Days: 9 - 11
Aug 31st (Sat) - Sept 2nd (Mon)
Euros
Conversion rate on
our visit:
€1.00 = $1.11
$1.00 = €.90
Munich
                                 
       
What We Had
High: 82°F - Low: 59°F
Sunny with few clouds
It felt warmer
Averages
High: 70°F - Low: 53°F
 Current Conditions
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Page Index

What We Learned
  •  City Dry Cleaning SB-Waschcenter

What We Saw
  •  Dachau Concentration Camp
  •  Munich City Tour
  •  Nazi Documentation Center
  •  Georg Simon Ohm statue

Where We Ate
  •  Hofbräuhaus (Beer Hall) Munich

Where We Stayed
  •  Hotel Isartor
Tour Itinerary
​

Day 7 (Saturday - Aug 31) Dachau & Historic Bavaria  
Today, we'll journey further into the romantic heart of Germany to Bavaria's largest city, Munich. On our way, we'll pay our respects at Dachau, the infamous Concentration Camp Memorial, and learn powerful lessons from the Holocaust and World War II. After free time for reflection and lunch, a short drive brings us to Munich's historic Old Town. This evening, we'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the city's history and traditions on a walking tour before capping the day with a hearty "Welcome to Bavaria" group dinner.   Moderate walking: 2–6 miles throughout the day with some hills and stairs. Bus: 4 hours. Sleep in Munich.

​

Day 8 (Sunday - September 1) Free Day in Munich  The day is all yours to stroll around Germany's most livable city. Your guide will provide an orientation for the many fun adventures you can choose. Immerse yourself in the city's art, from Baroque Theater to Wittelsbach palaces to several world-class museums, rent a bike to pedal the car-free paths along the English Garden and Isar River, or simply enjoy the lively Bavarian atmosphere, a frothy mug, and a big pretzel at one of the city's many beer halls or outdoor biergartens.  Light to strenuous walking (your choice). No bus. Sleep in Munich.

Day 8 (Sunday - September 1) On Our Own
As it says...today, we're on our own.  We're pushing to fill the day with the Nazi Documentation Center and the Hofbrauhaus Beer Hall.
Dachau Concentration Camp
Saturday, August 31, 2024
This is our second visit to the Camp.  The first was in 2006 on a previous Rick Steves tour.  On both tours, we learned the history of the camp, visited the grounds including the bunkers rebuilt as examples of life in the camp and at the back of the camp to Barracks X (the Crematorium).  While Dachau was not a death camp as so many were, it housed political prisoners and other "undesirables".  Simply visiting a Nazi camp can not begin to impart the horrors inflicted on so many innocents.  Hopefully, the existence of the camp as a memorial and museum will help remind everyone how a government can do the unspeakable when out of control. 


 Background from Wikipedia 
Dachau was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km (10 mi) northwest of Munich. After its opening, its purpose was enlarged to include forced labor, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, Romani, German and Austrian criminals, and, finally, foreign nationals. The Dachau camp system grew to include nearly 100 sub-camps, which were mostly work camps located throughout southern Germany and Austria. The main camp was liberated by U.S. forces on 29 April 1945.

 

Dachau Concentration Camp
Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
      
 
Munich City Tour
Saturday, August 31, 2024
After checking into our hotel, we took a tour of the local area of Munich.  We started at the Isartor Gate (info below). Our guide covered the history of Munich over the last several hundred years tying together the role of Munich as the capital of Bavaria.  He then took us on to the first of several sites which brought us to the early twentieth century and the rise of the Nazis.  The first stop was the location of Hilter's famous Beer Hall Putsch speech (a replacement for the original building due to war damage). it's currently empty. 

Next, we moved on to the local open-air market (what we'd probably call a farmer's market). We'd thought we wouldn't be able to see it at all since it wasn't open the following day. Too bad there wasn't more time to window shop (or whatever you call it when there are no windows). The booths stretched down the road. At the far end of the market, there's even a modern pavilion that houses more merchants and a few places to eat. 

With little time to spare, we worked our way past the Jewish Memorial,  the Munich Town Hall, and the Opera House to end up at the Feldherrnhalle on the far end of the Odeonsplatz.  Our guide stopped at this point to explain the location's significance in 1930's history. Look down at the embedded block below, Feldherrnhalle and the Nazis, to understand. There's another reference to the Feldherrnhalle and Odeonsplatz in the Nazi Documentation Center section as well.

For our final stop on the tour (which almost seemed like an afterthought) we stopped in the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan and Adelaide which was built in 1663 to 1690. Quite a contrast.  One moment we're learning about the role the Feldherrnhalle and Odeonsplatz played in the failed Putsch and the mysticism it held for the Nazi movement and the next we're quietly admiring the beautifully decorated church right next door.



 From the Website 
Isartor is one of Munich’s last three city gates – and since the others have only retained their outer gates, it also boats the last main gate in the city. Given its long history, it is all the more amazing that we can still admire the gate today: it was originally built in 1337 during the construction of the city wall and was restored by Friedrich von Gärtner around 500 years later. After incurring severe damage during the Second World War, it then underwent extensive renovations during the 1970s.


 Background from Wikipedia 

In 1923, it was the site of the brief battle that ended Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch. During the Nazi era, it served as a monument commemorating the deaths of the 15 Nazis and one bystander killed during the revolt.




1933
After the Nazis took power in 1933, Hitler turned the Feldherrnhalle into a memorial to the Nazis killed during the failed putsch. A memorial to the fallen SA men was put up on its east side, opposite the location of the shootings. This monument, called the Mahnmal der Bewegun. 

The  picture on the left shows a required salute by a person passing by in 1933.  The picture above is the way the same location looked on our visit.  Click either picture to compare them in full screen. 
 
Nazi Documentation Center
Sunday, September 1, 2024
While we did visit the center, we came away disappointed.  The photo below is typical of the displays they provided.  While nicely done, we saw nothing that couldn't have been presented through an interactive website or even written material.  It is a fine collection of information and facts about the birth, rise to prominence, and, ultimately, the demise of the Nazi movement.  It just seems unnecessary to have it housed as it was when it might be better placed in the online interactive world of the Internet.  If you're okay with walking through the information walls and tabletop displays and reading/listening (they provided an audio wand for a small fee €7) to the stories they tell, then it's recommended.  We were hoping for more in the way of artifacts. Guess we should have known from its title that this was not a museum. 



 In Their Words 
The new Munich Documentation Center opened in 2015 on the site of the former “Brown House,” the headquarters of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP), as the Nazi Party was officially called. Between 1933 and 1945, the area around Königsplatz became a showcase for Nazi aesthetics and the regime’s seat of power where many branches of the Nazi administration had their central offices.

From their Mission Statement...Nazi ideology and the crimes perpetrated by the Nazi regime form the starting point for our work. Munich’s role as the place where the Nazi Party originated and where its headquarters were located is of special significance. Topics such as war and genocide, racism and anti-Semitism, exclusion and displacement are further focuses of our work.

Nazi Documentation Center
Max-Mannheimer-Platz 1
80333 Munich
Tel: +49 (0)89 233-67000
         
 
Georg Simon Ohm statue
Sunday, September 1, 2024
As we walked across Munich we happened onto this memorial statue.  The Munich Technology University has chosen to honor Ohm with this statue and we have chosen to add it to our site for the same reason.  Ohm's law is of major importance!


Georg Simon Ohm statue
80799 Munich, Germany
   
 
City Dry Cleaning SB-Waschcenter
Sunday, September 1, 2024
There are times when you learn a lesson that has nothing to do with the trip you're on.  This one deals with your laundry being cleaned. On Rick Steves tours we're used to "packing light" which means washing clothes while on the trip.  Fortunately, our tour leader had a suggestion that fit perfectly. In the upper right corner of the Day 8 itinerary (above, on the right), Bryan gave us the name and location of a laundry service.  They charge by the bag, €35.  We put our dirty clothes (actually most of our clothes) into a single bag and dropped it off.  The drop-off counter is shown in the first two pictures below. The person at the counter said that we could pick up our cleaned clothes after 1:00 pm.  Great!  It's time to go see some sites. 

Shortly after 1:30 pm, we returned to the cleaner to find that the drop-off counter WAS CLOSED (the third picture)!  Holy crap!  Now what?  Keep in mind that we're leaving town the next morning.  This is where having cell phone service was a huge advantage for two reasons.  First, by using Google's translate app we were able to read the signs posted next to the drop-off counter.  One contained a phone number to call if there were issues at the facility.  Yup, we have an issue all right!  Most of our clothes are being held hostage.  By having cell service, we were able to call the number given to find out what the heck was going on.  The woman who answered our call initially sounded confused.  After being on hold (for what seemed to be an eternity) she assured us that the counter would be open at 4:00 pm.  We hope so.  

Not wanting to take a chance that we'd miss him, we headed back to the cleaner at 3:00 pm after trying to figure out how we'd make it through the rest of the trip with the clothes on our backs...and a few pieces clean underwear.  At 3:30 the counter opened.  Salvation, almost a religious moment!  What a relief! Not only did we have our clothes but they were clean as well. Life is good!

The next time we use a service like this we'll be sure to understand the details and ONLY give them the clothes we can afford to lose.   Lesson learned!   


City Dry Cleaning SB-Waschcenter
Bayerstraße 6,
80335 München, Germany
 
Hofbräuhaus (Beer Hall) Munich
Sunday, September 1, 2024
The last place we visited in Munich was the Hofbräuhaus Beer Hall. Britain has its corner pubs, and Germany has its beer halls. The Hofbräuhaus is one of the most famous. It was a little confusing for us to find a place to sit. That's because it's just a simple matter of finding an open stop and sitting! We did and enjoyed ourselves. The food was great, as was all the activity around us including the Oompah Band (video below)


And the Band Played On


 Background from Wikipedia 
The Hofbrauhaus am Platzl was originally built in 1589 by Bavarian Duke Maximilian I as an extension of the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München brewery. The general public was admitted in 1828 by Ludwig I. The building was completely remodeled in 1897 by Max Littmann when the brewery moved to the suburbs. On February 24, 1920, the Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is where Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler made a speech backing the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or the Nazi Party.  All of the rooms except the historic beer hall ("Schwemme") were destroyed in the World War II bombings. The reopening of the Festival Hall in 1958 marked the end of the post-war restoration work.

Hofbräuhaus (Beer Hall) Munich
Platzl 9,
80331 München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 290136100
      
 
 
Hotel Isartor
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Like all the other hotels on our tour, Hotel Isartor is close to the sites we intended to visit. The room was spacious, and the air conditioning was great, but the Internet was a problem. You may wonder why I seem to be fixated on hotel air conditioning. Simple. The temperatures during our trip were well above normal.  Then there is the Internet.  At this hotel it was poor.  The speed was slow and the connection kept dropping.  So back to the hotel location.  We were well within walking distance of everything on our to-do list.   

Hotel Isartor
Baaderstrasse 2-4
Munich
Tel: 011 49 89 21 63 34 0
FAX: 011 49 89 21 63 34 20
         
 
 
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