Wilkommen in Deutschland!

Thanks to a generous grant by the German non-profit Atlantik-Brücke (whose mission is to improve trans-Atlantic relations), I was lucky enough to participate in a teacher study tour around Germany, learning about their culture, education, and political systems. I’d never really been to Germany so I was excited to get the opportunity to learn from leaders in the field. I was also interested in seeing how Germans view what’s happening in the current United States… it’s sure to be a fascinating visit! 

SUNDAY, June 8 – Munich 

We arrived in Munich after a long day of travel, exhausted but excited. Lane, Doug, Hayden and I flew together from Atlanta and were so grateful to see the friendly face of Philipp waiting for us in the arrival hall to take us into town. We got breakfast at the hotel, then slowly met up with half of the group who had arrived before us as we all waited around for our rooms to be ready. After a quick power nap and shower, we headed out for a walking tour of the center of Munich. In my first exposure to German efficiency, we were each given our own transportation pass, the Deutschland Ticket, that was easily added into our electronic wallet - good on all public transportation throughout the entire country for the rest of the month (!). So easy – thanks Franka and Philipp! 

We took the subway from the hotel to the Marienplatz station to see the old and new Town Hall, and the supposed geographic center of Munich since 1158. Unbeknownst to us, that night was the championship football game between Spain and Portugal for the Nations League title. Although the game itself was being held at the FC Bayern Munich stadium about an hour away, there were hundreds of people pre-partying around Marienplatz, making for a loud and lively welcome! 

To get away from the noise, we walked around the corner to the Viktualienmarkt, the food square, to see our first real Bavarian biergarten - different from those in Berlin because you can bring in your own food. Biergartens are sometimes owned by specific beer companies, but this one was owned by the state – so under us was a giant beer reservoir that alternated among the five big beermakers from the area. In addition to beer, Bavaria is also known for its soft pretzels and sausages (wurst) and meat products. 

Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) 

Given its world-renowned beer culture, it was surprising to hear that Munich was founded not because of beer, but because of “White Gold” - salt. Salt was such an important commodity during the Middle Ages since it was crucial to food preservation (seeing as there was no refrigeration). Munich originally sat along the Salt Road that brought this important commodity from the mines in Austria across Europe. A bridge over the river Isar passed by a settlement of Benedictine Monks, but Duke Henry of Bavaria wanted to force traders to use (and pay for the crossing of) his own bridge. The bishop wasn’t too thrilled, so eventually a written agreement was drafted by Emperor Fredrick I Barbarosa in 1158 - it was the first document that mentions the city of Munich.

Frauenkirche

Originally Munich was a rather small town surrounded by a city wall, and we walked all around what would have been the boundaries of the old town. Bavaria (and Munich) is generally Catholic - twenty five percent of the population. The largest Catholic church is Munich’s Cathedral, Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady). Construction began in 1468, but money soon ran out – so to make up the difference, they sold indulgences to raise the rest of the funds. 

The Devil's footprint

Legend has it the architect made a deal with the devil to help finish the building. The devil’s stipulation was that the Cathedral was to have no windows, knowing a windowless cathedral would not be appealing so nobody would go to church. But the architect was clever and built it in a way that pillars blocked the sightline from the entry to all the windows, and when the devil found out he got so angry he stomped his foot in the entry foyer – and the footprint can still be seen to this day. 

The end of our walking tour brought us back to Marienplatz where we watched the figures on the new Town Hall building during the five o’clock glockenspiel carillon show. The moving figures show two historical events – on the upper level is the 1568 wedding of Duke Wilhelm V to Renate of Lorraine, with the associated jousting tournament. Under that, the Schaffler dance shows beermakers dancing to celebrate the end of the plague. 

Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) in Marienplatz, Munich

We then took the subway to dinner at Augustiner Keller Bier Haus - Augustiner Bräu is the oldest (1328) independent brewery in Munich. We ate inside the restaurant since it was slightly drizzly; I shared several plates with Adrien and Lane (via recommendations from Franka). 

Bavarian pretzels are SO good!

We tried Käsespätzle (a type of mac and cheese); small bratwurst with sauerkraut, and the classic obatzder cheese with Bavarian pretzels. But we also had shared bites of Weiner schnitzel, and I tried a sip of Radler - beer mixed with lemonade (clear soda) - surprisingly not that bad! I’d ordered the apfelschorle, an apple juice mixed with sparkling water, which I’d learned about doing my Duolingo German lessons. It was delicious, and I was pleasantly surprised that Duolingo is actually teaching me things that are quite handy here in Germany! We were tired and starting to fade, so we headed back to the hotel for an early night. 

MONDAY, June 9 – Munich 

This morning, after a hearty breakfast (that included the traditional weißwurst and Bavarian pretzel - and yes, I did take one extra for the road... a pretzel, not a sausage!), we headed out for a tour focusing on "National Socialism and Resistance" in Munich. Munich is known as the birthplace of the Nazi Party and where Adolf Hitler rose to power, and throughout the city there are stark reminders of this troubled past. 

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A Brief History Break – The rise of the Nazi Party 

The NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers' Party), otherwise known as the Nazi Party, emerged as a consequence of the economic hardships faced by the people of Germany in the aftermath of WWI. The harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles resulted in high unemployment and poverty throughout the country, which the Nazis blamed on Jews, communists, and the Weimar Republic. The charismatic Adolf Hitler convinced many Germans that he and the Nazi Party could bring back jobs, rebuild the economy, and restore national pride. After becoming Chancellor in 1933, Hitler quickly turned Germany into a dictatorship that used propaganda and violence to silence opposition and maintain strict control. The Nazis banned all other political parties and controlled the media. Their dangerous policies eventually led to World War II and the holocaust. 

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Munich doesn't try to hide its dark history - instead, it embraces and celebrates that fact that the people suffered through this bleak period of time and overcame it to become a thriving, welcoming city. All throughout our tour we saw not just remnants of Nazi power and influence, but we also found memorials and tributes to resistance. Many of these acts were from small groups and individuals.

Memorial to the White Rose

We began the tour at the University of Munich, where a group of students known as the White Rose protested the Nazi regime by distributing anonymous leaflets throughout Germany. The core group consisted of just 6 students and one professor; three main students (Hans Scholl, his sister Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst) were captured and executed about 8 months after beginning their protest. The White Rose is now memorialized through tile plaques of their leaflets around Geschwister-Scholl Platz, the plaza in front of the main University building. 

Bullet holes on the University library along Schellingstraße

On the brick wall of the University building just around the corner, bullet holes are still visible from the war. More than half of Munich was destroyed during WWII yet many of the key Nazi buildings are still standing. It was fascinating to see these reminders of the violence and destruction of war, yet every day the people on Munich walk past, some oblivious to this piece of history.

The Residenz

We walked through the Hofgarten between the English Garden (the urban park that is larger than NY's Central Park) and the Residenz, the former royal palace of Bavaria's Wittelsbach monarchs. From there we entered the Odeonsplatz, the site of the failed Beer Hall Putsch, where Hitler and members of the Nazi Party attempted a coup against the German government in November of 1923. Although they failed and Hitler was imprisoned, the event gave him notoriety and during his imprisonment he wrote Mein Kampf. 

The controversial 1914 Heinrich Hoffmann photo of Hitler at the Odeonsplatz rally the day after Germany declares war on Russia.
Photo: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of William O. McWorkman 

Feldherrnhalle

Theatine Church, Odeonsplatz. Feldherrnhalle is to the 
far left, covered in scaffolding

After he rose to power, Hitler put a memorial on the Feldherrnhalle monument in the Odeonsplatz to commemorate the 15 Nazis who died during the Beer Hall revolt. It was kept under constant ceremonial guard by the SS, and anyone passing by had to give the Nazi salute. 

The Viscardigasse installation "Arguments"

Because of this, many 'shirkers' tried to avoid it by cutting through Viscardigasse, a small street just behind it, which gave the lane the nickname "Drückebergergasse," meaning "shirker's lane". There is now a trail of bronze bricks on Viscardigasse honoring those small acts of rebellion; the weathered bronze cobblestones are meant to become more polished as people tread upon them. 

The Eternal Flame

The Platz der Opfer des Nationalsozialismus (Square of the Victims of National Socialism) features a tower topped by an eternal flame, symbolizing the enduring spirit of humans that can't be extinguished. The inscription on the bronze plaque reads “In memory of the victims of National Socialist tyranny, persecuted because of their political belief, religion, race, sexual orientation, and disability.” 

Nazi rally on the Königsplatz, with the two “Temples of Honour” flanking the parade and the Führerbau in to the left rear. The Temples of Honour were destroyed by the US military in 1947, and today just the bases remain. Photo: Bavaria State Library

The Führerbau was the Nazi administrative building built for Adolf Hitler, standing at one end of the Königsplatz where many Nazi rallies and parades took place. One of the reasons why it stayed standing was because looted artwork was kept in the basement of the building. Seeing Nazi era photos of the Königsplatz was surreal, knowing we ate lunch right in front of the Führerbau beside the ruins of one of the Temples of Honour. The temples had been built by the Nazis for those who had died in the Hitler putsch. On the other side is the current Munich Document Center for the History of National Socialism, built on the site of the former headquarters of the NSDAP. The message written above the museum entrance is a great reminder: History is not the past.

Führerbau today, with the ruins of one of the Temples of Honour

After lunch, we headed to the Dachau Concentration Camp. 

The grounds of this memorial are hauntingly lovely – you walk in along a treelined path; the birds were singing and it was a beautiful, blue-sky day. Outside the wall, a half-excavated railway line emerges from a grassy path running from the former SS camp directly to the gates of the Dachau Concentration Camp. 

A wrought iron gate adorned with the words Arbeit Macht Frei greet you as you enter: Work will set you free. 

As the first Nazi concentration camp, Dachau was originally built in 1933 to house political prisoners. Later, many other camps modeled themselves after Dachau, which eventually held thousands of prisoners who were forced into labor, experimented on, and often killed. In bunks that were meant to house 200 prisoners, up to 2,000 were crammed in - during its operations from 1933 until liberation in 1945, over 200,000 people from 30 countries were imprisoned. 

Visiting Dachau elicits so many…feelings. Even setting foot on the grounds of Dachau was hard – there is a palpable weight hanging in the air, and for the most part the visitors were respectful of the legacy of those who suffered there. It is such an important part of history and is a necessary reminder of what happens when we lose compassion, empathy, and respect for humanity and instead allow fear, greed, hatred, and complacency to dictate our actions.