Thursday, December 21, 2006

Rampant in Munich

I’m in Munich right now. The weather’s freezing, and the days are at their shortest of the year. But the sun’s been shining, despite the forecast for snow, and the atmosphere on the streets of the old town centre is definitely one of excitement and anticipation in the lead up to Christmas.

Munich. I can hardly think of another city whose very name conjures up so many meanings. Four spring to mind. First, there’s the Munich that gave rise to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Indeed, the German Führer considered München to be the spiritual home of the Third Reich. Areas such as Königsplatz, close to the museum district, still bear many buildings associated with Nazism, although those unfamiliar with their history may walk by oblivious to the sinister events of three generations ago.

Second, there’s also Munich as the shorthand for appeasement. To scream Munich, as many politicians in English-speaking world have done since, is to charge the other side with spineless kowtowing before assorted contemporary dictators. Hapless British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich, proclaiming “Peace in our time.” But of course, war was to break out barely a year later. I visited the very building where the Munich Agreement was concluded. Today, it serves as an innocent music and performing arts college.

Third, many also think of Munich as the site of the Munich Massacre. Thanks to Steven Spielberg’s movie, this episode from recent history has been raised in popular consciousness. We recall how eleven Israeli athletes were murdered during the 1972 Summer Olympics, and also how the Tel Aviv government dispatched special hit squads later to track down the individual terrorist perpetrators.

Yet, despite the dark history, there’s a fourth meaning to Munich – one which is decidedly more positive and uplifting, and which parallels the stunning development of Germany since the Second World War. For Munich and Bavaria represent the stereotypical outsider’s view of Germany. This is a complex country, with many regional differences. Yet, think Germany, and up pops images of BMWs and beer gardens and fairytale castles and men in lederhosen.

For me, Munich means all these things. And it signifies something else as well. For Munich was my first stop in Germany after I began learning the language in university some time back. Yes, we had hundreds of hours of lessons in the classroom. We practised our verb endings and memorized the noun genders. But nothing could beat the experience of being immersed zum ersten Mal in einer deutschspächigen Stadt (in a German-speaking city for the first time).

I’ve made a few trips back to Germany since those young undergraduate days, including a wonderful tour of Berlin just last year. But it sure is good to be back in Munich. The familiar sights are still there, as I remembered. The Hauptbahnhof train station. The Marienplatz and the famous twin green onion domes of the Frauenkirche. Even the various Doner Kebab stalls. Memories of the past - thoughts of when I last was here - fill my head, as I walk down the streets, trying to keep warm, taking in the sights and sounds afresh.

New to me, certainly, were the ancient Baroque churches of Munich, which I neglected to visit previously. There was the stately Michaelskirche, the gorgeously decorated Asamkirche, the landmark Frauenkirche, and the huge Theatinerkirche. But there was no climbing of the church tower. Instead, I headed up the viewing tower of the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall), where one could take in an impressive view of this obviously prosperous city.

If anything, this is one of the best times in the year to be in Munich. Germany is famous for its magical Christmas markets – die Christkindlmärkte – and each December brings Munich’s Christmas market out to the streets. Hundreds of stalls are erected around the Marienplatz and surrounding alleys, selling all manner of seasonal goodies, including a large number of stands serving mugs of warm Glühwein.

This is, of course, an excellent segue for me to outline my culinary experience of Munich over the past couple of days. German cuisine ain’t considered high cuisine, which suits me fine. So I dug in happily to an assortment to wursts, savoured a kartoffelnsalat (potato salad), tasted a crepe mit schinken und käse (ham and cheese), and tried for the first time a Reiberdatschi – a deep fried potato hash that came with cool apple sauce. Yum.

But an unfortunate meal was had at the local Burger King’s. I was hungry and didn’t want to walk too far. So I redeemed myself later with a visit to the Spatenhof along Neuhauserstrasse, where I had the Bauernschmaus. What’s that? Think of it as a Bavarian BaoGarLiao, with servings of boiled bacon, roast port, sausage, sauerkraut, dumplings and potatoes. Double Yum.

So, while I continue my digestion process and rue the obvious loss over the years of my German-language abilities, here’s a selection of delectable images taken over the past couple of days.







2 Comments:

Blogger lucid247 said...

Love the photos in your entries.

1:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i see cheese. cheeessseeee....cheeeessseeee!

7:37 AM  

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