The opening ceremony of the 2006 Football World Cup will be held in Munich on Friday 9th June 2006. The first game of the tournament will also be played in Munich, on the 9th of June at the newly built Munich stadium at Fröttmaning.
Munich has much more to offer than Football:
Munich is the Capital of Bavaria, formally a kingdom in it’s own right. And some of the buildings and their styles still seem to reflect this, with palaces and architecture more appropriate to a capital than to the principal city of a federal state.
Known to travellers mainly for its world famous beer festival the “Oktoberfest”, Munich has many traditional German beer cellars where large amounts of the local beer are consumed in large pottery mug known as “steins”. These are often adorned with pictures of hunting scenes or large mustachioed men surprisingly(!) appearing to be drinking generous amounts of beer.
A good way to enjoy a cheap meal out is to buy food from one of the street vendors or pastry stands (that seem to be everywhere in Munich), and eat it in a beer garden. This is entirely acceptable to the establishments, as long as you are drinking their beer! And makes a good and cheap alternative to eating at a restaurant.
Munich is also the home of BMW the luxury car manufacturer and you will see a surprising amount of these on the streets. Possibly due to the fact, that they like to encourage their employees to drive the cars they make with large discount and incentives.
Munich is a university town and boasts a large and lively student population that adds to the party atmosphere of this lively and interesting city.
The travel infrastructure is very efficient (well it is Germany after all!). With the
S-Bahn (local and suburban trains), U-Bahn (underground trains), buses and trams all clean, well ordered and generally running on time.
Munich must see:
• Deutsches Museum: A huge museum with extensive display areas, covering about 55,000 sq meters devoted to natural science and the history and application of technology. It also contains a large library with collections of modern and historic books related to the subject,
• St. Michaels Church: Built by Duke William V, this beautifully decorated renaissance church is the final burial place of over 40 members of the Wittelsbacher Royal family. The church does not have a tower or spire. When it was being built the tower was destroyed and it was looked on as bad luck to rebuild it again.
• Englischer Garten: The “English Garden” is one of the largest European city parks. It is a fascinating place for a day out and also a quick world tour, containing not only grounds laid out in a German interpretation of the English style, but also a Chinese pagoda, a Japanese tea house and a Greek temple!
• Marienplatz: A large square at the heart of Munich. Its main attraction is the gothic town hall with its “Glockenspiel”. At 11am and 12 am every morning the bells ring and an automaton display high on the walls of the building depicts a jousting tournament, in honor of the wedding of Duke WilliamV followed by a medieval dance.
• The Olympic Park: Built for the 1972 Olympics it has many attractions including the Athletes village, now brightly colored individually painted student accommodation and tours of the main stadium. The huge tower has a revolving restaurant with amazing and, if you don’t like heights, alarming views(!), over Munich.
• Klostergasthof Andechs: A monastery unlike any other you’ve ever been to! If you’ve been to any that is. In the foothills of the Alps the monks brew a good and very strong beer and serve tasty and reasonably priced food. Sit back and enjoy the wonderful views of the mountains.
• Stadtische Galerie: One of Munich’s main art galleries and formally the home of local artist Franz von Lenbach it has an extensive collection of 19th and 20th century works of art, including the “blue rider” group of artists of which the painter Kandinsky was a member.
Compared with many European destinations Munich is a very safe town and you will not be hassled by street traders or shopkeepers to buy. Everything is well ordered and polite and many Germans speak very good English. Always a lively place with many bars clubs and restaurants the best time to visit is undoubtedly late September to early October. That’s when the beer festival is on and the party side of this interesting city comes to the fore. Munich is a very noisy, busy and interesting city but fascinating and lots of fun.