Welsand's in London

Our First Trip to Germany--Munich

Guten tag! Munich was a great first city to visit in Germany. Located in south Germany, it is the capital of Bavaria. There was so much to see and do that we could not get it all in during this visit, but we did see the major attractions the city has to offer during our 4-day trip.




We started with the Residence Museum in Munich which was absolutely gorgeous. The former residence of Bavarian kings has housed a museum since 1920. Over the years, the original Wittelsbachs' castle, which stood on the site since the 14th century, was gradually extended. The entire building was large it took us 2 hours to get through it. We listened to the audio tour as we walked and caught only a small fraction of it unfortunately. The rooms were magnificent and richly furnished. There was an incredible amount of art on the ceilings that was absolutely stunning. Some rooms were so over the top and then the hallways so plain, grey, and bleak. One room housed bones contained in extremely ornate pieces of art, really interesting and odd. It was quite sad that much of the building and art was lost in World War II and recreated or left without replacement.

Munich is filled with churches, all free and open to visitors. Because of the religious conflicts and 30 years of wars, the Baroque style did not flourish in Germany until the 18th century. Then it did so lavishly in southern, Catholic regions of Germany, as in Munich. Influenced by Italian architecture the Baroque style reached new heights of flamboyance (a great way to describe it!). The churches include sculptures, fine stuccowork, and vivid colored paintings. The ceiling frescos are unbelievable. We have never seen such elaborate churches! They were amazing! Those that we visited include Michaelskirche (St. Micheal's Church), Frauenkirche (well known for its outside appearance, inside was not as impressive), Asamkirche (Asams' Church, the most incredible by far, no surface is left unembellished!), and we walked by the Theatinerkirche (St. Cajetan's Church).

Munich is known for its love of arts and no wonder it has over a dozen musuems. We only made it to one of the Museum of Modern Art Pinakothek der Modern. The gallery was built to complement the Alte and Neue Pinkotheks nearby (three major musuems within walking distance--gotta love it!). This musuem includes Cubist pieces by Picasso and Braque, paintings by Matisse, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Franz Marc (one of my new favorites), Dali, Kandinsky, Klee, Warhol, Max Ernst and many more well known German and European artists.

Schloss Nymphenburg is another must see sight in Munich. It boasts of being one of Europe's most beautiful palaces and it is. It was built in 1663-64 for the Electress Henreitte-Adelaide and was dedicated to the pastoral pleasures of the goddess Flora and her nymphs, thus the name. Several additions have been made over the years. We only had time to visit the carriage house and porcelian room, but the palace also includes a variety of other exhibits and wonderful grounds which includes ponds with more swans than we had ever seen in one location. It was a beutiful day and the Schloss was crowded with German families out for an afternoon stroll. There was no fee to walk around the gardens/grounds of the palace. It must be even more amazing in the summer with all the trees and plants in bloom.

The carriage house at the Schloss Nymphenburg was really interesting! It included carriages that once belonged to Bavarian rulers and they were magnificent! So ornate and detailed it must have taken an extreme amount of money and effort to create these carriages. We could have viewed them for hours! I am sure that our pictures will not do justice...The porcelain room was also interesting, but definitely takes a back seat to the carriages.

The food in Germany was excellent! The weather was fantastic. The tube system was relatively easy to figure out we only went the wrong way once and quickly figured that out. Our hotel was nice with a great view over the city and of the German Alps, and a pool which kept Sophie and I occupied while Jeremy worked hard. Overall it was a fun trip. We need to increase the amount of German we know for our next trip to Hamburg in a week....Auf Wiedersehen!

All additional photos from our trip to Munich can be found at Shutterfly. Just click on the Shutterfly link to view...

posted by Chris @ 1:00 PM