As Spring Break Comes to an End

Munich was my last stop before spring break officially came to an end. From London, Aunty M, Donna and I flew straight into Munich, landing early enough so that we still had a few hours to explore the city before dinner. After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we hopped on the U-Bahn (the German version of a metro or London Underground) out to Marienplatz, looking for the Glockenspiel, a large clock with life-sized figures that dance at certain hours.

The Glockenspiel

We arrived at the Glockenspiel at 5:00 PM, just as the figures started dancing. Apparently, it only does that three times a day: 11:00 AM, 12:00 noon and at 5:00 PM, so without intending to, and quite luckily, we made it just in time. At these times, the figures on the Glockenspiel begin to move and music plays for at least 15 minutes. The clock has two sets of figures, which represent two important events in Munich's history: a tournament at the wedding of Duke William V and Renata of Lorraine in 1568, and the Cooper's Dance in which the coopers went into the streets to dance after the Black Plague of the Middle Ages.

Glockenspiel

After the Glockenspiel had finished, we decided to wander around the area for a bit and eventually stopped for dinner at a nearby pizza place. We then went back to Marienplatz, hopped on the U-Bahn and returned to the hotel.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

On our first full day in Germany, we had planned a trip out to the Schloss Neuschwanstein, also known as the Cinderella Castle. The castle (or palace) was built under Ludwig II, beginning in 1869, heavily influenced by Wagner's operas, specifically the medieval legends on which Wagner based his operas. The different rooms of Neuschwanstein depict these different legends. However, at the time of Ludwig's death in 1886 (under mysterious circumstances), the castle still was not completed and for the most part, work on the castle stopped.

Getting to the castle was a bit of a walk from the town at the bottom of the hill but we eventually made it and with just enough time to take a few pictures before our tour began. The inside of Neuschwanstein was amazing: the walls and furniture were very elaborate and beautiful, matching the grandeur of the castle's exterior. After our tour of the inside, Aunty M and I rushed outside in order to get to the Marienbrueke (a bridge from which we could get really nice pictures of Schloss Neuschwanstein). After another walk, we made it to the bridge, took a few pictures and returned to the castle. From there, we rejoined Donna and continued down to do a bit of shopping before getting back on the train to return to Munich.

Schloss Neuschwanstein

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

On Thursday, our final full day in Germany, we started off with a half-day trip out to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. After a short train and then bus ride, we arrived at what had been the Dachau Concentration Camp and is now a memorial site.

The concentration camp at Dachau was established in March, 1933, just months after Hitler came to power in Germany. Originally, it held only political prisoners but in time, it came to hold other groups such as Roma (Gypsies) and homosexuals and especially after Kristallnacht (or the Night of Broken Glass) on 10-11 November 1938, Jewish prisoners. On 29 April 1945, American forces liberated the camp and in 1965, a Memorial Site was established at the former concentration camp.

Being at the memorial site was very surreal. Parts of it were from the original concentration camp while other parts had been reconstructed and several memorials were erected. It's hard to imagine that so many people could have suffered and died in a single place. We walked through and past several different buildings, including recreations of the barracks from different eras of the camp's history, a museum and the crematoria where the bodies of the dead prisoners were burned.

Dachau Concentration Camp

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site Homepage

Nymphenburg Palace

After leaving Dachau, we decided to stop by the Nymphenburg Palace, the summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria and commissioned in 1664. From the outside, the palace is very impressive, but we opted not to go inside. Instead, we wandered out to the back where there is a large park. After walking around there for a while, we got back on the tram and headed back to Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel in order to take a last couple of pictures with our new hats. We ended the day with a bit more walking and then returned to the hotel to finish packing, as we were leaving for Edinburgh the next morning.

---

---