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.