sightseeing in Munich (reviews)

From June 1942 to February 1943, a group of anti-Nazi students and professors calling themselves "The White Rose" spoke out against the Nazi regime in anonymous pamphlets. Although based at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University, their literature was distributed throughout Germany and even smuggled abroad. This was one of the few recorded acts of active resistance by ordinary Germans against the Third Reich, but it came to an end with the bloody executions of those involved. Among the members of The White Rose guillotined by the Nazis were brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, for whom the university's main plaza was renamed (Geschwester-Scholl-Platz, "Scholl Siblings Square").

The activists are today memorialized in several sites around the university's main building. Near the entrance on Geschwester-Scholl-Platz, you will see what appears to be typewritten papers strewn across the cobblestone. A closer look reveals the "papers" to be ceramic reproductions of the White Rose pamphlets, embedded in the ground. Inside the main building, in its impressive atrium, is a single white rose on the wall, to symbolize the movement. A memorial hall in the basement contains a history of the movement (only in German).

Geschwester-Scholl-Platz and the university's main building are nice to visit in and of themselves, and of course are free to enter. The plaza sits just off of Ludwigstrasse, a street with many other interesting monuments and cultural sites. Anyone visiting Munich should take the time to learn the story of The White Rose and visit the place where brave students and teachers dared to speak out against the Nazis.

The Residenz ("Residence") is the humble name given to the extravagant palace of the dukes (later kings) of Bavaria. It is full of over-the-top baroque rooms, everything covered in gold and mirrors except for the paintings drawn from German mythology and 19th-century military history. If the Residenz itself doesn't make you choke on gold and jewels, you can always pay extra for the combined ticket to visit the palace Treasury (Schatzkammer), which is part of the complex.

Note that the place where you pick up the audioguides (included) for both the Residenz and the Treasury is next to the Treasury entrance. Since I just visited the Residenz itself, I walked straight from the ticket desk to the Residenz entrance without spotting the audioguides. I saw all these people who had them, but didn't see where they got them until I left.

I should start out by saying that I am not a big fan of baroque or neoclassical art, and the vast majority of the Residenz is constructed in these styles. I marched from one orgy of precious metals, satiny furniture, and naked cherubs to another, scarcely able to tell the rooms apart. It all honestly just kind of blended together.

The saving grace of the Residenz, allowing it to merit two stars ("average") instead of one ("forgettable"), is its oldest section, built during the 16th century. Two of the most peculiar and memorable sections of the palace date from this era: the Antiquarium and the Grotto. The Antiquarium is a display hall holding an immense collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture, while the Grotto is a curious decoration in one of the courtyards, a fountain constructed entirely of seashells!

The Residenz is open seven days a week, which is the main reason I went -- most of the other sites in Munich are closed on Monday. It was not a complete waste of time, but the parts of the visit I truly enjoyed were few. I had an altogether better time sitting on the patio of the Franziskaner brewery, also on Residenzstrasse.

The Neue Pinakothek is one of three art galleries ("Pinakotheken" in German) in Munich owned by the Bavarian state government. While the Neue Pinakothek specializes in 19th-century art, its sister museums, the Alte Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne, encompass the earlier and later centuries respectively. All three galleries are located close together in Munich's "Kunstareal" (art district), but have different opening hours.

Although it is a state collection today, the Neue Pinakothek's origins lie in the private collection of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, and his personal interests color much of the collection. Ludwig spent time in Italy as a young man, and his son Otto later became king of Greece. For these reasons the king collected scenes of historic sites and daily life in these two Mediterranean countries. One of the more interesting paintings of this part of the collection shows the young Ludwig and his friends out on a bender in an Italian wine cellar!

The impressionist and post-impressionist sections were the most rewarding for me. The gallery holds masterworks by Edouard Manet, Paul Gauguin, and Gustav Klimt, among others. Exceptional among this part are the handful of Van Gogh paintings, ranging from his dark, early works of Belgian peasants and laborers to the later works of glorious color painted under the blue skies of southern France. Van Gogh's "View of Arles" is especially impressive, as is one of his famous paintings from the "Sunflowers" series.

There is immense variety and high quality in the Neue Pinakothek's collection, and the building itself is relatively compact, meaning that you can see everything on display without getting tired. I was in and out in about two hours. An informative audioguide is included in the admission price, and will tell you interesting info on the collection and its history.