The Isar River flows through Munich. There are many beautiful bridges spanning it. If you get hot while touring, why not take advantage of the many beaches along the shore of the river. There’s even a public bath house which you can use for only 4 Euros. If you get hungry, there’s a cafe there too.
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: bath, beach, bridge, cafe, house, Isar, Munich, river, shore, tour
Old New Synagogue
The former Jewish Ghetto (now called Josefov) in Prague goes back to the 12th century. In fact, the oldest synagogue in Europe, the Old-New Synagogue, is still there and it is still used for its purpose, as there are regular services. An old legend says it was built of stones from the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This quarter was demolished in 1897. Today, there are 6 synagogues, the Jewish City Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery from the 15th century. Notice the Rabbi’s house has gold decorations and the clock with hebrew letters which dates to 1674.
In 1389 the biggest anti-Jewish pogrom in the Middle Ages took place here, when about 3,000 citizens of the Jewish Quarter were killed, turning the walls of the Old–New Synagogue dark with blood. Their homes were plundered and burned.
However, in the 16th century, this quarter was thriving. Some of the synagogues we can still see were built then. The Maisel Synagogue houses an exhibition of the Jewish Museum in Prague. In the 1950’s, the Pinkas Synagogue became a Memorial to victims of the Holocaust. The walls of the nave, gallery and vestibule were covered with names of about 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jews. You can also see drawings of Jewish children made in the Terezin concentration camp between 1942 and 1944. There were more than 10,000 children under the age of 15 there. In 1577, the High Synagogue was built as a part of the Jewish City Hall, and the original vault with some Gothic features and stucco decoration still can be seen.
The Rabbi’s House
Nowadays, Paris St. in this area is one of the most popular places to live in Prague. If you get hungry, you can eat at the King Solomon kosher restaurant. Michelle Obama ate there when she was in town.
www.cosmos.com/Product.aspx?trip=46050
Tags: 16th, Bohemian, Budapest, burn, camp, cemetery, children, citizen, city, clock, Cosmos, Cosmos Tour: Prague Vienna Budapest, decoration, drawing, exhibition, gallery, ghetto, gold, Gothic, Hall, hebrew, high, Holocaust, home, hungry, Jerusalem, Jew, Josefov, kill, King Solomon, kosher, letter, Maisel, massacre, memorial, Michelle, Middle Age, Moravian, Museum, nave, Obama, Paris, Pinkas, plunder, Prague, quarter, rabbi, Restaurant, Second Temple, St, stone, stucco, synagogue, Terezin, tour, vault, vestibule, Vienna, wall
Michael Jackson wanted to live in Munich in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof. He never got to do it, but the people of Munich have set up a memorial spot to him on the base of a statue of composer Orlande de Lassus (a Renaissance composer) in the grassy median facing the hotel. His loyal fans have put up photos of him and leave flowers, candles and handwritten notes.
Tags: Bayerischer Hof, composer, flower, hotel, memorial, Michael Jackson, Munich, Orlande de Lassus, photo, Renaissance, statue
The Hotel Bayerischer Hof was opened in 1841 because King Ludwig I wished to have a comfortable place for his guests to stay. (What – no extra rooms in his gi-normous palace?). Today it is still a gorgeous 5-star hotel, but we think the best places are on the roof and in the basement.
Palais Keller, situated in the old salt cellar from the Middle Ages, is an inexpensive but delicious place to dine on traditional Bavarian food. Go down the stone steps to this bustling restaurant with waitresses sporting frilly aprons, carrying big mugs of Lowenbrau beer and wearing big smiles. The folkloric atmosphere only adds to the taste of the veal in cream sauce with spaetzle, potato salad, sauerkraut, bread dumplings, weiswursts and cheese wursts, along with pretzels with mustard.
After you’ve dined head for the roof, to the Blue Spa Bar & Lounge. Have a drink in the sky and take in the birds-eye view of all of Munich before you.
In 1897 Herrmann Volkhardt bought the hotel, and today Innegrit Volkhardt, the fourth generation, is the General Manager. It was bombed in WWII; Falk Volkhardt, the son of Hermann made an amazing discovery under the ruins of the destroyed hotel – the Spiegelsaal (Mirror Hall) had survived almost intact. In October 1945, this was where he opened the first restaurant in the centre of Munich after the war.
http://www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: apron, ball, basement, Bavarian, Bayerischer Hof, beer, birds, blue, cellar, cream, dine, discovery, eye, Falk, food, Germany, guest, Hall, Hermann, horseradish, hotel, Innegrit, Keller, King, Lowenbrau, Ludwig I, Middle Age, mirror, mug, Munich, mustard, palace, Palais, pretzel, Restaurant, roof, room, salt, sky, smile, spa, Spiegelsaal, step, stone, veal, Volkhardt, waitress, weisswurst, WWII
When you’re walking around Munich, make sure to notice their great door handles. The city is known for them.
While walking through the massive English Garden in Munich we were wowed when we came across people surfing at the southern edge of the park, next to the Haus der Kunst. Sure it is a tiny part of the artificial river which had a wild current in it, but there were people of all ages and all degrees of competence with their boards and gear ready to give it a try. And a huge crowd watching – be careful, you may get wet!
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: age, board, crowd, current, English Garden, gear, people, river, surf, wet
If you’ve ever wondered what the letters BMW mean it’s for Bavarian Motor Works. You can get your fill of everything BMW by touring the BMW museum, located just outside of Munich.
The blue and white colors and pattern on the car’s emblem are taken right from the Bavarian flag.
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
www.cosmos.com/Product.aspx?trip=46050
Tags: Bavarian, Bavarian Motor Works, blue, BMW, car, color, emblem, flag, Munich, Museum, white
Kurt Eisner, a Socialist and a Jew became the first Republican Premier of Bavaria. In November 1918, at the end of WWI, Eisner, a socialist journalist and statesman, organized the Socialist Revolution which overthrew the Wittelsbach monarchy in Bavaria. He declared Bavaria to be a free state and republic on November 8, 1918.
His leadership didn’t last long as he was assassinated in Munich when German nationalist Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley shot him in the back on February 21, 1919. After his death the in-fighting amongst left wing parties led to the seeds of the National Socialist Party and the rise of Hitler.
In 1989 a memorial was placed on the sidewalk on the ground at the site of his assassination.
Members of the Wittelsbach family are still alive, still own property in the city and are honored by the people of Munich and are invited to events.
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley, assassinate, family, German, Hitler, honor, left, memorial, monarchy, Munich, national, parties, party, people, property, sidewalk, socialist, state, wing, Wittelsbach
The “English Garden”, really the Englischer Garten in Munich is known as one of the largest urban public parks in the world. Believe it or not, it was designed by an American physicist, Sir Benjamin Thompson in 1789.
Born in Woburn, Massachusetts, he served as a Lieutenant-Colonel on the British side during the American Revolutionary War for which he received a knighthood from King George III. He later lived in Germany and became Count Rumford.
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: American, Benjamin, British, Count, Englischer, English, garden, Garten, George, Germany, King, knight, Lieutenant-Colonel, Massachusetts, Munich, park, physicist, revolutionary, Rumford, Thompson, urban, Woburn, world
Haus der Deutschen Kunst (“House of Aryan Art”) was the Third Reich’s first monumental structure of Nazi architecture and a showcase for Nazi propag
anda. It opened July 18, 1937 to highlight what the Third Reich regarded as Germany’s finest art. Since Hitler thought Modern Art was crap, he intended this as an edifying contrast to it.
Ironically, since, 2002, it has housed the the National Collection of Modern and Contemporary Arts and is called the Pinakothek der Moderne.
Just to make sure we get it, crowning the top of the building are 20 words written in Yiddish such as “meshiginer or nudnick” – all words relating to the fact he was a fool.
www.muenchen.de/int/en/tourism.html
Tags: architecture, art, collection, Crown, fool, Germany, Haus der Deutschen Kunst, modern, modern contemporary, Munich, Pinakothek, propaganda, Reich, Third, yiddish
You are currently browsing the archives for the Munich category.
