DAY TWO -- Schloss Nymphenburg

TWO DAYS OF PALACES: Day Two -- Schloss Nymphenburg
April 11, 2012

Day two of our whirlwind tour of Munich's palaces was spent at Schloss Nymphenburg, a short tram ride to the western side of town. It was a rainy day as Michael, Christy, and I set out from the apartment in Haidhausen, but there was only one umbrella among us. It was also cold, colder than we had anticipated. Winter has not left Munich yet. 


We were a fairly pathetic sight, I imagine, the three of us gripping each other under the umbrella in order to avoid the rain, but we managed as best we could. Sometimes, it is details such as this that lodge in your mind and sharpen your recollections. Michael had been running a fever for the first two days of his visit, so he was simply glad to finally be seeing the sights. 


This was my second visit to Nymphenburg. I was here two years ago when I came to Munich with Mark for the very first time, also in April. We toured the palace and the grounds, but I hadn't had a chance to see the porcelain collection. Today, I thought it would be nice for Mike and Christy to tour the palace together while I went off to see the porcelain. So that is what we did. 


Schloss Nymphenburg was commissioned by Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Electress Henriette Adelaide to celebrate the birth of their son. They had been married when they were both just fourteen years old and in 1654, at the age of eighteen, Ferdinand was crowned as Elector of Bavaria. Their son, Maximillian II Emmanuel, was born in 1662 and so, the palace was planned as a summer residence. Ferdinand also built a a church for his wife, Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan, which is one of the most stunning structures in Munich, I think. 


Okay, time for pictures, I think.

Steinerner Saal
Stone Hall

The view looking east from the front window of Seinerner Saal

I would normally give you a little history before including the next photos, but for now, I will just show you the pictures. I will try later to come back with some history. The first photo will give you an idea of the exquisite beauty that was created in the factory at Nymphenburg. Please click on the picture to expand it and see the incredible detail.

This is the Chinese Tower that still stands
today in the English Garden 

Another structure in the English Garden.

Schloss Nymphenburg rendered on china for the royal family.

This is a very large painting that shows a
horse race being held out front of Nymphenburg.
Perhaps you can see the flotilla of boats that
brought the royal household from the palace, along the canal,
to the horse race happening in the foreground.

Part of Nymphenburg's porcelain collection includes paintings rendered on porcelain that were copied from actual paintings. The painting, "The Virgin Appearing to Saint Bernard," by Pietro Perugino for the Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi in Florence, was later purchased by King Ludwig of Bavaria and brought to Munich. 


A decision was made to copy many valuable paintings onto porcelain so that they would last "forever." The next photo is a copy of Perugino's painting. I cannot recall under which ruler this decision was made, but it was most likely Ludwig. You can see the original painting at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.

Die Vision des Hl. Bernhard ( The Virgin Appearing to Saint Bernard)
nach Pietro Perugino
gemalt von Otto Wustlich, 1859

If you ever intend to go to Nymphenburg Palace, be sure to schedule a tour of the factory.  This is something I would really love to do. My friend, Peter, always refers to the "silent factory" because it is powered by water. I will be sure to come back to this posting and give you an update on the factory once I get there. 


This blog has been great fun for Mark and me. We have very much enjoyed sharing our adventures with you. We hope you have equally enjoyed looking over our shoulders as we fill you in on the details. 

A Beautiful Woman in Munich

Munich is a city of many beautiful features. In 2007 it was voted the best city to live in Europe. I quote now from Forbes magazine: 
"Mercer recently ranked 221 cities around the world on 39 measures, emphasizing political safety and health, but also including factors from restaurant availability to air pollution. Cities are ranked against New York as the base city; it has an index score of 100. This year Mercer introduced its eco city rankings, published alongside its quality-of-living list, which scores countries on how well they promote sustainability and protect their environments."


Based upon all of these factors Munich was ranked #7. You can check out the top 10 in the link below.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/25/worlds-best-cities-lifestyle-real-estate-mercer-vienna-geneva_slide_5.htm

If you have been reading the blog and looking at the pictures you must admit that from an architectural point of view Munich is a most fabulous city. The residents often refer to themselves as more Italian than German, and the architecture reflects a strong Italian influence as many of the Wittelsbach rulers used the most famous Italian architects of the time to design and construct not only many of the famous buildings, but the entire façade and structures along Maximillian Strasse.

During the war Munich suffered a great deal of damage and afterwards the city decided to not rebuild anew but to rebuild the city today just as it looked prior to the war. Thus there are really no modern buildings in the downtown area, and the city has a long low look to it, as the original Munich building codes do not allow for any building being taller than the spires on the Frauenkirche towers (about six or seven stories tall.)

Thus the city not only has many beautiful buildings and streets, but it also has a low profile and a real charm since all of the buildings are low in nature. There is never a sense of being in a canyon as you often feel in more modern cities with high rise buildings all around.

In addition to have a great architectural feel, Munich is also a very wealthy city and the people dress and show it all the time. There are always people well dressed, and the style is a throwback in some ways as women often wear dresses and skirts, something that you do not see much anymore in America. Finally, and I do not know if it is the beer or the diet or what, but there are very few overweight people in Munich. To the contrary, many of the Bavarian woman are tall, blond, and with a complexion of pure white flawless skin. Overall this is a great place to be if you like to watch and look at people.

So it was with great pleasure this past weekend when I was able to snap this picture of a beautiful woman here in Munich simply waiting at the tram stop on a spring afternoon.

TWO DAYS OF PALACES: Day One -- Schloss Schleissheim

TWO DAYS OF PALACES: Day One -- Schloss Schleissheim
April 10, 2012



Michael arrived in Munich with his girlfriend, Christine, on Easter Sunday after a long flight with a layover in Frankfurt. Rachel and Jeremy were here two weeks ago and this was Michael's turn to come see our new "house" and a bit of the countryside, as well. Unfortunately, he was feeling a bit under the weather the very first day, but I had planned a nice meal and kept him well fed -- Butterfladen, cream of asparagus soup, salad, quiche, carrot cake, a couple of Easter bunnies, and plenty of tea.  


The next morning was spent at the Residenz Museum, but Michael's condition was worsening, so we sped through, got some Bavarian food for lunch, and headed home. Poor Mike, he never gets sick. We realized he wouldn't be able to leave the house on Tuesday, either, so Christy and I planned a visit to Schloss Schleissheim, just 14km north of downtown Munich. 


The ride on the U-bahn was fairly quick and the bus we were to take was at the station when we got off the train. We hopped on, but didn't take note of its direction. When the bus driver made a U-turn and headed back toward the train station, I realized I had made some kind of mistake. He saw our bewilderment and came to help out, in German of course. This didn't present much of a problem, though, since most foreigners have just one thing in mind when visiting the little town of Oberschleissheim -- the palace. Soon enough, the very same bus was headed in the direction of the palace and we got off right outside the palace grounds. 


There are actually three stately palace buildings along a very long axis with beautiful gardens and fountains linking them together. If you click on this link, http://schloesser-schleissheim.com/, you will get a panoramic 360° degree tour of the old and new palaces with the planted gardens between them. If you want the full tour, you will see the palace interiors, as well.


The old palace, Altes Schloss Schleissheim, was an existing structure when it was purchased by Wilhelm V, Herzog von Bayern (William V, Duke of Bavaria) in 1598. Wilhelm had abdicated his title the previous year. The building was transformed over many years, but was heavily damaged during  the War. I do not know how much of the building was restored or preserved as we did not visit it on this day, but I do know that it contains a museum focusing on Prussian history. 


A Brief History (I won't be offended if you skip this paragraph)
The time period when Wilhelm V was ruler of the duchy of Bavaria was a very turbulent one for Germany. The Protestant Reformation had its beginnings here when Martin Luther became angered over the Catholic church's sale of indulgences. The Council of Trent in the mid 1500s brought about some reforms, but the Protestants had gained a foothold in Germany, and the country was split in two. War and violence were erupting all over the country. During Wilhem's reign (1579 to 1597), all non-Catholics were ousted from Bavaria.


On a lighter note, 1598 was also the year Wilhelm founded the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's now-famous beer hall. 

Deborah in front of Altes Schloss Schleissheim

The two other structures on the palace grounds were both built under Elector Max Emmanuel, short for Maximillian II Emmanuel. His 350th birthday is being celebrated this year and the grounds-keepers were already hard at work edging the gardens and turning the soil. They are planning gondola rides on the canal and concerts during the month of July. 


Lustheim Palace is magnificently situated at the end of a long garden vista with a canal running straight toward it. Today, it houses a Meissen porcelain collection that Mark and I will surely visit in the future. Here it is at the end of a very long canal.

Schloss Lustheim 

Christy sitting on the lawn with Lustheim in the background.

In the middle of the long axis sits the new palace, Neues Schloss Schleissheim, the object of today's visit. In the next picture, Christy is standing out front before going inside. We spent a little while just admiring the grandeur of the building. Work on the palace began in 1701. Max Emmanuel was intending this palace to replace the Residenz in Munich as his primary residence. He was also hoping one day to become King of Bavaria. This never came to pass, however.

Neues Schloss Schleissheim

The ceiling fresco in the Great Hall (next photo) was the largest in the world at the time it was painted. (I wish I could tell you the name of the artist, but I can't remember who it was.) This was a truly magnificent room. The incredible height and beautiful stucco ornamentation are really astounding. The projection of the stucco work at the top of the room gives the ceiling painting great depth. When you visit these palaces, they should really issue you a period dress so you can swoosh around these rooms in style. 

Next, I will simply show you a series of photos with some explanatory captions. The website I included earlier has panoramas of many of these interior rooms. 

The ceiling frescoes in the main rooms
celebrate Max Emmanuel's military victories.

This room was designed as a picture gallery and
today houses a collection of Baroque art,
mostly religious paintings from the 1600s and 1700s.
These are not the paintings that hung here originally,
but are a representation of what this room would have
displayed and are hung similarly,as well.

The bedroom in the Electress's apartment.
She must have requested a yellow bedroom
because the walls are covered in a vivid
yellow damask, most of it still original,
with silver instead of gold leaf embroidery.

The ceiling frescoes in the apartments of the Elector
and Electress were painted by Jacopo Amigoni.

A detail of the ceiling fresco depicting an allegory
on the delights of summer.

Continuing on our tour of the palace, we simply wanted to take in the beauty of the rooms and, so, took a break from snapping photos. Besides, I was not carrying the good camera which would have provided more vibrant colors.

The stairway you see next is very grand and has a fresco inside a round vault at the very top of the stairwell. By now, I was wondering how these people managed so much craning of their necks. You had to keep looking up to appreciate the grandeur and the scale of the workmanship invested in this palace. 

As awesome as the ceiling paintings were, the tapestries were the Elector's most valuable possessions. They originally covered all the walls of a particular room. These were found mostly in the apartments of the palace, rather than in the main rooms, as far as I can gather. I did not take any pictures because they never really impress me. But obviously, the work to make just one of these tapestries must have been enormous. 

Not knowing the German language can be a bit of a stumbling block. You want to learn about the history and the design, but all the signs are in German. Sometimes there is an English translation, but the facts are seldom as detailed. It seems you must always take the audio guide with you. This can help, but it can also hinder you from viewing everything you want to see. So if you really want the history, more than one visit is necessary. Plus a little research.

After a quick tour of the grounds, Christy and I headed back home to see how Michael was faring. Luckily, he was feeling better and we all planned to head into town that evening so Michael could finally feel like he was really in Munich. Staying indoors for the first two days of his vacation had not been much fun. Mark will tell you all about our visit to the Hofbrauhaus later that night. 

This is the first entry of our "Two Days of Palaces." The next one will give you the details of our visit to Nymphenburg Palace. 

A Night at the Hofbrauhaus

The Hofbrauhaus, located just off Marienplatz in a twisty turny part of the Altstadt, is the most popular attraction in the city of Munich. The beer hall, if you can call it that, has a long history dating back to its founding by the royal Wittelsbach family. Up to that time, the dukes had imported their beer from another German town since the local beer was inferior to their taste. Their solution was to construct their very own brewery. Opened in 1592, it was located in the Alter Hof, their residence at the time, and was known as the "brown" Hofbrauhaus for the color of the beer. Today, practically every tourist makes a pilgrimage to the Hofbrauhaus. 

Munich has always had a unique outlook on beer. In the 1500s, it was considered a food just as important as bread. The world's first food purity laws were enacted in Bavaria in 1516. Only three ingredients -- barley, hops, and water -- could be used in the production of beer and this law, with some amendments, is still in place. It seems to have stood the test of time, for everyone who comes here loves the beer. People frequently comment on how crisp and drinkable the beer is. Just have a seat at one of the long tables at the Hofbrauhaus and you will find your outlook on the world improving with every sip.


Wilhelm V was Bavaria's duke when the Hofbrauhaus was established for the royal household. For 20 years, it was accessible only to the royal household and their friends. In 1828, King Ludwig opened it to the public, to everyone's delight. It became a major tourist attraction and such famous personages as Einstein, Mozart, and Lenin have sat here and drunk more than one beer.

This place has to be one of the busiest in Munich, and I have included a photo from Google below to show you the scale of the beer hall (this is just the first floor - there is also a second floor as well).

One thing you can be certain of at the Hofbrauhaus is lots of people, lots of giant beers, and lots of music and noise. The downstairs alone can seat over 1,000 people, all at the traditional long communal tables you find in every beer garden. People seem to brighten up as soon as they walk through the doors. While frequented mainly by tourists, the Hofbrauhaus is also a popular destination for Munchners. Many of them come in traditional dress to enjoy the beer, the music, and to take a spin on the dance floor. Below is a photo of a Munich couple seated at the table next to ours the last time we were there. 

The night of our most recent visit had begun with an entirely different purpose in mind. Michael and Christine were here and Michael had just begun to feel better after two days of illness. Deborah and Christy had spent the day at Schloss Schleissheim and by the evening, Michael was ready to get out of the house. We hopped on the U-Bahn and headed to the Schwabing neighborhood to play some pool and do something out of the ordinary.  Here is a nighttime shot of Deborah and Michael and Christine just outside the Universitat U-Bahn stop.

The four of us headed west toward the pool hall, only to find that it was closed on this particular evening. Who would know -  certainly I did not. We thought and thought as to what to do next and soon Deborah was asking, Jazz or Hofbrauhaus? Well, of course, the Hofbrauhaus won out, so we headed down to the Altstadt to see if we could get in. The place is packed on any night of the week (it is open 365 days a year) so sometimes you really need to hunt around to find a seat, and often you do not find one to accommodate your entire party. Nonetheless, when we got there we got lucky, finding a table to share with two other people, located very close to the bandstand.

The first floor, in the central region of the hall, has a bandstand where a traditional Bavarian bland plays music all night. It all sort of sounds the same after a while, but the locals get up and dance right in the aisle. From time to time, the band plays a traditional beer chugging song where you are supposed to stand up on your seat and chug the remainder of your beer. As you can see from the photos below, these are not small beers and these look like pretty happy people! That's Mike and Christy and Deborah.

Although we could hear the band well enough, we were sitting next to this large pillar that completely blocked our view. After a bit, sort of like halfway through these large beers, a table with a great view of the band stand opened up and we jumped on it. You can see the band in the next two photos with Mike obviously glad to finally be having a good time in Munich.

The band is one of the biggest attractions here (after the beer and the waitresses) and people are always walking up and snapping photos. This is such a huge tourist spot, and everyone wants to be able to show that they have been to the Hofbrauhaus that not a minute or two go by before someone else walks up with a camera. You often see people walking through the place with their camera set in video mode just filming way.

We stayed as long as we could, but finally had enough of the noise and the beer and decided to head back to the flat. While we missed visiting the Hofbrauhaus with Jeremy and Rachel (we did make it to the Chinese Tower, though), Mike and Christine have the pictures to show for their visit.

Mike and Christine – Day 2 in Munich

Michael and Christine arrived on Sunday afternoon, sometime around 3pm. Deborah and I once more took the S-Bahn up to the airport and waited only a short while for them to gather their bags and meet us outside.

We then had about 30 minutes to wait for the next train so we grabbed a quick sandwich for Mike and then stepped into a bar in the airport since these were the only seats available. The waitress was not really happy with us sitting in 4 seats and only buying one beer, but I am sure we were not the first to do this.

We then jumped on the S-Bahn and headed back to our flat. At one point the train was stopped for a few minutes and it was reminiscent of the train breaking down when Rachel and Jeremy arrived, but it finally started back up and we made it to Ostbahnof, and then onto the U-4 to our stop at Max Webber Platz.

Mike had been not really feeling well, and Christine had also arrived with a cold but come Monday morning we were ready to head into town and see the Residenz Palace. We hopped on the U-Bahn and 2 stops later arrived at Odeonsplatz. There are side-by-side Mercedes and Aston-Martin car dealerships in Odeonsplatz, and I wanted to quickly step into the Mercedes show room to look at one of the original S-Class cars, this one a 1957 beauty.

We then headed down to Marienplatz to quickly show them the city center and the Rathaus (city hall). I snapped a few photo’s including one of them in Marienplatz, and one of them in Karlsplatz just as we were entering the Residenz Museum.

I believe the Residenz Palace has over 15 different court yards, and one of the first ones you come to is shown below, with the manicured lawns and hedges, and a copy of a 16^th century bronze work of Perseus after he had cut of the head of Medussa. The original is inside the museum and is remarkable as you get a true sense of the power of his body, and the passion of the moment just after he had slain the mythical monster.

We wanted to make it a short trip, only to focus on a few of the nicer items and places in the palace. One of the really great rooms you first come to is call the Antiquarium, which is a long massive hallway like room where the royalty would entertain large numbers of guests. The room is full of roman era and modern examples of busts, and the ceiling is painted with scenes from many of the towns and villages in Bavaria at the time. The royal family ate on the raised Dias (where you see Mike and Christine and Deborah) while their guests would eat below.

The next great room you come to is referred to as the Room of the Black Doors, where there are 4 massive black marble entrances into this room. It is unique because the room is painted with a false 3-dimensional ceiling. The original paint work was on fabric that was raised and attached to the ceiling, but this was destroyed in WW II and a replica was painted in the ceiling an only recently completed. It is hard to get a true sense of this effect from a picture, but you can sort of see it below.

We then sped through several of the ‘apartments’ in the palace that were long sequences of rooms devoted to either the royal family or their important visitors. Here are a few photos of the rooms and some of the furniture. The last picture below is of the Green Room, one of the most ornate and well decorated rooms in the palace.

We then quickly made our way through the porcelain collection in the palace. It is estimated that the Wittelsbach family may possess one of the best collections of porcelain in the world, and it is till highly valued and made here in Germany with the famous Meissen and Nymphenburg porcelain made nearby here in Bavaria.

The final room you visit on your way through the palace is the hall of ancestors. This hall has many paintings of the great ancestors of the Wittelsbach family, some of them going back to before 1100 AD. The room itself if gold and gilded and dazzling to the eye. Take a look for yourself.

By this time though Mike was feeling very much under the weather and cold and fading fast. We decided to head out and went nearby to the Franzikaner Café and got some traditional bavarian food (including bullion soup for Mike) prior to heading home.