Munich Vacations

Munich's annual calendar is positively groaning with massive events. It hits the ground running in January with the pre-Lent Carnival, a raucous six week-long affair of street parties and balls. Lent comes to an end in March with Starkbierzeit, when strong beers with names ending in 'ator' are consumed (Triumphator, Salvator, Maximator, etceterator) in a tradition going back to monkish days. April welcomes spring with a mini Oktoberfest called the Frühlingsfest (much less crowded than the real thing), and a mega flea market is held on the last Saturday in April (they're also on in July and October). Munich's music and theatre Biennale is held every second year in May, and late June sees the Tollwood world culture festival at Olympiapark. Corpus Christi is a big deal in Bavaria, with street parades and dressed-up horses. June ends with the Munich Film Festival, a scaled-down version of Berlin's renowned festival. July's Christopher Street Day spills over into three days of gay and lesbian fun, with street parties and high-heeled races. The Opera Festival brings highbrow entertainment to the State Opera House, while Sommerfest hosts two weeks of live bands and outdoor sport contests in Olympiapark. Oktoberfest, the biggest collective booze-up on the planet, is held (confusingly) in September. A six-day Cycle Race is held in the Olympiahalle in November, with plenty of entertainment, food and drink for those less sports-inclined. The year staggers to a close with the Winter Tollwood, a smaller version of the June world culture event, and a huge Christkindlmarkt is held on Marienplatz, complete with an outsized Christmas tree and stalls selling handicrafts and cockle-warming Glüwein.

Pre 20c
Settlement in the Munich area dates back to Roman times, but 8th-century Benedictine monks get the guernsey for putting the city on the map - hence the moniker Munichen, or 'monk settlement'. The city's official birth date is 1158, the year that the Imperial Diet in Augsburg sanctioned the short-lived rule of Heinrich der Löwe. Munich passed to the House of Wittelsbach in 1240, and the illustrious Wittelsbach family dominated the city (and indeed Bavaria) right up to the 20th century.

Munich became a ducal residence in 1255, and in the next century it was expanded, fortified and given a salt-trading monopoly by Ludwig the Bavarian, builder of the Alter Hof. The foundations for a wealthy trading city were in place, and over the ensuing 200 years the city duly prospered to become the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria in 1503. The only black cloud was the devastation caused by the plague, which visited the city several times over a period of 150 years from 1349. Sewage and sanitation were gradually improved as a result, and by 1505 the population had stabilised at 13,500.

The Reformation was ill-received by Bavaria's Duke Wilhelm IV, and Munich remained resolutely Catholic. The city was Germany's Counter-Reformation capital, its lofty position underscored by the erection of bankrupting Renaissance splendours like the Residenz, the Bavarian State Library and Michaelskirche. Munich was temporarily surrendered to Sweden during the Thirty Years' War, and came under Habsburg rule from 1705-1714. Napoleon's rejigging of Germany's royal hierarchy 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 it's thanks to him that Oktoberfest is a big deal today: he put on such a big bash to celebrate the 1810 marriage of his son, Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig I, the Müncheners have been trying to outdo it ever since.

Things really took off in the 19th century, with the relocation of the university to Munich and the arrival of Germany's first railway. Ludwig initiated a massive building program which transformed his capital into a cultural and artistic centre; Königsplatz, the Alte Pinakothek, Ludwigstrasse, the Ruhmeshalle at Theresienwiese and sections of the Residenz date from this period. Ludwig was undone by his absolutism, press censorship and public infatuation with that fabled seducer of monarchs, Lola Montez, and in 1848 he handed the crown to his son, Maximilian II, who oversaw the industrialisation of the city. Bavaria's last king was the unforgettable Ludwig II (1845-86), dubbed 'the mad king' for his loner tendencies and the castle-building extravaganzas that pushed the kingdom to bankruptcy. Bavaria lost its independent status when Ludwig backed the losing side in the Franco-Prussian war, and the state was finally absorbed into the new German Reich in 1871. The king was declared mentally unfit in a dubious psychological exam in 1886. He was arrested and found drowned soon afterwards, apparently under mysterious circumstances.

Modern History
By the turn of the 20th century Munich had more than half a million residents and the best electric lighting of any city in Europe. Creative types like Kandinsky, Marc, Klee, Strauss, Ibsen and Mann called the city home, clustering in the bohemian suburb of Schwabing. Munich was almost starved to extinction in WWI and as a hotbed of postwar political turmoil and economic collapse it was fertile ground for Adolf Hitler's National Socialist movement. The party had its first get together at Munich's Hofbräuhaus in 1920, and the city was stigmatised by later generations as the hub of Hitler's operations post-1933, when he gained power over Germany. Just weeks after his rise to power, the first concentration camp was set up north of the city at Dachau, and the fate of Munich's Jews was sealed by the night of terror called Reichskristallnacht in 1938. Munich was badly damaged by Allied bombing in WWII, with nearly half the city in ashes by war's end. It was occupied by US forces on 30 April 1945.

In the postwar years, the city's historic core was slowly and sympathetically restored, its population was consolidated and it increasingly became a hub for publishing, fashion, cinema and mega companies like Siemens, BMW and truckmaker MAN. The massive program of reconstruction culminated in Munich hosting the 1972 Olympic Games, an event that turned from celebration to tragedy when 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists.

Recent History
Today Munich has a rich, self-assured reputation and is recognised for having the highest quality of life of any German city, boasting a mix of conservatism and artistic vibrancy, big-city sophistication and earthy entertainment.

There's stacks of outdoor fun to be had in Munich. First off, there's boating in the English Garden, rafting on the Isar River, nude bathing on the riverbanks, and surfing like you've never seen. If you prefer to stay dry, there's bike tracks and ice-skating available too.

Getting from museum A to beer hall Z is simple: either promenade with the Müncheners along the central pedestrian zone from the Hauptbahnhof to Marienplatz or catch a ride on Munich's excellent public transport network (MVV). The system is zone based, and most places of interest are within the inner-city blue zone. Tickets come in short-trip, daily and weekly varieties, and are valid for the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses; just time-stamp your ticket as you enter the station or hop aboard. You can buy tickets from bus and tram drivers, and from vending machines at stations, bus stops and newspaper kiosks. The underground will get you to most of the sights, with buses filling in the gaps. You'll probably regret bringing your car to this pedestrianised, parking inspector-filled city. Taxis can only just compete with the MVV for convenience but they're mighty pricey. A novel but expensive way to get around is via pedicabs. You can also cycle your way around the city.