Weekend of March 4, 2011 Munich Germany
After an exhaustive break to Spain and Portugal I was actually looking forward to school. To think, when at school in Ohio I look forward to breaks and weekends for rest and relaxation, now school has become more relaxing than the weekends. The only problem to my relaxing school week was that it was midterms (I survived relatively unscathed). Everyone wanted to stay in Luxembourg however while talking to Kat I realized that she wanted to use her eurorail and therefore also wanted to travel this weekend. Therefore after about 25 minutes of planning we planned the entire weekend trip to Munich (remember when it took us 3 days to plan Bruges?)
After the previous Friday when I accidentally overslept I was really paranoid about missing my exam at 8 am on Friday morning. I managed to finish packing, shower and some last minute cramming for my poly-sci exam and still make the 7:50 bus, although I did have to give up my weekly crazy baker chocolate croissant.
Right after my Poly-Sci exam and Business class Kat and I left for Luxembourg as we had a 2:24 pm train to Munich. As we were looking for a seat on our first train to Colon we actually ran across two other Miami girls who Kat is friends with so we sat with them, which made an enjoyable and quick three-hour journey. Today like the entire week was absolutely beautiful without a cloud in the sky. The train went along largely the same path as we took nearly two months ago when we went to St. Goar, and Bacharach except this time it was sunny and a beautiful early spring day.
After all of our train confusion over Carnaval Break with French and Spanish trains I specifically asked (in French) when Kat and I went to Esch during the week whether reservations were obligatory. The women in French responded no. What she failed to mention was that we were on the world’s most crowded train and Kat and I had to sit on the floor (and a very crowded floor at that). As it is impossible to go everywhere in Europe in only a couple months I had to make some cuts, unfortunately a lot of them were German cities which kind of makes me feel like I am turning my back on my heritage – how can I be a ¼ German and only it to two German cities while abroad.
Its funny, unlike last week where I stood out horrible with my blond hair in Spain I fit right in sitting on the floor of a German train. Unfortunately my German is non-existent and its really frustrating not to be able to communicate… although people expect me to. Eventually the train started to empty and Kat and I were able to get seats after about an hour. Although the train was a high-speed train and at points reached speeds of 300 km/h it still took five hours to reach Munich. Around 9:30 we became absolutely famished and all we had to eat was mentos, which were not a satisfying dinner. We arrived in Munich around 10:30 pm and promptly ate at the train station… trust me we were way past starving to find “authentic food”. Our hostel was right next to a metro stop and as Mom had give me for Christmas half a dozen maps of major European cities which included metro maps we knew exactly what lines to take and made it to the hostel without any difficulties. As it was nearly midnight after we had checked into the hostel we figured that it would be better to get a good night sleep. We talked with our roommate for a while – a girl from Northern Germany visiting the University of Munich. The only snafu was that as I packed while writing a paper and absolutely exhausted I fort to pack my pajamas which sucks!
At one point in the middle of the night I woke up and looked outside and it looked like it was snowing – luckily that was my imagination/poor eyesight … while it was snow free and bright and sunny it was absolutely freezing (especially considering I was in warm and sunny Spain only a week ago) why humans ever migrated north is beyond me.
We took the subway to the city center. where we wandered around for a bit and found somewhere to eat breakfast. Everyone in Munich is extremely nice so far, but it is so frustrating as I feel completely unable to communicate with people. However it is evident that Bavaria has placed incredible importance on languages and in particular English and most people (particularly our age) are completely fluent in English – yet I still feel rude. Germany is also great as they believe in HUGE portions. I chose to get a small coffee with a GIANT chocolate doughnut, I was shocked when I saw that the German small in many parts of Europe would be considered an extra large.
While we were eating in the café another man came in with his Golden (which is typical for Europe). Firstly Rory would never be well behaved enough to go into a confined public space, secondly she probably would try to eat peoples pastries right off their plate, thirdly she would be jumping on top of everyone… basically Rory would fail as a European dog.
After breakfast we went to the main square, Marienplatze, which is the heart of the Old town. We were going on another New Europe free walking tour. Which began at 10:45 am. I was happy to see that there was a significantly larger group than Madrid, maybe 150 people total – as I think that it’s a great Company and hope that it continues to be popular and successful. Shortly after the tour began it was clear why the tour began at 10:45… so that we could see the Glockenspiel ring at 11:00. The Gockenspeil is in the New Town Hall or Neues Rathaus that was completed in the 19th century. The new town hall stands along an entire side of the plaza while completed during the 19th century it was built in the Neo-Gothic style so that it would look older than the old town hall, which is on the east side of the plaza and was built during the Renaissance. Today however, the New Town Hall is actually older than the Old Town hall as the Old town hall was almost entirely destroyed during WWII and while reconstructed it is obvious that it was completed only recently.
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| New Town Hall with the Glockenspeil, Northern Germany |
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| Old Town Hall, Munich Germany almost entirely a post WWII reconstruction. The middle window in the row of three is the room where Hitler & the Nazi party made their fateful decision to begin their planned extermination. |
Marienplatz is bustling with activity as it is in final preparations for Carnaval (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday) are the last three days and thus the biggest. They are setting up a stage for a concert and all the lamps have a whimsical clown covering. I really enjoyed seeing the figures of the Glockenspeil although they were hilarious as they simply move around in circles … it was like looking at the animation from “it’s a Small World”. I did learn however that the figures in the clock are life size and that they are dancing in celebration of the end of the 1517 plague.
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| Busy Town Center, Marienplatz Munich Germany |
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| Gockenspeil, Munich Germany |
The history part of the tour was very interesting as it was in Munich here the Nazi Party and Hitler first gained power during the hyperinflation of the 1920’s and where Hitler eventually overthrew the Bavarian government. You are able to see the window where the Nazi Party officially enacted their planned program of extermination of inferior races, which subsequently changed the course of history, killing over 6 million people. We also went to Odenonsplatz, which is where Hitler gave most of his speeches in Munich from. They would erect a stage on the steps of the Reldherrnhalle, which over looks the Plaza between two Golden Lion Statues. The irony of this spot was that the King of Bavaria originally had the statues designed to symbolize freedom of speech and speaking out against the church (the one on the left side of the church has its mouth open and the one on the side of the royal palace is slightly turned away)…. If only Hitler had known. My favorite part of the tour was a small ally way between Marienplatz and Odeonsplatz. During Hitler’s regime a statue was erected and it was the law to salute it whenever you passed…. If you didn’t you would be sent to Dachau (the first Nazi work camp outside Munich). Originally citizens in opposition would walk down the ally way to avoid doing the salute. When the SS guards caught on a guard was posted at the ally to prevent this - although Germans continued to walk down the ally as a sign of political protest. Today a golden line runs down the center of “Dogges Ally” as a symbol to their political protest and speaking out against the Nazi regime.
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| Where Hitler Gave Many of His Speeches From in Munich, Notice the two lion statues the one on the left has its mouth open and the one on the right is turned slightly away. |
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| Doggers Ally, became a sign and symbol of political protest during the Nazi Regime |
At a quick glance Munich looks really old, however under closer examination you realize that it is all really new. Nearly 90% of the city was completely destroyed during the war. A unique characteristic of many of the buildings is that usually only a corner of buildings would survive a bombings, during reconstruction the buildings were typically rebuilt around whatever remained.
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| Typical building in Munich Germany mostly a reconstruction, however the one corner is the remains of the surviving original structural. |
Around 2 we decided to leave the tour, while I enjoyed the history I wasn’t as crazy about our tour guide. Kat and I also wanted to go to Dachau before it closed. I have studied the holocaust intensively. I knew what occurred at camps and I prepared myself – and still it was horrifying and worst than I imagined. Dachau was the first camp opened by the Nazi’s in 1933 and was one of the last operational camps as it wasn’t liberated until April 29, 1945 (9 days before the end of the war). Today the main workshop of the camp has been converted into a museum sharing stories and personal accounts of the thousands of prisoners, and 2 of the original 36 prisoner barracks so that you can see in person the horrible conditions the prisoners lived in for years. The camp was designed to hold 6,000 prisoners when US troops liberated the camp there were over 30,000 prisoners. It was horrible to imagine the torture and suffering endured at Dachau and the 1,000 of other Nazi work camps.
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| Gate to Dachau Work Camp outside Munich Germany. The gate says "Work Sets you Free" |
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| Memorial in Dachau: May The Example OF Those Who Were Exterminated Here Between 1933 - 1945 Because They resisted Nazism Help To Unite the Living For the Defense Of Peace And Freedom And In Respect For Their Fellow Men. |
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| Memorial at Dachau, outside Munich Germany |
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| A Grave an Unidentified Victim. Memorial States: Never Again |
Between the workshop and the barracks is a large grave year. This is where roll call was held twice a day and hundreds if not thousands of prisoners were tortured and killed. It was eerie walking across the yard and imagining what had transpired there years before.
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| Standing in the Role Call area of Dachau looking at the the 2 reconstructed barracks |
A lane runs down the middle of the camp between the two barracks lined with trees. In videos and photos of the camp from during the war you can see that the trees are only saplings so the now mature trees stand as a symbol of the amount of time that has passed. Following the war 34 of the barracks were torn down leaving only their foundations… ghosts of what once stood there and the lives that were lost amongst them.
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| Foundations where the other 34 barracks once stood. |
In the rear of the camp over a small creeks is where the camps crematorium was located as well as the gas chamber. Walking through the gas chamber (the same as Auschwitz concealed as showers) it was absolutely horrifying, although no records show that Dachau’s gas chambers were ever operational. Following the end of the war the Nazi Party stated that the Gas Chamber and Crematorium were staged by the US army although it was merely a last ditch effort by the Nazi Party’s propaganda machine. I left the camp with literally a heavy heart and sick feeling in my stomach. To actually see what happened… where it happened was terrible. It was simply mindboggling to imagine that humans were capable to doing this to other humans.
The train ride back to Munich was completely different and a 180 as it was packed with people dressed for Carnaval and already partying. When we got back to the city we stopped by Marienplatz to take in the insanity and excitement of the celebration. We hen quickly went back to the hostel and changed for dinner.
We went over towards the university section of town for dinner as our guidebooks had recommended several restaurants (when in doubt find the local college kids, that’s where the cheap food is). We ended up going to a typical German Beer Hall and had a delicious dinner of Shnitzel… as I now know that it is fried veal and it was literally the only word on the menu that I recognized.
After dinner we headed to the Hofbrauhaus, which I am pretty sure, will be the highlight of Kat’s experience in Europe. The historic beer hall was originally built for the King and his friends. Today it is absolutely massive - hundreds of tables with people drinking and shouting with a band playing traditional German music in the center. It was absolutely packed and as usual with German beer halls you sit down wherever there is room. Kat and I joined a table where we sat between a couple from Portugal and two friends and nice guys from Germany. They were incredibly nice and we talked all evening. We found out later when he friended her on facebook that his name is Wolfgang, which makes it a true German Experience.
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| Kat enjoying the traditional liter of Beer at the Hafbrahaus in Munich Germany |
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| Kat and one of the German guys we talked with all night. |
After literally hailing the waiter down like a taxi we ordered our drinks, which of course were a liter (which is heaver than you might anticipate). The craziest part of the Hofbrahaus was that I knew my Father had visited there years earlier with his friends from college. I am sure that he drank from the same enormous beer steins, shouted over the same loud music and had a great night with the “Scranton Crew”. It is odd that in 30 years by child on a study abroad experience may be sitting in the same room having the same experience as his or her grandfather and mother.
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| Me outside the Hofbrauhaus, Munich Germany |
The only odd thing about the Hofbrauhaus is that for a place that makes a ton of money (it has multiple gift shops) and was absolutely packed it closes at 11:30. As most bars were starting the wind down and we didn’t feel like going to a club given we had an early morning we headed back to the hostel.
In an insane and overly optimistic idea when planning Munich Kat and I had planned on taking the 6:51 am train to Neuschweinstein, which is the castle, that Disney based Cinderella’s castle off of. It is apparently the definition of a European “princess castle”. The only problem is that it is a 2 hour train ride from Munich and as we had to be back to Munich by 2 pm in order to make a 2:30 train back to Luxembourg. Basically anyone who knows me, knows that I don’t exactly spring out of bed in the morning and with some alarm clock difficulties we overslept. We attempted to make the 7:51 train to Neuschweinstein but as it would have stranded us in Luxembourg City for the evening (getting us home after the last train) we had to eliminate the trip to Newschweinstein… it will have to be added to my future bucket list.
We were both disappointed, that we would not make it to Neuschweinsten. Two months ago when first arriving in Europe the prospect of planning weekend trips was overwhelming, we had so many possibilities and so much time. However in the last week since returning from Carnaval break the overwhelming sense that we are running out of time and almost done with the semester started becoming more oppressive and imminent. There is simply too much to do and see. Even if I had five years to wander around Europe I wouldn’t be able to see everything. I have to look at each trip, city, country, moment and experience as a once in a lifetime opportunity – an amazing and special gift. I highly doubt that this will be my only time in Europe or abroad, I even hope to have an opportunity to work abroad at some point during my career. The world is continually shrinking and one of the greatest advantages of this is that we can explore and see more than previous generations.
We ended up wandering around the city for a couple hours. At which point Kat and I decided and promised that if Munich wins the 2018 Winter Games Olympic bid that we would go to the Olympic games (as going to the Olympics is on both of our bucket list). As it was early on Sunday morning the streets were completely deserted with the exception of the people setting up booths for carnival. Unfortunately it was absolutely freezing (-17 degrees Celsius) and by the time we found an open café at 9:30 we were absolutely frozen. We decided that we would rather take an 11:30 train so that we could get home a little earlier in the evening.
I decided to be adventuresome and try a unique and different looking pastry, however I was disappointed when I realized that it wasn’t chocolate filled but instead filled with fig (I think). Kat and I talked for a longtime which is when I got really excited for Spring Break.
Just as we started walking towards the train station around 11 Carnaval was just starting as all the stands and booths were opening. Beer, shots, giant pretzels, Crêpes, candy basically anything that you can imagine. It was evident that in a couple hours the streets around Marienplatz were going to be crazy and one giant party.
We managed to find two unreserved seats next to one another and we then sped through the German countryside. Unfortunately our train arrived in Colon a couple minutes late and we missed our connecting train to Luxembourg. Rather than waiting 3 hours for the next train (it would have been the same train that we would have taken if we had left Munich at 2 rather than 11) we jumped on a train to Trier Germany as I knew that there was a train every 45 minutes from Trier to Luxembourg. The only problem with this was that we managed to get on the most local train in the world (seriously bus would be a more accurate description for this mode of transportation). We proceeded to wind our way through the smallest German cities in the world. Kat and I both had moments of panic where we envisioned getting stuck in one of this towns and having to call the school or Kat’s host family to be rescued. We eventually made it to Trier and then had an uneventful ride back to Luxembourg. In hindsight I wish that we had just stayed in Colon for the 3 hours as I know that Kat would of enjoyed a couple hours of Carnaval fun rather than a ride on the world’s slowest train! Oh well… hopefully Munich wins the 2018 Olympics so we can experience all of Carnaval.
It was a great weekend, an interesting combination of somber history, immersion in an absolutely insane European cultural experience, and a great sampling of the fun Bavarian culture!
