Easter in Munich

St Peterskirche

Deutsches Museum

Augustiner Brewery

Any Biergarten, weather permitting!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

You can get to most of the main attractions by foot, but if you're on a time budget and/or your lodging is outside the city center, you may want to invest in either a day card or 3-day card for transportation or look into renting a bike. Just ask at the tourist office or where you're staying (most hotels/hostels can sell you transportation tickets) what the best deal will be, depending on what attractions you might see (for example, Dachau and Neuschwanstein are outside of Munich).

Just opened in September 2004, Meiningers is a big hostel with six floors of rooms, so it’s not exactly a cozy, intimate little hostel. That said, it was very convenient and clean, and I had a great time there.

The people who work here are REALLY helpful. They all speak English, but if you want to practice your Deutsch (German), they'll speak that with you as well. When I first got to my coed dorm, I found myself alone with a party of hungover Spanish boys in their underwear, so I asked if I could get another dorm, and the woman at the desk was REALLY helpful and found me another room.

Book online at www.hostels.com to get a FREE MAP and 1 hour of free Internet use (per reservation, not per person). Otherwise, the Internet prices are a little steep, and there was only one (out of two) working computer while I was there.

Buffet Breakfast: Whether or not this is included in the price is somewhat confusing. At www.hostels.com, they state that it is NOT included in the price, but there is no one collecting money or anything when you go for your breakfast. I made my reservation with hostels.com, and then made adjustments by emailing the hostel directly, after which they emailed me a receipt in which breakfast was accounted for (3€). The buffet is a typical German breakfast: brötchen and bread slices, meat and cheese, butter and jam, non-name brand Nutella, OJ, apple juice, coffee, and tea. And, of course, muesli (even chocolate muesli!)

Rooms: I stayed in a mixed dorm. It's set up kind of strange, with one lockable outer door leading to two separate dorm rooms, each with one bathroom. My dorm had five bunks, but some are smaller. It was pretty nice having the bathroom right there in our room. There are also lockers in the rooms, and you can get a padlock downstairs for a 5€ deposit (you get that back when you return the lock). It’s the same deal for a towel, 5€. Sheets are included in the price and are nice white sheets; there’s no sketchy bedding in this hostel. Also, most rooms have a little balcony.

Hostel bar: I found it a little disappointing. Not too many people hang out here. What with the Augustiner place right across the street, most people with taste would rather go there for a real taste of Munich. Mixed drinks at the hostel bar are 5€ or 6€, shots are 2€, and beers (bottled) are 2,50€, I think. Happy hour is from 8 to 9pm.

Security: Some people might feel a little nervous here, as each room has only one key. The deal is, you lock the door if you're the last person there; otherwise, the door is open. However, as there are lockers to put your valuables in, this didn't bother me at all. I felt very safe here. Also, check-out is at 10am, but you can store your luggage in a locked storage room in the basement.

This tour is in English and lasts about 4 hours, but my group took it pretty easy. If you need to be somewhere at a certain time, let the guides know and they'll accommodate your time needs. Also, the guides are very well-informed and amusing. It's lots of fun. There’s no pressure to leave a tip, and if you want to leave the tour at any time, that's okay, too. This is a good thing to do when you first come to Munich to get to know the city and its history a little better.

You go by the main landmarks and have a snack break in the middle of the tour. Keep in mind that if it's Sunday when you take the tour, you might not get into all of the churches. I did it on Easter Sunday, so we were only able to go into one church, as the rest were having mass.

http://www.augustiner-braeu.de/#
http://www.braeustuben.de/

This is a great place to go and cheaper than the Augustinerkeller, which is more in the central part of Munich. If you stay in the Meininger Hostel, it's perfect because it's just across the street! I went in a group of four, and we each ate dinner and had two drinks for less than 50€. The food is excellent and hearty, like German food should be. I recommend the knödel, or "dumpling," in a mushroom-cream sauce. I tasted their käsespätzli, but I found it somewhat lacking, so this might not be the best place to try that dish. Food is served until closing, so there are no worries about a closed kitchen. And Augustiner is supposed to have the best beer in Munich, so drink up!

www.zam-museum.de

Open 10am to 6pm daily, including public holidays

The Zentrum für Aussergewöhnliche Museen is a collection of "extraordinary" museums- basically, lots of rooms with collections of things like pedal cars or chamber pots. It’s kind of strange, but it can be interesting. If you want to get anything out of it, you should have a look at the website before you go, as the exhibits have almost no labels and what information that there is, is in German. Downstairs:

Tretauto Museum (Pedal Car):

This was pretty cool just to see all the little, old cars. Most are labeled with the country and year of the car.

Sis Museum:

This is just a collection of personal items from Elisabeth, Empress of Austria. It’s pretty cool to look at all the things (clothes, photos, and baby teeth), although, as I said, labels are in German.

Upstairs:

Parfumflakon Musem:

Apparently, this is Germany’s first perfume-flask museum, pretty much a room full of old perfume bottles. Very little information is provided, but it can be kind of neat looking at all the old bottles. Interesting side note: the bathroom is located here, and it stinks. I just thought it was kind of funny when I found it in the perfume museum of all places, as I had half-expected to find it in the Chamber Pot museum.

Osterhasen (Easter Bunny) Museum:

Apparently the Easter Bunny we all know and love has his roots in Germany. There are some notes on some figurines, but there is very little information, and again, it’s all in German. One thing I found especially interesting was a corner with a special exhibit of "misused" Easter Bunnies; that is, images and figurines in which the Easter Bunny is used to help promote German nationalistic ideas during the First and Second World Wars. Pretty neat.

Bourdalou Museum:

I think you have to know the story to appreciate this collection. Apparently, around 1700, there was a famous Jesuit Father at King Louis XIV’s court, and ladies wanted so much to hear his sermons and not miss a word by taking bathroom breaks that they started this habit of bringing little pots with them to relieve themselves during the sermon. You can read more about it on the website, but it’s some pretty crazy stuff and there are some bourdalous that are very intricately decorated and some that are incomprehensibly small.

Schutzengel (Guardian Angel) Museum: I didn’t really look in this one, but mostly I think it’s all things angel. So if you’re a big fan of angels, you might find it interesting.

Nachttopf (Chamber Pot) Museum:

The first museum of its kind in the world, it’s a pretty interesting thing to look at. It has all the different kinds of things people used to use as toilets. Quite fascinating. You can even buy your own antique chamber pot downstairs in the gift shop for a couple hundred Euros.

www.stadtmuseum-online.de (as far as I can tell, only viewable in German)

Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm (closed Mondays)

2,50€; 1,50€ reduced; family ticket 4€; special exhibits 4€ (2€ reduced)

Free entry on Sundays (except for special exhibitions and cinema)

I went to this museum first thing when I arrived in Munich. It was already 4pm when I got there, and I spent pretty much the whole 2 hours in their exhibit on Bavarian culture. From what I can tell by the website, this exhibit is no more. But it was HUGE, and while explanations of things were all given in German, I think a non-German speaker could still appreciate just looking at the artifacts. There was everything, from furniture to costumes to toys and music. Very cool.

The permanent collection is on Nationalsozialismus in München and is supposed to be very interesting. I would contact the museum first and see if they have English translations. I did notice that they have some English brochures for some exhibits, including that one.

On the first floor is an extensive exhibit on “München wie geplant” (Munich as planned), which will be there until January 2006. There are tons of maps and a few models of the city to show how Munich grew so quickly. It’s pretty interesting, especially if you’re into city planning, architecture, etc.

Another temporary exhibit (until May 29) is a photography collection by Volker Derlath. The exhibit is titled “Oktoberfest-Kabinett,” and it features 60 photos out of an Oktoberfest series from 1987 to 2003.

http://www.muenchen.de/vip8/prod1/mde/resources/mtour/englisch/stadtinformationen/museen/residenzmuseum_e_m.jsp

Open April – 15Oct: 9am-6pm

Open Oct 16-March 31: 10am-4pm

Entry 6 euros, 5 reduced (students), free for children until 18 years

Combination card for Residenzmuseum and Treasury: 9 euros, 8 euros

Various tour times: Contact museum for information.

So I showed up with a buddy I met on my free tour at 2:30pm on a March day. Apparently, when there are less than two hours left, they no longer sell combination tickets. Once we got through the museum, however, I could understand why. We rushed through the last fifteen or so rooms--it’s THAT big. It’s hard to really summarize the palace; it’s so big and has so many different rooms, and also the design varies from really detailed gold rooms (like the one at the beginning of the museum, housing a kind of portrait family tree) to the “stone” rooms, mostly made of marble and false marble. One big tip: Get the free audio guide. We didn’t, but I wish we had. If you get tired of it, you can always stop listening, but while there is a sign to briefly explain each room (both in German and English), there are some details that you just don’t get, especially in the room full of relics--you have no idea whose hand (yes, there are several entire hands) you’re looking at unless you’ve got the audioguide. Or, I suppose, a real guide.

Some of the most memorable rooms:

The Ahnengalerie, which shows the family tree with portraits in a golden room, rococo-style.

The Relics Room: Eerie, but fascinating. Just make sure you’ve got a guide to tell you what’s what.

Antiquarium: The largest Renaissance hall north of the Alps, it was built circa 1570 to house Duke Albrecht V’s antique collection.

http://www.deutsches-museum.de/e_index.htm

Normally open daily 9am to 5pm, it is closed some holidays--see website for details.

Entry 7,50 adults, 3 for students/children up to 15 years old

I decided to check this museum out early in the morning before I left Munich. The museum opens its doors at 9am, and I got there at 9:30 and had roughly two hours to play. So, I went through kind of quickly and without having planned out my destinations. One hint: this museum is HUGE. I could have easily stayed there for five hours, with plenty of museum left uncovered.

First, I headed for the mining exhibit, because it was recommended in my guidebook. This is pretty cool. It tells you when you go in that it takes about 45 minutes to walk through. I might have taken a little less long. It depends on how much you read. You go through different tunnels, so it’s as though you yourself are a miner, and there are different mines to wander through: salt mines, coal mines, etc. Kids get a kick out of it as well. And every now and then, there’s a room that’s more museum-like, with information on mining and the things that are mined, etc. In these stations, there’s extensive info in both German AND English, but in the mines, only basic signs are translated to English.

When I emerged from the mining exhibit, I had to get my bearings, but it turns out that you come out right near the entrance. The only other exhibit I had time for was the boat one, which is what you see when you first enter the museum. It’s REALLY cool and has tons of models and real-life boats. There are even boats you can climb into! Tons of fun for kids!

From the two exhibits I checked out and the few I kind of skimmed over, I can tell that this museum is set up REALLY well. It is very user-friendly, lots of interactive exhibits, tons of fun for kids and adults, and tons of learning! I would guess that on normal weekdays, it’s packed with school groups.

HINTS:

If you have limited time, check out the website and make a plan of attack so that you get to see the things you most want to see.

Get there early! I left the museum between 11am and 11:30, and the line was WAY out the door. Of course, that was Easter Monday, a holiday, but still. Something to keep in mind. If possible, I’d try getting there between 9 and 10am to beat the crowds.

KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau – Concentration Camp Memorial Site

You can take S2 from Munich, getting off at Dachau (about 20 minutes). Then you’ve got to take the 724 or 726 bus to KZ-Gedenkstätte, which is the concentration camp. Ask your hotel or tourist office about day passes. I went with some other travelers on a group ticket that cost only 10.50 euros for the whole day and can cover up to five travelers.

The first thing you’ve got to do here is go to the Information, which will be pretty much straight ahead when you walk in. When we were there, only one guy was working and it took FOREVER to get an audioguide, and THEN you have to get in line again to hand it back (they keep an ID of yours until you return the guide). So just keep this in mind if timing is an issue.

I got an audioguide, which was pretty helpful. It costs 3 euros for adults, 2 euros for children and some other special people. I was told the audioguide is a good alternative to the tour, which can be a little "too intense."

To be honest, I wasn’t even 100% sure I wanted to go to Dachau, for a lot of reasons. Some people think it’s wrong to turn concentration camps into tourist sites, and other people think it’s important as a tool to teach people about what has happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again. So, I’m still kind of torn. I have to say, as a German major I have already learned tons about the Holocaust, and I really didn’t learn many new things by going to Dachau. It didn’t seem like a concentration camp at all--just a big empty place with some interesting memorials and a lot of tourists walking around with audioguides, snapping pictures.

The museum inside looks like a good place to begin. We did that last and I didn’t get a lot of time in there. The one thing I really liked were the memorials at the back of the camp. There’s a synagogue, a Catholic chapel, a Protestant chapel, and a little off to the side on the way to the crematorium, a Russian Orthodox chapel. I just found the architecture of the synagogue and the Protestant chapel to be particularly moving. Also, behind these memorials is a convent, which I also thought was touching. The nuns there pray every day for what has happened and for all of the people who come to Dachau to remember the victims of the Holocaust. You can also go to their chapel to pray if you like.

Also called St Peters or der Alter Peter (old Peter), this is the city's oldest church. A small chapel there was replaced in the early 11th century by the Peterskirche, and in the 13th century, a new gothic church was built and rebuilt over the years.

Alter Peter refers to the tower, one of Munich's landmarks. For 1-2 euros, you can climb 302 wooden steps for a spectacular view of Munich, and on a REALLY clear day, supposedly, the Alps.

For those who may get claustrophobic climbing old church towers, this one is a little different than most. Instead of a spiral of stone steps, there are wooden steps in a square pattern. It can still get crowded when there are lots of people going up and down, but you've got a lot more space (or FEELING of space) than in the stone towers most churches have.

Once you're at the top, it's going to be pretty crowded no matter what. The best idea is probably to go really early or really late (tower is open 10am to 7pm).

The inside of the church is spectacular, as well, a Baroque-style church. When I went, it was Easter weekend, which meant lots of incense and lots of people praying. There's also a pretty cool painting at the altar. Definitely worth checking out.