Was downtown a couple of days ago, and since my date informed me that she would be late by one hour due to a public transportation mishap (an almost regular occurrence lately), I had a little over an hour to kill. So I decided to play tourist and snap a few pictures with my phone (captions are below each picture):


Started at St.Peter with the famous belltower (Alter Peter/ Old Peter)

St. Anna

The balcony of the Neue Rathaus/ New Town Hall (where the players of FC Bayern Munich celebrate when they win a championship/ Champpions League/ National League Cup)

The town hall tower with the famous Glockenpsiel

In the foreground: Mariens�ule (Marian Column), which was errected to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation during the 30 years war

View of Marienplatz, with the twin towers of the Frauenkirche in the background

The Alte Rathaus (Old Town Hall)

This alley is slightly curved, because the old (first) city wall used to be where the houses are on the right side.

Fischbrunnen ("fish fountain"), a popular meeting place.



Nationaltheater (national theatre), the home of both the Bavrarian State Opera and State Ballet

South face of the (reconstructed) M�nchner Residenz

Again, Nationaltheater and, right next to it on the left, the Residenztheater.

View towards Odeonsplatz (the yellow bell towers belong to Theatinerkirche/ Theatine Church)

Lions guarding the entrance to the Old Residenz

The so-called Dr�ckebergergasse ("hedger's alley): the name originated in WWII, when people used it to evade saluting the Nazi honour guard (established to commemorate the "victims" of Hitler's failed coup of 1923). The just slipped through the alley and passed the Feldherrenhalle on its western side, thereby avoiding the salute.

Eastern face of the Feldherrenhalle: This is where the Nazi honor guard was (right where those youths sit). In the background: Theatinerkirche.




Feldherrenhalle

View northwards down Ludwigstrasse. In the distance you can see the Siegestor (no physical zoom on my smartphone unfortunately, otherwise this would have been a much better photo)

This builing is called Hauptpost (sometimes Residenzpost), the "main post office building".

Looking down Maximilianstrasse towards the Maximilianeum (seat of the Bavarian Parliament, or officially: State Diet of Bavaria)

Promenadenplatz with Hotel Bayerischer Hof. The statue in the foreground is Orlando di Lasso, and the crap on it is from Michael Jackson fans (I have honestly no idea why they do that).

Kurf�rst Max Emanuel von Bayern

Backside of Jesuit church St. Michael; the tower is a leftover from the city wall.


Quick detour to snap a pictue of one of Frauenkirche's bell towers (the other is currently being renovated)

Lenbachplatz

Justizpalast (Palace of Justice), Karlsplatz. A sight best seen from the outside

Paulskirche from Theresienwiese (Theresienwiese is the site of the Oktoberfest): The church was hit by a plane in 1960

The Bavaria

At the banks of the Isar (the river running through Munich)

Nice photos and all (esp. for a phone), but I hardly recognize "my" Munich.
Next time you should add some photos of Hofbr�ukeller, Paulaner Keller, Augustiner Keller, Chinesischer Turm, Seehaus, Hirschgarten, ...
Especially at such a nice day under a bavarian sky

Thanks for sharing those pics Jayhawk. Munchen is definitely on my list of places to visit when I go to Germany.

Well, I only had a little over an hour, so this whole thing was quite spontaneous. Maybe I'll find the time to do a part II or III...

Joa mei, dass sieht doch schoen aus, was?

Already 22 years ago that I spent half a year as an intern in the Deutsches Museum. Still have great memories of Munich.

I'm surprised the authorities allow all that MJ crap on that statue?

Nice pics though,looks a lovely place.

It is a terrific city and the people are really friendly and welcoming. Those pics bring back happy memories when I was last there, when Chelsea won the Champions League .

Wonderful town ! and what about this gorgeous Biergaten in the big park ? and the one with the bandstand in the middle ? great atmosphere with the promise of a paar Wiener and a Krug Helles dazu (not less!) !

I'm jealous - the Deutsches Museum is one of the world's greatest science and technology museums. I only spent a half-day there, but I would make a special effort to revisit if I were in Munich again!

Followed by the Hofbrauhaus (although not that weird camembert spread they seem to like :D)

Let me help polish up your - apparently still good - Bavarian:

Jo mei, des sieg't doch schee aus, oda? [Alternativ dazu: gell?(pronounced "geyh")].

Hey, don't knock the Obazda ! It's great, and an integral part of any visit to a Bavarian Biergarten.

Do you mean Biergarten am Chinesischen Turm in the Englischer Garten?

I'm sorry, I have no recollection of such an event, and therefore don't understand what you are referring to....

I have no idea why MJ's "fans" put the stuff there in the first place, nor why this is tolerated. Maybe they look the other way as long as the stuff can be taken away (as long as no one spray-paints on the statue, for example).

Or the city council believes this lightens up the place, or has simply given up throwing all that away?

And M�nchen will definitely be glad to host you, dear Sir.

So, how do you feel about a sabbatical?

Just kidding. Come over whenever you're ready; just let your personal tour guide know in advance.

I think a lot us are hoping for your date to be late more often jk

Thanks for the great pictures and def looking forward to seeing more.



I used the ol' Google machine and this is what seems to be the story with the statue:


"There's a small memorial park in front of the five star Bayerischer Hof hotel in Munich where the statue of influencial 16th century musician Orlando di Lasso shares his legacy with the late Michael Jackson.

Fans of the pop singer have turned the statue into an unofficial Michael Jackson shrine, placing mementos, offerings and tribute messages here week in and week out - since shortly after the singer's death in June 2009.

Every so often I see people gathering here to pay their respects. Or simply to marvel at all the fuss. The choice for this specific spot seems to be related to the fact that the undisputed King of Pop stayed at the Bayerischer Hof across the road a few times.

Apparently it all started because the local authorities refused to build a dedicated Michael Jackson memorial in the city - and so some hardcore fans simply hijacked one while trying to raise enough money to build their own.

There is even a Facebook fan page raising awareness for this cause and urging people to become 'messengers of healing the world'. MJ must have made a true impression in Munich to have such a dedicated group of German fans here.

The statue is never without an abundance of fresh flowers and burning candles, handwritten notes, ornaments and photographs in tribute of the singer."

I'm assuming you are speaking of the obazd'n?

On a related historical note, one question that kept coming to my mind while looking at those pics is how many of those buildings are the originals and how many were rebuilt after WWII? The restoration work seems to be so well done that it's difficult to tell the difference.

Panzer, the WWII bombing raids left 90% of the historic city center destroyed (some, like the church in the first picture, almost completely). The Residenz was heavily damaged.

Thanks for that info, David. I had no idea what was going on there.