Overview

Munich is much more than that

Admit it – you are going there for all that beer…its Hofbrauhaus on your mind not Frauenkirche or Marienplatz! And no one can blame you because Octoberfest is what comes to the mind when one thinks of Munich – the cosmopolitan, chic and carefree city; almost synonymous with Germany. Munich is a pleasurable city that seems to have been invented just so you and I could have fun. But Bavaria's capital and one of Germany's biggest cities also has its fair share of great museums, architectural treasures, historic sites, and world-class shops, restaurants, and hotels. Add the abundant lederhosen and oompah bands and you can already see Berlin turn green! However, what makes Munich even more special is the general bonhomie, the feeling of Gemutlichkeit, or warmth that leaves you with a smile on your face.

Munich’s exploding night scene is another big draw for tourists as are the various "all-nighter" events throughout the year like museum-chasing and musical performances. The kings and dukes of the Wittelsbach Dynasty, which ruled Bavaria for more than 750 years until 1918, got Munich hooked on to the arts and that legacy is still thriving in Munich’s fabulous museums, the Opera House, the Philharmonic, and much more.

Museums and breathtaking architecture are good reasons but still, secretly every one is working on timing to fall in with Fasching and Oktoberfest. Most people get to Munich with dreams of Beer flowing out of beer halls and Kneipes, but an altogether unexpected surprise awaits them when they find a city spritzed with refinement and elegance, filled to the brim with fashionable boutiques and fashionistas, businessmen and tourists populating its five-star restaurants and a future-perfect Munich jumps out at you and says, “Hey, it’s more than Beer”!

Get the whole enchilada on one of Germany’s fastest growing and greenest cities here, because for the uninitiated there would be only beer!

How the monks started it all

The area where Munich sits pretty today was settled in the Roman times but it was the 8th-century Benedictine monks who put the fizzy into the straight-laced Roman colony and put it on the map. The monks also gave Munich its much-loved moniker - Munichen, or 'monk settlement'. The city however was officially born in 1158 when the Imperial Diet in Augsburg sanctioned the short-lived rule of Heinrich der Lowe. In 1180, when Henry the Lion was put on trial, Otto I Wittelsbach became the Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. Finally in 1240 Munich passed to the House of Wittelsbach and the illustrious family ruled Munich and Bavaria till the 20th century.

Munich became a ducal residence of Upper Bavaria in 1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split into two. By the next century the city had seen considerable expansion, had been fortified and given a salt-trading monopoly by Ludwig the Bavarian, builder of the Alter Hof. These events formed the foundations of a wealthy trading city and over the next 200 years the city predictably prospered to become the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria in 1503. Along with prosperity came increasing population and the sundry associated ills like the plague which attacked the city several times from 1349 to 1499 making it imperative for the city’s administration to pay serious attention to sewage and sanitation. Things improved as a result of these efforts and by 1505 the population of Munich had peaked at 13,500.

On a religious note, the Reformation movement did not really touch Bavaria as the reigning Duke Wilhelm IV thought little of it. As a result Munich remained resolutely Catholic and achieved the status of Germany's Counter-Reformation capital. This was also the time when Munich thought nothing of spending fortunes on erecting Renaissance splendors like the Residenz, the Bavarian State Library and Michaelskirche, which today make for good viewing but left the city in financial dire straits. Munich was temporarily surrendered to Sweden during the Thirty Years' War, and came under Habsburg rule from 1705-14.

The city’s sagging fortunes saw some emancipation when Napoleon elevated Bavaria to the rank of kingdom and doubled its size and in 1818 it became the first German state to have a written constitution. Elector Max Joseph was crowned the first King of Bavaria, and gave the world Oktoberfest in 1810 at the marriage celebrations of his son, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig I.

The start of the 19th century brought good times to Munich with the relocation of the University of Munich and the arrival of Munich's first railway. Ludwig I initiated a massive building program which transformed his capital into a cultural and artistic centre. The most notable structures to have come to life during this period are Konigsplatz, the Alte Pinakothek, Ludwigstrasse, the Ruhmeshalle at Theresienwiese and sections of the Residenz. In 1848, Ludwig handed the crown to his son, Maximilian II who became instrumental in the industrialization of the city.

Bavaria lost its independent status and became part of the new German Reich in 1871 when Bavaria's last king, Ludwig II, dubbed 'the mad king' backed the losing side in the Franco-Prussian war. , and the state was finally absorbed into the new German Reich in 1871. Ludwig II was declared mentally unfit in a dubious psychological exam in 1886, subsequently arrested and soon after found drowned…all cloak & dagger!

By the turn of the 20th century Munich was rising again and with more certainty as a city facing the future – it had fantastic civic facilities, was home to creative geniuses like Kandinsky, Strauss, Ibsen and Mann and expanding its industries. WWI brought Munich down to its knees again and the city later became pivotal for Adolf Hitler's National Socialist movement. Munich had to work hard in later decades to cut away from this stigma as the hub of Hitler's operations post-1933 as well as recover from getting bombed out by the Allied forces in WWII.

The postwar years saw Munich picking up the pieces, putting salve on its injuries caused by Nazi occupation and the war and finally emerging triumphant as a hub for publishing, fashion, cinema and mega companies like Siemens, BMW and truck maker MAN. Today Munich lays claim to one of Germany’s best cities with the highest quality of life, a booming economy and a happening entertainment scene. Its combination of artistic vibrancy and big-city bells & whistles attracts thousands of visitors each year, most of whom leave ‘beer-ed out and waiting for more”

Bavaria Beckons

Between the months of May and September, Munich has tourists bouncing off the wall and you can blame it all on the fine weather. If you are planning on traveling to Munich during the ‘rush hour’ be warned that though you may get good deals on flights, finding a good play for some shut eye is going to be hard. You could give the slightly “off –seasons” of April-May and September-October a thought because these are great months to visit Munich, too. There are fewer visitors, not counting the Oktoberfest mob and plenty of sunshine and it is still pleasant enough to bike the city. Going to Munich between November and March is a mixed bag with few visitors, below-freezing temperatures and sunless skies.

A good idea here would be to time your visit to coincide with one of Munich’s ever present, fab events and festivals. Seriously, go ahead and do it, you know you want to!