City Culture:
As a historical and cultural city, Munich has many Baroque and Gothic buildings, such as the New Town Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady, the Old Peter's Church and the St. Mark's Cathedral, which are typical of the European Renaissance. At the same time, Munich is also home to many modern buildings, of which the headquarters of BMW, the Olympia Stadium and the Allianz Arena are outstanding representatives.
Streets around the Mariaplatz
Streets around the Mariaplatz
Assan Church
Assan Church
Munich is one of Germany's most popular tourist destinations, and is known as the "secret capital of Germany".
Munich's central square, Mariaplatz, is a large open square, named after the column of Maria in the center of the square. Both the Old Town Hall and the New Town Hall are located here. Munich's New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) at square 8 (north) is a Gothic structure with an 85-meter-high bell tower featuring an ornate wall clock, which has a life-size doll show. Although the medieval castle was destroyed, three of its gates survived: the Isartor in the east, the Sendlinger Tor in the south and the Karlstor in the west. The Karlstor Gate was destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt after the war. Outside the gates is a large square, Karlplatz, which is dominated by the Palace of Justice (Justizpalast), and a fountain.
Near Marienplatz, the Church of St. Peter is the oldest church in the inner city, originally built during the Romanesque period, and was the residence of the early monks before Munich was officially founded in 1158. The Church of the Holy Spirit (Heiliggeist), also located near St. Peter's, was converted from Gothic to Baroque in 1724 and overlooks Munich's popular grain market.
Munich's Frauenkirche, located a short distance northwest of the square, is the most famous building in the center of Munich and the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. Nearby, Munich's St. Michael's Church is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps, while the Italian Baroque-style Iron Athenaeum Church, with its dome overlooking the Concertgebouw Square, has had a profound influence on Baroque architecture in southern Germany. Other Baroque churches in the inner city that are worth making a special trip to visit are the Bürgersaal Church, the Dreifaltigkeits Church, the St. Anna Damenstifts Church, and the Church of St. Anna of Lehel (the first Rococo church in Bavaria). The Assan Church was donated by the Assan brothers, pioneering artists of the Rococo period.
The immense Munich Royal Palace complex, on the edge of Munich's Old Town, was founded in 1385 and is Europe's most important museum of interior decoration. It has undergone several expansions and contains the treasury and the splendid rococo Cuvilliés Theatre. adjacent to the palace is the neoclassical National Theater. To its left is the modern Residenz Theatre, a building that housed the Cuvilliés Theatre before the Second World War.
Munich's baroque and neoclassical residences include those of the Bavarian Ministerprísident. These residences are situated a short distance from the royal palace.
Four spectacular 19th-century royal boulevards were built with many magnificent official buildings, leaving memories of the Bavarian kings:
The neoclassical Brynnerstrasse, which begins on the northern edge of the Old Town at the Concert Hall Square close to the Royal Palace, and runs from east to west to the spectacular King's Square, was designed to house the Doric columns of the Propyl?en, the Ionian columns of the ancient Doric column Propyl?en, the Ionic column Ancient Sculpture Gallery, and the Corinthian column State Museum of Antiquities, behind which stands the Monastery of St. Boniface. The area around King's Square has a concentration of galleries and museums known as the Arts District.
Ludwigstrasse also begins at the Concertgebouw Square and runs from south to north through the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t, the Church of St. Louis, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, as well as numerous state government departments and palaces. The southern section of the avenue is built in the Italian Renaissance style, while the northern section is strongly influenced by the Italian Romanesque style of architecture.
Maximilianeum
Maximilianeum
Maximilianeum
Maximilianeum is flanked by neo-Gothic palaces, and begins at "Max-Joseph-Platz", where the Royal Palace and the State Theater are located, and then runs from west to east along the street, with neo-Gothic architecture. From west to east, the street is lined with neo-Gothic buildings, including a theater, the Upper Bavarian Regional Government Building and the State Ethnographic Museum. After crossing the Isar River, the street wraps around the Maximilianeum, which houses the Bavarian State Parliament. The western part of Maximilianstrasse is known for its fashion boutiques, luxury stores, jewelry stores, and houses the Four Seasons Hotel, one of Munich's most important five-star hotels.
Regentstrasse runs parallel to Maximilianstrasse and begins at the Regent Karl Hall in the northeast of the old name. Along the street there are many museums, such as the internationally renowned Kunsthaus, the Bavarian State Museum and the Schackgalerie, and the street crosses the river around the monument to the "Angel of Peace", along with the Villa Stuck and Hitler's house. Another important theater, the Regent's Theater, is located further east on Regent's Square.
Lifestyle:
Munich is consistently known for its world-class quality of life, and according to a 2007 survey by Mercer HR Consult, it ranked 8th in the world out of the 10 cities with the highest quality of life in the world.[9] Munich has a fairly prosperous economy. Munich's economy is quite prosperous,
Public **** transportation is very efficient, with a large-scale subway system (U-Bahn) and suburban rail system (S-Bahn). The crime rate is much lower than in other large German cities such as Hamburg and Berlin. The relatively high quality of life and safety of the city have earned it the name "Millionendorf", or in English, "Toytown".
The Grain Market is Munich's most popular food market, selling a wide variety of fresh and prepared foods. One of the oldest features of the Munich Carnival (Mardi Gras) is the dance of the Marktfrauen, the grain market proprietors, who wear funny costumes.
The Auer Dult market, held three times a year in the square that surrounds the Mariahilf church, is one of Munich's oldest markets, known for its miscellaneous auctions and antiques. Some 300 stalls sell rare antique books, men's clothing, many types of porcelain and kitchenware, and hair and skin care. Many traditional Bavarian costumes, such as leather shorts and tight dresses, can also be found here.The Auer Dult offers entertainment in the form of horseback riding, puppet shows, a carousel, bumper cars and a shooting range.
Three weeks before Christmas, there is a Christmas market in Notre Dame Square and other squares in the city, selling Christmas goods.
Munich has a wonderful coffee culture, especially in the summer months. There are many restaurants of all culinary styles to choose from. Probably the most important leisure activity in the summer is the biergarten. There are around 20 major open-air garden biergartens, four of which are located in English gardens, while the largest one is in the Deer Park (Hirschgarten).
The Munich Oktoberfest, Munich's most famous festival, was first held on October 12, 1810, to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Theresa of Saxe-Hildburghausen. The first jubilee ended with a horse race. The horse races continued the following year and later developed into the Octoberfest (Munich Oktoberfest). Despite the name, most Munich Oktoberfests are held in September and last for two weeks, closing on the first Sunday of October each year, and if German Reunification Day, October 3, falls on a Monday or Tuesday, Munich Oktoberfest is extended until that day. The Palace Brew House in the center of Munich is the city's best-known brewpub and the second largest tent in Munich during Oktoberfest.
Munich has a fairly thriving nightlife scene, with the city boasting more than 6,000 authorized nightlife venues, especially in Schwabing, a district whose main clientele are students and artists. Munich's famous nightlife venues include the Palace Brew House in the city center, one of Munich's oldest taverns and a popular destination for tourists, and the former industrial districts of Kultfabrik and Optimolwerke, which have been converted into a number of different discotheques and bars.
The headquarters of the famous Süddeutsche Zeitung, the Bavarian Courier, Focus Magazine, and the Bertelsmann Group are all located in Munich, and the inaugural issue of The Martian, the all-Russian Marxist secret newspaper founded by Vladimir Lenin in 1900, was published in Munich. Munich is the largest publishing center in Europe, second in size only to New York.