BMW World and an Odd Group of Chinese Following Us

The next day was Wednesday and by this point both Rachel and Jeremy were over their time zone lag, so we planned on packing two trips into one day. Even though they were over their jet lag, the two of them still wanted to sleep all day if allowed, so Deb and I first headed into town to do some shopping for our bedroom. In addition to doing many other things differently, the people in Munich also use blankets differently that we do.

First of all they use two instead of one blanket for a king size bed. Each person has their own blanket which is sort of odd but seems to have benefits of its own. They also do not use sheets as we do in that there is no cover sheet as we use in the US. This took some time to get used to, and some time for us to decide if we wanted 2 blankets. Finally we decided upon one blanket and purchased it, only to find out it was not large enough for our bed.


So on Wednesday morning we headed down to the local department store to exchange it for the larger version. We were lucky in that the sales person was very nice and friendly AND we were actually able to find the larger size as these larger blankets are not common here in Munich. As we left we waited at the nearby Tram stop. Here is a photo from the Tram stop near the department store. I just loved this building with its ornate architecture and the strange and wonderful characters on the rooftop. I think you could do a picture book or a blog just about the figures, and gargoyles, and dragons, and other fantastic images you see on the buildings and fountains here in Munich.

So we arrived back at the flat around 11 and rousted the two of them out of bed for a quick breakfast and a busy day. During the early part of the day, Rachel and Deborah went down into the City to shop and buy the tickets for the Circus, while Jeremy and I headed up north to the BMW museum.


The BMW world headquarters are in Munich, just to the north of the city center and directly adjacent to the Olympic Park, so Jeremy and I left the flat, jumped on the U-Bahn and headed north to the BMW center. There are three major parts to the BMW complex. First there is the BMW world headquarters building which is in the center of the photo and is designed to look like a four- cylinder engine. The second major building is the BMW museum, which is the glass fronted building you see at the bottom of the four-cylinder engine, while  finally, the last complex is from where I took the photo. This last building is know as BMW World and is a center for displaying their new cars and, if you like, for coming and picking up your new car. If you happen to buy a new BMW you wait in a large room and the car rises up via an elevator that lifts it up through the floor. I know someone who did this and he was completely blown away by the experience.

Now on to the museum, which is a real treasure trove filled with the BMW history. The company started out manufacturing airplane engines and there are many of these on display, including one of the first jet engines manufactured in 1944 by BMW. You can see the engine below, and if you look closely there is a picture of the WW II plane in the background. Within one part of the museum there is a historical summary of BMW in WW II and it noted that at the end of the war, fully one half of the BMW work force was comprised on concentration camp laborers.

Around the turn of the century, the company branched out and began to manufacture motorcycles. The museum is unique in that you start on the top floor (the fourth) and wind your way slowly down to the bottom floor. As you travel downwards there is a four-story glass wall that displays about 50 or so BMW motorcycles that span their entire history. Some of these are such classic designs and well known to most of us. Here is a picture of one of the early 1930 classics that BMW manufactured. The sleek nature and stylish design, even by today’s standards, speaks volumes for their attention to detail.

One of the other bikes well known to all of us is the James Bond motorcycle from a recent Bond movie. Jeremy took this photo as we neared the bottom floor.

But even with the first jet engine, and their world class motorcycles, BMW is clearly best known for their automobiles. The cars range from the first BMWs built just after the turn of the century, to some of their super modern concept cars just recently built and released. Below are a few photos that span this range and include the fist BMW built, this small red  truck with a 12 hp engine, to the precursor of the BMW 3-Series, first built in the 1930’s to a crazy concept car just recently designed whose body shape changes based upon what the car is doing. If you didn't know any better, you'd think you were looking at a transformer.

There were also many unique exhibits here, including this four-story tall display that had all of the BMW emblems and badges hanging in three dimensional space. At first, you just looked at it and said sure, whatever, but as you saw it over and over and as you descended through the museum it grew on you. You had this feeling of rain, of these emblems falling and cascading downwards and yet, try as you might, just as with a rainy day, you couldn't see all the way through the fog to focus on them all.

On the bottom floor was a broad array of cars including two James Bond cars (in the back row) and several other earlier classic cars. The white BMW in the middle row on the right, is considered perhaps one of BMW’s most classic designs. The Italian company Lamborghini helped with the design and only 250 of these were ever built. These are apparently some of the most highly sought collector cars in the world. What a shame that only 250 were built as this car was indeed a design classic.

A few other truly notable cars were the original BMW 2002, the 2008 version of the BWM M-1, and what I think might be the craziest car of all, the 1955 BMW Lsetta, pictured in photos 3 and 4 below.

After World War II, the bulk of the BMW manufacturing plants were taken over by the Americans and used for manufacturing basic consumer goods. It was not until the 1950’s that the company once again began to manufacture automobiles. Considering that the country was still deep in the throes of recovering from the total devastation of the war, BMW decided to manufacture this cheap, small, crazy car, the Lsetta. To everyone’s surprise, this car caught on and became a huge seller and a big hit for BMW. Note that the car has one door, in the front, and has the rear wheels closer together than the front wheels. While it looks quite small, the car in fact was very roomy. I so fell in love with this crazy little machine that I bought a tiny replica in the gift shop.

We then went across the street to BMW World, as we still had some time left before having to meet Rachel and Deb. Well, I could not believe my eyes but sure enough they had a Lsetta on the floor and you could actually sit in it. All I had to do was fill out an informational marketing postcard about myself. The last question on the form asked what type of car(s) you owned, and I looked up and smiled at the pretty attendant and told her I was sorry to say but that I had to list that I owned 3 Mercedes. She just smiled. I then got my chance to sit in this crazy little machine.

So what of this odd group of Chinese fellows? Well, as Jeremy and I entered the museum there were also four Chinese fellows entering at the same time. Certainly nothing unusual there. As we proceeded around the museum it seemed we ran into them at every turn. Jeremy and I would duck into one or two of the side exhibits (like the jet engines and the history of BMW) and each time we returned to the main flow they seemed to be right there.


You can actually see them in the 2 photos taken on the bottom floor, looking at the large group of cars just as Jeremy and I were. At one point, I actually thought one of them was going to open the door and sit down in the white Lamborghini inspired car.


After the tour we ducked into the gift shop so I could buy my miniature Lsetta and while we had planned to leave, instead we headed into the lounge to get a drink. I ordered a Coke, and Jeremy something else, and as we were sitting there, sure enough, these four guys showed up again. They asked about the price of a Coke, but it seemed it was too expensive (3 euros), so they left. We headed out after a bit and went over to the BMW World to see all the new cars and to get my chance to sit in the Lsetta.


We still had some time to spend, so we crossed the highway and went for a walk in the Olympic Park. Our intent had been to get to the large hill in the park (this is the highest spot in Munich and is actually where they piled up all the rubble from WW II), but we took a wrong turn and the lake in the center of the park thwarted us from getting there. But wouldn't you know it, as we turned to head out, there were our Chinese fellows streaming along behind us. I made a joke to Jeremy at this point that they seemed to be following us everywhere we went.


We finally headed back to the flat to grab a quick bite to eat and then head out to the Circus that night. We left the flat sometime around 7PM and jumped onto the number 19 Tram headed into town. Jeremy was in front of me and quickly gave me an odd look, suggesting that I turn around. When I did, oh my god, the four Chinese guys were seated in the back of the Tram. This was too crazy to believe, and I kept turning and checking, now really wondering if indeed they were following us. Finally, on my last look back they were no longer there. A really strange set of circumstances to see them again and again, in this city of 1.5 million people, at several widely dispersed locations. To be honest, I fully expected to see them at the Circus, but luckily it was to dark to tell.