Germany Guide
Munich
If there's such a thing as the German dream, MUNICH (München) embodies it. Germany's third – and favourite – city often tops surveys to find the most liveable city on the planet, and it's easy to see why, with lakes and mountains on its doorstep, a fine roster of historic and cultural sights, glittering shops and the air of confidence that comes from being the home of BMW and Siemens. For all Bavaria's conservatism, it's also relatively liberal. If there's a fault, it's perhaps in the very lack of a flaw: with little grunge to offset it, Munich's well-groomed bourgeois perfection can at times seem a little relentless.
Founded in 1158, Munich became the seat of the Wittelsbach dynasty in 1255, but for much of its history it was outclassed by the wealth and success of Augsburg and Nuremberg. Finally, as capital of a fully-fledged Kingdom of Bavaria, established by Napoleon in 1806, it witnessed a surge of construction as Ludwig I and his architect Leo von Klenze endowed it with the Neoclassical monuments commensurate with its status. The turn of the twentieth century brought intellectual kudos: Der Blaue Reiter group of artists flourished, and a young Thomas Mann completed Buddenbrooks in the bohemian district of Schwabing. War changed everything, and in the chaos after World War I the city gave birth to the Nazi movement, which ultimately brought disaster upon it.
After World War II, Munich assumed Berlin's role as Germany's international metropolis, the haunt of VIPs and the leisured rich. The 1972 Olympic Games should have crowned this golden age, but the murder of eleven members of the Israeli team shocked the world and overshadowed all other events.
Berlin reasserted its old role post-reunification, but Munich has not rested on its laurels: the Fünf Höfe shopping complex, Pinakothek der Moderne and Allianz-Arena have all added lustre to the city in recent years. And, of course, there's always the beer: whether in a historic Bierkeller, shady Biergarten or in a vast tent at the Oktoberfest, Munich's tipple of choice is a world-beater.
Highlights
1 The Pinakothek der Moderne Art and architecture in perfect harmony at Munich's impressive temple to modernism.
2 Amalienburg The Rococo style reaches silvery perfection in this beautiful little hunting lodge built for the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty.
3 Oktoberfest Lederhosen, dirndls and impossibly vast quantities of beer characterize the world's most alcoholic folk festival.
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