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German Roots Trip 2003 - Contents  

SEEKING OUR GERMAN ROOTS

Chapter VIII

May 31-June 1, 2003

MUNICH/FRANKFORT

Sunday, June 1

Munich

A beautiful sunny morning in Munich. The Hotel Italia had one more saving grace: a very good breakfast; but it will still hold the record for the crummiest lodging in our entire trip. We reconfirmed our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt this afternoon and learned that we can catch an airport van, right at the main train station. Good news! We thought we would have to use the Underground for the 20-mile ride, but when we checked it out yesterday, we were totally baffled by the mysterious tickets the automated system issues. We weren't at all sure that we would actually end up at the airport! By contrast, the van cost 9 Euros each to the airport, just one Euro more than the Underground and WAY less complicated.

With our departure from Munich straightened out, we had time to take a stroll into the heart of Munich's "cute and darling" area--to the Marienplatz, a large pedestrian-only center which combines classy department stores, shops, churches, fountains and the famous "glockenspiel" with animated figures that come out and twirl about a couple times a day. It being early Sunday morning, the shops were closed, but the churches were open for business and loudly announced this fact with much clanging and pealing. A very nice time to stroll through the area, with church bells in the background.

Guidebook, please!

"A good way to visit the inner city is by starting at the Karlstor (Karls gate). This gate was part of a large 14th century city wall which replaced the smaller city wall from the 12th century. The city wall was destroyed at around 1800, and the Karlstor became the center of a new square, the Karlsplatz. The Karlstor, which used to be just one tower of a large tower complex is now the gate to the main pedestrian zone in Munich. The street connecting the Karlstor with the Marienplatz (the main square in Munich), is the most important shopping street in Munich.

The Marienplatz is the heart of the city of Munich. In the Middle Ages, the square used to be a market place as well as the place where tournaments and festivities took place. The market was moved during the 19th century, but it still functions as the central place in Munich.

The square is dominated by the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus). The monumental, 79 meters high town hall was built between 1867 and 1909 in Flemish Gothic style to alleviate the overcrowded Alten Rathaus nearby. The building's façade is covered with gargoyles and statues.

At 11, 12 and 17 o'clock each day, visitors can watch the famous Glockenspiel or carillon. The figures perform the Schläffertanz or cooper's dance, which was originally performed in 1517 at the Marienplatz to commemmorate the end of the plague. The upper level of the Glockenspiel shows a Ritterturnier (knight's tournament), held in 1568 to celebrate the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V. . The Glockenspiel exists since 1903, but the original clocks have been replaced by a music tape. The Fischbrunnen (Fish Fountain), in the north-eastern corner of the square, was used to keep fish alive in Medieval markets in the Marienplatz."

 

 

At the entrance to Marienplatz

In the background: Justizpalast (Law Courts)
In the foreground: the Karlsplatz fountains

In early 1945 central Munich was efficiently bombed into oblivion by Allied planes. You sure wouldn't know that today! All was carefully restored--I can't figure out how they managed to make NEW buildings look so authentically OLD, but they did.

Karlstor Gate

Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall)

Glockenspiel on the Neues Rathaus
Above: the Knight's Tournament
Below: the Schläffertanz (The Coopers' Dance)

Above: The Fischbrunnen (Fish Fountain) used to keep fish alive
in Munich's Medieval market.

Right: detail of the fountain.

Karen checking another fish sculpture's mouth-- for cavities??
--in the Marienplatz

After our early morning walk back into Medieval Munich, we returned to the Hotel Italia to pick up our bags and head for the train station and our van ride to the airport. It was almost a shock, to walk out of the peace and quiet of an early Sunday morning in Marienplatz and find ourselves back in the bustle of a big city. Trams rumbling by, cars zooming along--this is the Munich of today. Apparently we picked the right day and time to enjoy the Marienplatz. Since it is still the main shopping district of Munich, it would have been crowded with both tourists and shoppers on any other day.

A litte reminder of the modern German attitude toward sexual matters was the glaring sign, "Sex World" in big red letters, right on the busy "main drag" of Sonnenstrasse.

Our departure from Munich all went smoothly. Walking back to the Bahnhof with our rolling suitcases obediently following along, we had only a short wait for the airport van which was even air-conditioned! The young and husky driver tossed our bulky bags into the van's luggage compartment so we didn't have to "mind" them during the ride. Ah, luxury! The driver even assured us that he would let us off right at the Lufthansa area of the airport.

An interesting ride, as we passed by many beautiful parks--some looking quite "wild" for being almost in a big city. Adjoining one park was a cemetery that seemed to go on for blocks. All enclosed by a low red-brick wall, so I could see that the graves were just as beautifully maintained as the ones in Frielingsdorf, where so many Kemmerichs rest. Then, evidence of the city disappeared and we were back in a rural area, with hay fields, farms and woods. Munich gave the airport lots of room to expand!

Checking in at the Lufthansa counter went smoothly until the ticket agent started to check our bags straight through to Portland, Oregon. Karen quickly said, "Nein! Nein! We are staying overnight in Frankfurt and will need those bags!" As we watched our luggage disappear into the depths of the baggage area, we were wondering: "will we see those bags in Frankfurt......or Portland??" Another of those "all will become clear" moments.

At least, we no longer had to haul the luggage around, so with just our backpacks, we headed for the dining area of the airport. A very spiffy airport this was, with a nice collection of places to eat. We settled on a "self-serve" type where you picked out your food and even got to pour your own beer from the tap. Karen proved very adept at this!

Karen and our self-poured beer from the tap.
At Munich airport.

After lunch we cruised the airport shops, hoping to find a newspaper or crossword puzzle book in English--nothing. Then we moved swiftly through security and found our Lufthansa gate was almost in front of us. Here, we got a pleasant surprise. There was a stand with freshly-brewed coffee and an invitation to "please help yourself" plus a kiosk of newspapers in various languages--all complimentary to us Lufthansa travelers. Very nice! I chose the "Financial Times" similar to the Wall Street Journal, but published in England.

It took Lufthansa only a little over an hour to fly us to Frankfurt. To our great relief, our luggage had decided to stick with us, and not fly on back to Portland alone. The NH Hotel shuttle arrived in due time, and we found that the hotel was nearby, and very modern, and our room was tastefully decorated--BUT it was located in the middle of nowhere! On one side was the outlying buildings of the airport and on the other, just a road leading into the nearest town--probably a few kilometers away. No nearby restaurants at all. So, we found ourselves at the mercy of the NH Hotel, which did have a bar and dining room, but they also well knew they had a captive market and the prices on their dinner menu caused our eyebrows to raise. Karen opted for the "chef's salad" and it didn't even come with a piece of bread! I went for that all-purpose German meal, the lunchmeat, hearty bread, cheese, and tomatoes combination. Karen tried the sweet apple wine--a local specialty while I stuck with bier. This rather minimal dinner cost us about 25 Euros, total.

The warm weather had reached Frankfurt as well as Munich, but the NH Hotel apparently did not think air conditioning was warranted in their rooms, so another stuffy, hot room until we opened up both the windows and the door, which created a pleasant breeze.

Unfortunately, we didn't leave Germany quite fast enough, and the local cold virus caught up with Karen, who was now coughing and feeling pretty stuffed up. The hotel might not have air conditioning, but it DID have a sauna, steam room and exercise room. Karen went down and gave both the steam and sauna a try but the virus wasn't about to give in so easily.

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