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MUNICH
The city's motto is "München mag Dich"
Munich likes you
GERMANY
In July 2007, Munich had 1.34 million
inhabitants; 300,129 of those did not hold
German citizenship. The city has strong
Turkish and Balkan communities. The largest
groups of foreign nationals were Turks
(43,309), Albanians (30,385), Croats
(24,866), Serbs (24,439), Greeks (22,486),
Austrians (21,411), and Italians (20,847).
37% of foreign nationals come from the
European Union.
With only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the
population doubled about every 30 years. For
example, it had 100,000 people in 1852 and
then 250,000 people in 1883; by 1901, the
figure had doubled again to 500,000. Since
then, Munich has become Germany's third
largest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants
were counted and in 1957, Munich's
population passed the 1 million mark.
MUNICH
HISTORY
The year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date,
which is only the earliest date the city is mentioned
in a document. The document was signed in
Augsburg. By that time the Guelph Henry the Lion,
Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over
the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine
monks—this was on the Salt Route and a toll bridge.
Almost two decades later in 1175 Munich was
officially granted city status and received
fortification. In 1180, with the trial of Henry the
Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria
and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of
Freising. Wittelsbach's heirs, the Wittelsbach
dynasty, would rule Bavaria until 1918. In 1240,
Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in
1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split in two,
Munich became the ducal residence of Upper
Bavaria.
Duke Louis IV was elected German king in 1314
and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He
strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt
monopoly, thus assuring it of additional income. In
the late 15th century Munich underwent a revival of
gothic arts—the Old Town Hall was enlarged, and a
Munich's largest gothic church, now a cathedral—
the Frauenkirche—constructed in only twenty years,
starting in 1468.
GEOGRAPHIE
Munich lies on the elevated plains of
Upper Bavaria, about 50 km (31.07 mi)
north of the northern edge of the Alps,
at an altitude of about 520 m
(1,706.04 ft) ASL. The local rivers are
the Isar and the Würm. Munich is
situated in the Northern Alpine
Foreland. The northern part of this
sandy plateau includes a highly fertile
flint area which is no longer affected
by the folding processes found in the
Alps, while the southern part is
covered with morainic hills. Between
these are fields of fluvio-glacial outwash, such as around Munich.
Wherever these deposits get thinner,
the ground water can permeate the
gravel surface and flood the area,
leading to marshes as in the north of
Munich.
CULTURE
The city is an inspiring mix of historic
buildings and impressive architecture,
since Munich reconstructed the ruins of
their historic buildings but also created
new landmarks of architecture. A survey,
conducted by the Society's Center for
Sustainable Destinations for the National
Geographic Traveler, chose over 100
historic places around the world and
ranked Munich as the 30th best
destination.
At the centre of the city is the
Marienplatz—a large open square named
after the Mariensäule, a Marian column
in its centre—with the Old and the New
Town Hall. Its tower contains the
Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Three gates of the
demolished medieval fortification have
survived to this day—the Isartor in the
east, the Sendlinger Tor in the south and
the Karlstor in the west of the inner city.
The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a
grand square dominated by the
Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) and a
fountain.
PARKS
Munich is a green city with numerous
parks. The Englischer Garten, close to the
city centre and covering an area of 3.7
km² (larger than Central Park in New
York), is one of the world's largest urban
public parks, and contains a nudist area,
jogging tracks and bridle-paths. It was
designed and laid by Benjamin
Thompson, Count of Rumford, for both
pleasure and as a work area for the city's
vagrants and homeless. Nowadays it is
entirely a park with a Biergarten at the
Chinese Pagoda.
Other large green spaces are the modern
Olympiapark, Westpark, and the parks of
Nymphenburg Palace (with the
Botanischer Garten MünchenNymphenburg to the north), and
Schleissheim Palace. The city's oldest
park is the Hofgarten, near the Residenz,
and dating back to the 16th century. Best
known for the largest beergarden in the
town is the former royal Hirschgarten,
founded in 1780 for deer which still live
there.
aid out
Nymphenburg Palace
Two large baroque palaces in Nymphenburg
and Oberschleissheim are reminders of
Bavaria's royal past. Schloss Nymphenburg
(Nymphenburg Palace), some 6 km north
west of the city centre, is surrounded by an
impressive park and is considered to be one
of Europe's most beautiful royal residences. 2
km north west of Nymphenburg Palace is
Schloss Blutenburg (Blutenburg Castle), an
old ducal country seat with a late-Gothic
palace church. Schloss Fürstenried
(Fürstenried Palace), a baroque palace of
similar structure to Nymphenburg but of
much smaller size, was erected around the
same time in the south west of Munich. The
second large baroque residence is Schloss
Schleissheim (Schleissheim Palace), located
in the suburb of Oberschleissheim, a palace
complex encompassing three separate
residences: Altes Schloss Schleissheim (the
old palace), Neues Schloss Schleissheim (the
new palace) and Schloss Lustheim (Lustheim
Palace). Most parts of the palace complex
serve as museums and art galleries.
Deutsches Museum's Flugwerft Schleissheim
flight exhibition centre is located nearby, on
the Schleissheim Special Landing Field.
Hofbräuhaus and
Oktoberfest
The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, arguably the
most famous beer hall worldwide, is
located in the city centre. It also operates
the second largest tent at the
Oktoberfest, one of Munich's most
famous attractions. For two weeks, the
Oktoberfest attracts millions of people
visiting its beer tents ("Bierzelte") and
fairground attractions. The Oktoberfest
was first held on 12 October 1810 in
honour of the marriage of crown prince
Ludwig to Princess Therese von SachsenHildburghausen. The festivities were
closed with a horse race and in the
following years the horse races were
continued and later developed into what
is now known as the Oktoberfest. Despite
its name, most of Oktoberfest occurs in
September. It always finishes on the first
Sunday in October unless the German
national holiday on 3 October ("Tag der
deutschen Einheit"-Day of German Unity)
is a Monday or Tuesday-then the
Oktoberfest remains open for these days.
Culinary specialities
The Weißwurst ('white sausage') is a
Munich speciality. Traditionally eaten only
before 12:00 noon – a tradition dating to
a time before refrigerators – these
morsels are often served with sweet
mustard and freshly baked pretzels.
Leberkäs, Bavarian baked sausage loaf,
often served with potato salad, is another
delicacy of the region.
The most famous soup might be the
Leberknödel Soup. Leberknödel is a bread
dumpling seasoned with liver and onions.
Schweinsbraten (pot roasted pork) with
Knödel (dumplings made from potatoes
and/or white bread) and Kraut (cabbage)
or a Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle) are
served as lunch or dinner. Beuscherl, a
plate of lung, heart and spleen is also
served with dumplings.
Popular as dessert is the Apfelstrudel
(apple) strudel with vanilla sauce, the
Millirahmstrudel a cream cheese strudel,
Dampfnudeln (yeast dumplings served
with custard) or Auszogene, a fried pastry
shaped like a large donut but without a
hole. And there is also the famous
Prinzregententorte created in honour of
the prince regent Luitpold.
BAVARIA
Bavaria, formally the Free State of
Bavaria is a state of Germany, located
in the southeast of the country. With
an area of 70,548 square kilometres
(27,200 sq mi), it is the largest state by
area, forming almost 20% of the total
land area of Germany. Bavaria is
Germany's second most populous
state (after North Rhine-Westphalia)
with almost 12.5 million inhabitants,
more than any of the three sovereign
states on its borders. Bavaria's capital
is Munich.
One of the oldest states of Europe, it
was established as a duchy in the mid
first millennium. In the 17th century,
the Duke of Bavaria became a Princeelector of the Holy Roman Empire. The
Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806
to 1918, and Bavaria has since been a
free state (republic). Modern Bavaria
also includes parts of the historical
regions of Franconia and Swabia.