November 21, 2007

Deciding to skip out on Croatia and head to Munich was, surely, the most spontaneous thing we’ve done while traveling. (We are so proud of this.) It also turned out to be a fantastic couple of days in a city that knows what it is. In one sentence: Munich is beer, of course, and glockenspiels and Third Reich history and sausages. It’s a fascinating place to get lost for a couple of days.

We did four things in Munich, each one equally valuable. On Tuesday, we took a 2 ½ hour walking tour of the city, then wandered through an art museum, then (after a nap) went on a beer and brewery tour. On Wednesday, we spent the whole day at Dachau, the first concentration camp, before heading to the airport.

The day dawned freezing, of course, but, tightly bundled up, we made our way to Marienplatz to start the tour. After a strong, strong, strong cappuccino in a cozy bakery, we first watched the famous glockenspiel spin, then headed around the city with our American guide. Walking tours are, I believe, the only way to orient yourself in a new city. You certainly don’t want to ride a double-decker tourist bus, and you don’t want to wander the city aimlessly. Colette, our guide, explained the significance of all the historical buildings while letting us in on a bit of Munchen culture. (My favorite bit was the fact that Munich is viewed as too high-brow by the rest of Germany; they call citizens “chiccy micky.”) Also adding to the ambience were the nascent Christmas decorations. I bet Munich is a charming place to spend Christmas.

Though our feet were tired, we dragged them to the Neue Pinakothek (an art museum covering 18th century painters onward). Now, normally, we are not art museum patrons, having very little clue at what we are gazing. What made the trip outstanding, however, was the availability of audio guides. Such a small thing, and such a big difference. Standing in front of Monet’s bridge at Argenteuil, for example, we heard about not just the technique Monet used, but also about his personal life that led him to this town. In one painting, I appreciated the huge Gothic cathedral painted there, and then I heard that this cathedral was entirely in the painter’s mind and that the painting was recreated detail for detail after the original was lost in a fire. It added a dimension to art that has always been lacking for us.

Following our only respite of the day, a short nap, we headed back to Marienplatz for our evening tour. This one consisted of beer, beer, food, and more beer. When in Munich… First we toured a brewery, learning about the types of wheat, barley, etc. needed to create the six beers of Munich. (There are six official varieties, ones that have breweries within the city limits. These are the only ones allowed to serve beer at Oktoberfest – a quality that, according to our guide, was like “being able to print your own money.”) We sampled some beer, learned how to pour a wheat beer correctly, and ordered traditional German food. This part was scary, since I doubt they make tofu sausages or eggplant schnitzel. However, I did order – and scarf down – “potato waffles stuffed with herbed cream cheese.” Sounds strange, but put together potatoes, oil, and cheese, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Next it was on Hofbräuhaus, possibly the most famous beer hall in the world. Though touristy, it retains much unstinted German character, including costumed dancers and tuba players in lederhosen. We observed an awe-inducing sight – the steins of the regulars locked up and waiting for them. Apparently, if you drink beer at Hofbräuhaus at least four times a week for about 30 years, you can lay claim to your own table. It’s a worthy goal. Anyway, after marveling at our waitress’ strong wrists, we partook of a “mass liter” of something golden and bitter. As the night wore on, we chatted up our American compatriots, and apparently some of us outlasted the rest of the tour, because suddenly we found ourselves on the subway in search of a bar. While it was great (and somewhat sacrilegious, being in Europe) to associate with other young Americans, we had an early morning and had to cut the festivities short.

The next morning found us groggily bouncing along on a train to Dachau. Our guide, an Irishman named Gordon, had an encyclopedic knowledge of Holocaust history and wanted to focus us on an intellectual understanding rather than an emotional one. At Auschwitz, for example, there is an exhibit of hundreds of empty shoes, which engages your sadness and anger, but doesn’t lead you to an understanding of why the concentration camps system worked, which is essential knowledge if one wants to prevent a similar thing happening again. We gained much knowledge over the five-hour tour, and here are the highlights:

• In contrast to the popular view of a few large concentration camps, there were actually camps in just about every German town, for a total of more than 2,000.
• The purpose of the camps was not simply to kill people, but to humiliate them and psychologically break them. Every rule helped to demoralize the inmates and reduce their individuality (standing outside for hours for role call, signs such as “please wash your hands” in the restroom, shaving heads and assigning numbers, etc.).li>
• The Nazis succeeded largely because they did not appear to be monsters. On the surface, they were very civilized (they planted flowers and trees at Dachau, for example), and they had come to power legitimately. Hitler wanted the Nazi party to be voted for so that there was a popular mandate for their actions, and so that the German people would be less likely to criticize them, since self-criticism is so difficult.

There was a ton of information at this museum, and as our guide said, it would have taken months to learn it all. Overall, I was appreciative of an intellectual standpoint, though I felt somewhat cheated emotionally. Still, definitely a worthwhile addition to our world history knowledge.

This short trip packed as much action into it as many of our longer ones. For some reason, the stars aligned for us in Munich, as we learned much and enjoyed much. Munich is a gorgeous city with a buoyant personality and a complex history, and we would do well to choose so wisely next trip.