Magical Munich and Bountiful Bavaria

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Hello everyone,
Today I am writing this entry on a very packed bus, and am trying really hard not to be a pain in the ass and take up loads of space writing on the tablet and keyboard in such close quarters. I am on a 6 hour bus ride to Vienna, and I am feeling every painful second of it – my body is used to walking and being in the great wide open, not in narrow spaces. Anyway, today’s entry is about both Munich and Bavaria, as yesterday was spent in the beautiful rural areas of Bavaria. We arrived in Munich a few days ago. I am finding it really difficult to remember one day from the next, calendar wise lately, so I am gonna maybe get things wrong, but I’ll try my best. We arrived in Munich early in the evening after the bus ride. For the first time this trip, I have to say I felt tired beyond words. I had a massive headache, and couldn’t keep my eyes open, so ended up crashing out at the hotel at about 7pm until morning. The next day I felt wonderful. Our first day in Munich involved a lot of U-Bahns and S-Bahs. I was feeling a little nervous that morning as I knew we were headed to one of the Germany’s most historically saddening sites, Dachau Memorial concentration camp. I have seen a lot of the rosier sides to Germany, but really felt it necessary to really feel some of the country’s darker history – the good with the bad. We walked from the hauptbahnhof in Dachau to the camp, it was a few kilometres walk, but I wanted to walk the same path the prisoners’ were forced to go many years ago, and I also wanted to read the information signs along the path. I had been attempting to mentally prepare myself for walking though the gates, but nothing really prepares you for the monstrous things that occurred at the place not all that long ago. I only took the one photo of the gate – I don’t think it felt right or respectful to photograph the interior of the site, many hundreds of tourists seemed to have no qualms about it though. I kind of wished they would put their cameras and phones away to really experience the emotion that overtakes you being there, and not documenting every moment through a lens. But, that’s just my opinion. Upon entry, we saw a giant bronze looking sculpture of tortured figures of people intertwined with barbed wire fences. It was a haunting sculpture and really symbolized the horror the poor souls must have experienced here. Behind the sculpture was a wall that showed messages of liberation of the site, which I liked as it showed hope permeating through the darkness of the haunting place. My friend and I went through to the museum. There were information posters everywhere detailing the initial entry of prisoners, their living conditions (or lack thereof) and unending abuse at the hands of the SS guards. The information painted an unsettling and undoubtedly moving picture of the lives and stories of individual prisoners and cultural groups, right through to the liberation of the camp and aftermath and legacy of people that perished or survived. I learnt a great deal about the political conditions that prevailed through the time to allow such a horrific place to come into existence, and while it was saddening, it goes to show how longstanding racial prejudices and the aftermath of wars and associated economic downturn can lead to such horrible events. There were many individual anecdotes to read, and it really made me marvel how some people can become altruistic beacons of hope amidst such dire conditions, and how others can transform into instruments of brutality. It really shows the best and worst of the human condition. It was particularly difficult to see how living conditions of the camp deteriorated even further (they were already atrocious) over time as numbers of prisoners exponentially grew, and how much torture and experimentation upon people became even more prevalent. Nazi doctors were particularly sadistic, and I found it horrid to think how people who were supposed to be the preservers of life became some of the worst perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Within the maelstrom of madness, there were accounts and photos of the SS guards having games nights and such, along with photos of happy family times and it struck me how easy it is to think of these people being heartless evil monsters, and while they were certainly that, they also led remarkably ordinary lives when not being evil barstards. It is scary to see how evil is only one step removed from the ordinary. Brainwashing and propaganda and looking for a scapegoat to blame for societal ills can lead to literally, hell on earth. I also learnt about the types of “work” that prisoners were forced to partake in – humiliating and arbitrary and pointless tasks designed to destroy the human spirit. Any sign of illness, weakness or over-exertion were met with extreme punishment and often death. I can only imagine how the elderly and very young and infirm must have felt – there was a constant ticking timebomb sitting above their heads. Once the liberation occurred, American soldiers forced the residents of Dachau (who were aware of all the happenings at the camp) to bury the dead and face up to what they essentially turned a blind eye to, and allowed to happen. There were a couple of information sections in which I actually enjoyed reading; they spoke of how music and art managed to at times help people endure and even rise above the cruelty throughout the years the camp was in operation. There were beautiful excerpts of poetry, and examples of music, which shows us that no matter how downtrodden people can be, they will always try and ascend above the awful and incomprehensible and try and create beauty in spite of it. After leaving the museum, I was suitably shell-shocked, but we continued our tour of the site. We went through to a courtyard to where there was a whitewashed wall where people were executed. It made me sick to the core to be in the very spot where countless people experienced their last terrifying moments of life. We then hastily made our way into the old prison quarters where people were held for various lengths of time before likely meeting an untimely end. It was an ugly building both visually and spiritually, and I was glad to leave it. We then walked down the middle of the site, to where many old barracks had been demolished. There was one left standing, for memorial purposes. Towards the end of the complex we saw some churches belonging to the differing faiths, some beautiful areas of sanctuary and remembrance actually. We then went through to what was without a doubt, the worst sector of the place, the Crematorium. I really didn’t want to go in there, but I didn’t feel my discomfort was a good enough reason not to see all areas of the site. The first room we went into was a place where bodies were heaped upon each other before awaiting the cremation ovens. Seeing several ovens in the adjacent room and their intended purpose was like a sucker punch to the stomach. I did not linger. There was another room we walked through, the gas chamber, which looked deceivingly like being a room filled with shower heads, but was anything but. I left that room immediately. It was just too horrible to be present in. After being in this area, I was quite upset, so felt that it was time to leave the memorial site and head back to Munich. I had absorbed enough to understand the severity of what happened there. I feel like everyone needs to go to this place to appreciate just how bad political and racial tensions can be, as to not allow this to ever occur again, and to see just what human beings are capable of. It brings about a feeling of how important kindness and toleration is of others beliefs and values, and despite the horror, it makes you appreciate how lucky we are as modern middle-class people are as to be far removed from the world as it was back then. But we should never get complacent. Dachau serves as a potent reminder of this.
Upon arriving back in Munich that evening we went out for some dinner, eager to participate in some mundane and typical life activities to bring back a sense of normality after being in such a devastating place,in which darkness of the human heart resided. I had a really nice serving of Spetzel (don’t know how to spell this), but it is essentially a really fancy and delicious mac and cheese. Needless to say, I loved it. I tried a spritz for the first time too – diluted wine and other ingredients, it was quite the treat for the taste buds. After eating we wondered around Marienplatz, a popular area of Munich central. There was a pride parade on, and the square was inundated with people, music and laughter – the perfect antidote to Dachau. I was quite amused to hear a German rendition of a Coldplay song that I liked. There were rainbows sprawled absolutely everywhere. I love rainbows – so really embraced it all like a giant teddy bear. As I am useless in crowds though, I soon hastened to leave the bustling mecca of people. We looked around at a few local landmarks including Munich’s frauenkirche, and the justice building amongst others. There was a large cascading fountain which people milled around in a main area that we ambled through which really typified the summer feel of Europe. We eventually headed back to the hotel for an early-ish night, as we had a rather nifty day ahead – Bavaria!
The next day we took two different trains to Bavaria to reach Fussen – a rather jam packed tourist town. Why you might ask – Neuchwanstein Castle. Located less than a ten minute bus ride from Fussen – there was a small quaint village where you can either climb, bus, or even get a horse and carriage up to the “fairytale castle” perched a few hundred metres up a mountaintop. I thought it would be a bit lazy and full of pomp to take a horse and carriage up the hill, which was a short half hour walk, so we opted to walk up the hill. The scenery was lush and absolutely stunning. There were the Bavarian Alps encircling us as we trekked up the hill, and views of a most picturesque lake in the near distance. Ascending the hill afforded the greatest views of Bavaria, and I was reminded of both New Zealand and Canadian landscapes, particularly Milford Sound. We reached the hilltop and got an intimate view of the castle – I was so happy seeing this marvellous building in the flesh. The castle built by Ludwig II, a former King of Bavaria, was made to fulfil his fanciful desires to have essentially the flashiest castle on a mountain. A perfectly reasonable and cost-friendly dream there haha. He succeeded mostly – but basically bankrupted Bavaria in the process. Apparently, he wanted the castle to be even bigger and more grandiose (as if it wasn’t fancy enough as it was!), but ran out of money. He was a bit of a madman living in an idealist's world I think (I can relate). We went further along to a bridge about 20 minutes away, where you can get the best vantage point of the castle and surrounding Bavarian landscape. The walk was well worth it, however there was an absolute horde of tourists milling before and around the bridge. After waiting some time to actually get onto the bridge, we were rewarded with an absolutely magnificent view of the castle sitting proudly atop its perch on the left. To the right there were unrivalled views of the neighbouring Bavarian Alps and a vast lake. After not seeing the sea for over a week, I had felt rather landlocked and in need of seeing a beautiful expanse of water, so this was a welcome sight. Sadly we couldn’t enjoy the view longer due to the throngs of people wanting their selfies taken with the pretty castle. I treasured the few minutes spent taking in the scene of utter splendour however. We turned around and went back down the hill. There is actually an older castle nearby (Neuchwanstein was built fairly recently, in the 1900s). This older yellow/ochre looking castle looks quite traditional compared to its pompous younger brother, but was pretty impressive unto itself. More’s the pity it is literally overshadowed by Neuchwanstein. We wandered down for some food (I got some pommes, or fries in English). We then went at sat down by the idyllic lake for a while. Whilst sitting in the sunshine admiring the raw and wild surroundings, I felt like I could live this way forever, and never return back to concrete realities and cubicles. This is how people thrive – in places such as this, the oh-so-great outdoors. We eventually left the area and went to catch a bus back to Fussen. There were lines of people queuing for the buses – and each bus was crammed to the hilt, people sardined to the extreme, including us. Public transport in Europe can get ridiculously overcrowded – and it unnerved me at first, but I am adjusting to it. We caught an indirect train or two back to Munich, which took a few hours. We then met up with my friend’s friend, Christina, a Munich local. She took us around a lovely area of Munich and we ate Mexican by the big river which was a tributary of the mighty Danube. She kindly gave me what was probably the most delicious Radler beer I’d ever tried. I now understood why Bavaria is so proud of its brewing culture – their beer is divine. We sat and yarned for awhile and eventually made our way back to the hotel. Munich is such a fantastic place, full of everything you’d want in a city and more – next time I come here, and I fully intend to – it will be for way longer. I feel privileged to have visited such a place. It has only been two hours into the bus ride now, and it is rather warm and stuffy, with the road often becoming busy with traffic coming to a crawl. Probably another autobahn accident, they seem common here. Despite the discomforts of buses and trains – I am still digging this action-packed trip. Now to Vienna (insert Ultravox song here)!.

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