He burned down a rival's bridge and built his own near a monestary of monks, hence "Munchen". In the 1200's the elected king of Germany and the holy Roman Empire was from Munich, making it an importan European city, and soon it became the capital of Bavaria. During the Thirty Years War the catholic city was surrounded by protestants. They quickly surrendered and paid a ransom, sparing them from pillage. Soon, however, they were hit with the Boubonic Plague. After that passed they erected the Virgin's Column in the Marienplatz to thank God for only killing 7,000 citizens.
Munich suffered many plagues and that is remembered today when the glockenspiel's barrel dancers do their daily dance to ward off the plague.
The city was left broke and powerless until Napoleon's army arrived in the 1800's. The leaders of the city, the Wittelsbach's surrendered hospitably and Napoleon rewarded him with more territory and a royal title. He became "king" and now ruled the Kingdom of Bavaria, which was bigger than Switzerland. When the king's popular son, Ludwig, married in 1810, it kicked off a two week celebration that became the annual event of .....Octoberfest!
King Ludwig rebuilt the city, established a university and built the first railway, making it a transportation hub. The city continued to flourish with culture, art, and education until World War I. This devastated much of the city and they became poor, hungry, and disillusioned. The city was in chaos and this is when the communist party took over.
In all the craziness, the Nazi party emerged, centered around Hitler - an Austrian who settled in Munich. He gave stirring speeches in Munich's beer halls, the most well known being the Hofbrauhaus. A coup d etat known as Beer Hall Putsch was launched from here and Munich was dubbed "Capital of the Movement."
As World War II was ending it was clear that Munich would be destroyed. Hitler did not allow the evacuation of the town's art treasures and heritage because a mass emptying of churches and civil building would have caused hysteria amongst the people. While museums were closed (and could be quietly emptied over the years), public buildings were not. Instead of saving the treasures, the Nazi's took pictures of everything. Half the city was leveled by bombs and what wasn't destroyed by the bombing was destroyed by the harsh winters.
After the war (with American aid) the people rebuilt the city. All of the cities destroyed by the war could choose between two rebuilding strategies: restore the old towns, or bulldoze and go modern. Munich voted to rebuild the old town. Today Munich is voted one of Germany's most livable cities - safe, clean, cultured.
Any trip to Munich is not complete without a stop at the Hofbrauhaus, so after we parked the car, this was the first place we headed. We found the world's most famous beer hall and ate lunch. The hall had a great atmosphere with the sound of the oompah band in the background.
Yes, the boys are wearing matching outfits...and no, Maddox does not have beer, that is apple juice.
After lunch we found the Marienplatz, which is Munich's main square. The New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) was built in 1867. The building is tall and pointy and is adorned with statues of the city's royals. This building survived the bombs and served as US military headquarters in 1945.
Inside the Townhall is a plaque of all Munich's sister cities and one of them is Cincinati, Ohio. What a small, small world!
After the Townhall, Maddox found a couple of lions, we visited a church, and called it a day.
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