Munich, Germany Part 1

Munich, Germany is only a 2 hr train ride from Salzburg, Austria and was the next stop for us. We started our sightseeing by visiting Marienplatz. This square was named after the Marian column erected in it's center in 1638 to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years' War. It became a hub for the quickly growing city and includes the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall. The New Town Hall dominates the square and was started in 1867, with the last expansion completed in 1909. The last expansion contains the fourth largest glockenspiel in Europe. It performs three times a day and we caught the noon performance. It lasted almost 10 minutes and was a reenactment of the 1568 wedding of Duke William V and Renata of Lorraine, including a jousting match followed by a rendition of a dance. There is a different performance at night that includes a night watchman blowing his horn and the guardian angel of Munich bestowing a blessing on the city. There is quite a crowd that collects to watch the performances.

Old Town Hall

New Town Hall

Another complex that grew over time was Nymphenburg Palace (pronounced Newmfinborg). It is huge. It was the summer residence of the court and was begun in 1664 when Max Emanuel gave it to his wife Henriette Adelaide to celebrate the birth of the heir to the throne. It was added to by successive rulers. The grounds are very extensive and include 4 smaller park pavilions.

It is very elaborate inside with painted ceilings and fancy moldings.










The park pavilions include Pagodenburg which displays the Chinese fashion that was popular in the early 18th century.




Badenburg contains a swimming pool and had some beautiful Chinese wallpaper.

Magdalenenklause was built as a retreat from court amusements. It was meant as a place for reflection and was purposely built to look like a ruin which was also in fashion in the early 1700's.




The last one built was Amalienburg and was dedicated as a hunting lodge to Elector Karl Albrecht's wife.




The grounds are very extensive and these park pavilions are located on both sides of a central canal which you can take a gondola ride on. At the end of the central canal is a large fountain called the Grand Cascade. There is also a carriage and porcelain museum. It took us the better part of a day just to tour it all.