The story of our move from Spain in August 2001
could take up a page of its own as it involved two round trips
from our home in Vitoria, Spain to Munich, Germany. Suffice it to
say that we got to know the route real well as we trundled all
our worldly possessions across most of western Europe. Europeans
are not the frequent movers that Americans have become, and
facilities such as one-way moving trucks and mini storage units
are nearly non-existent. The first journey took us from Spain
through France and to Brussels where Greg was interviewing for a
job that had been offered while we were on our way to another job
in Munich. It turned out that the job in Munich was better so we
just kept heading in that direction. You could say that we were
really gypsies in that we had no residence, no job, and almost no
money after being unemployed for two months.
On arriving in Munich the situation began improving although
there was to be one last hurdle before Greg got back to work. The
British contract company which had located the opening at
Fairchild - Dornier wasn't able to obtain the needed German work
permit as they had no German subsidiary. Being a non-German
company they didn't qualify as an employer so... It was necessary
to switch to another contract firm who could get the necessary
permit. Meanwhile the days were passing and the bank account was
sinking. Greg finally was able to begin work the last week in
August 2001. Greg's work involves structural analysis of
aircraft, and Fairchild - Dornier was building a new generation
regional size airplane. These planes are larger than the small
planes that fly commuters into small city airports but smaller
than the full size planes that one associates with international
and transcontinental trips.
Finding a place to live in Munich was the next challenge. The
notoriously tight rental market is due mainly to the steady
growth in the area coupled with the conservative development
programs administered by the local governments. It is well known
that Munich has the highest cost of living of any city in
Germany. We struggled at first with lists of apartments and
houses which were either out of date or provided by the local
real estate folks who ask two to three months rent if you use
their service. In most places in the US the landlord pays but not
here. After a couple weeks of chasing shadows, Lana had the
brilliant idea to put an ad in one of the local papers. It worked
so well that even after we had found a perfect furnished
apartment conveniently located to work we continued to get phone
calls from landlords asking if we really were happy with our new
place and wouldn't we like to have a look at their offer. So we
concluded that at least part of the shortage in real estate is a
story supported by the real estate folks which doesn't surprise
anyone, does it?
With the tough job of moving done we began to explore the area.
Munich is the capital of the southern German state of Bavaria.
Founded in 1158 Munich was originally called the "Place of
Monks". The most prominent of all Bavarian families, the
Whittlebachs, conquered the town in 1240 and are still around as
well as many of the buildings, statues and fountains which they
commissioned. Like most medieval towns it was enclosed by a
protective wall with several portals or gates. Three of these
gates are still in existence having been restored over the years
as mementos of earlier times. The old inner city, the "Alt
Stadt", is still the vital center of town where people meet,
shop and enjoy the ambience of the cafes, restaurants and beer
halls. You can enjoy all the famous brands of Bavarian beer
without walking more than a couple blocks as the breweries all
have their own "brau hauses" situated around the Marien
Platz which is the center of the Alt Stadt. Names like
Loewenbrau, Hofbrau, and Augustinerbrau to mention only a few are
here. If hunger strikes there are numerous locations where one
can find both traditional German and international selections. If
there is one combination for which the Germans are well known it
is sausage (wurst) and sauerkraut (kraut). Each city seems to
have its own specialty and in Munich weiss wurst is the local
sausage delicacy. Made primarily from veal it is nearly white in
color and quite tender compared to other sausages. It must be
eaten fresh within a day of being made and is usually served with
weiss bier (hefe-weissen) which is made from wheat as opposed to
barley malt. The kraut (rot kohl) may be the usual kind made from
green cabbage or you can enjoy the sweet red type made from red
cabbage sometimes mixed with bits of apple. Most restaurants
provide an extensive menu including the usual Bavarian dishes
(lots of variations on pork, veal and a surprising number of
local fish choices) combined with the various types of bread or
wheat dumpling (knoedel) covered with a light gravy. Cooked
vegetables accompany most full meal plates. The soup of choice
could be a hearty Hungarian goulash or a lighter leberknoedel
(liver dumpling). Deserts if you have room are usually some form
of an attractive tort or if you prefer, an impressive mixed ice
cream sundae served in a tall glass flute. Coffee is usually
strong compared to US style although not unlike what you might
find at Starbucks and of course there is usually a wide selection
of teas. You will not go hungry here, in fact most visitors
remark that they gain a few pounds after a visit. Outside of the
Alt Stadt Munich expands in all directions and there are numerous
attractions. Rather than list them here we suggest that you visit
the following link: http://www.lodging-germany.com/info/Munich/munich-2history.htm
Our home is located in Poecking near the city of Starnberg which
is south and west of Munich. We found a lovely 2nd story
apartment above a private residence fully decorated and furnished
with a roof terrace and a view of the lake. Poecking is a typical
little suburb reflecting both the old farm heritage, surrounded
half by fields and pastures and half by the homes of upper middle
class Bavarians enjoying the ambience of the town and country
lifestyle. Like most Bavarian villages Poecking has a bakery,
butcher shop, food market, beauty parlor, Catholic church, and of
course a couple gasthauses (small hotel with bar and beer
garden). Unlike the US where most farmers live out of town, the
Bavarian farmers have homes, barns and other farm facilities in
the middle of the business district just where they have been for
many hundreds of years. It is not uncommon to come upon a herd of
cows being led down the main street by a farmer on a bicycle
dressed in the traditional knee length leather trousers
(lederhosen) wearing a Bavarian felt hat with a feather or some
other adornment looking the same as his father, grandfather, and
as far back as you care to go. Behind the herd will be a line of
late model, high tech German autos full of well dressed business
folks waiting for the road to clear so they can get to work in
their state-of-the-art offices in the city. It is to the credit
and foresight of the Bavarians that they have managed to blend
the new with the old without destroying the heritage and
character of their lifestyle while enjoying the advantages of
modern technology.
Once established we were able to get down to the serious business
of touring. Linderhof palace located about an hour south was the
first place we visited. It was the summer home of Ludwig II, the
last Bavarian king, who drowned June 13, 1886 along with his
personal doctor under mysterious circumstances after being
declared insane and ousted from power. At the time he had
indebted the Bavarian government 90 million marks with his
ambitious palace building programs. Next we visited
Neuschwanstein, the so-called fairy tale castle located a little
further south and west near the town of Fuessen. Wherever German
travel posters are displayed, this castle usually appears. As a
castle it was never intended nor used for war rather Ludwig
expressed his love of the romantic way of life by constructing
this rather modern version of Camelot. The interior was never
fully completed yet there is a good two hours worth of richly
decorated rooms reminiscent of the finest palaces built by
European nobility full of romantic paintings, statues and
tapestries. Back in town, we visited the Whittelsbach family city
residence, Nymphenberg, now a museum surrounded by Versailles
like grounds. In the Summer, Nymphenberg makes a great Sunday
afternoon garden stroll complete with statues of classical
figures and ponds full of swans and koi. As if this place wasn't
enough the Whittelsbach also had a downtown location known as the
Residenz. It was severely damaged during WWII but has now been
fully restored. It is full of grand portraits of long dead
aristocrats, beautiful and immensely expensive porcelain art,
furniture, tapestries, and huge elegant halls with massive
crystal chandeliers. Nowadays taxpayers would hardly stand for a
government which spent money like the Whittelsbachs for their own
grandiose lifestyle, but in a 100 years will anyone want to take
a tour of the Pentagon or the private homes of the Bushes or
Clintons? Check out the previously provided link on Munich for
more information. If mad Ludwig is of interest try this link: http://www.germanworld.com/ludw.htm
Near the southeastern corner of Germany lies Bertchesgaden, not
far from Salzburg, Austria, which is on the way to Hitler's
mountain retreat called the "Eagles Nest" by the
allies, but officially known as the Kehlsteinhaus by the Germans.
Built by the Nazi party for Hitler's 50th birthday it sits atop a
rocky ridge among surrounding rugged peaks. It is accessed by a
specially built mountain road which winds along the side of a
shear drop, through several tunnels and ends at the base of an
elevator shaft buried inside the rock under the "Nest".
A 100 meter tunnel provides access to the elevator from the
parking lot below Hitler's former villa. Although all obvious
items of the Nazis have been eradicated, it is not difficult to
see that the facade over the tunnel entrance has been modified to
remove what was probably a large swastika emblem. Like the 3rd
Reich which was supposed to last a 1000 years, the elevator
itself built in the 1930's is still in excellent condition. The
black, rotary dial telephone in the elevator could be a prop in a
WWII spy movie. The former villa is now a seasonal restaurant
with sensational views of the surrounding alpine vista; however,
the thought of chowing down in Hitler's living room kind of
discouraged our appetite. Even after all these years the place
has a creepy feel, like some presence of the former owner still
remains. Check out this link for more details on the "Eagles
Nest": http://www.eagles-nest.de/seite/geschichte_e.htm
The northern region of Bavaria includes a region called
Franconia. We visited a couple towns there, Nuremberg and
Rothenberg. Both have walls around the old medieval district
although Nuremberg has expanded such that most of the city lies
outside the wall. It is best known as the place where Hitler
delivered his passionate speeches to the assembled masses of the
Nazi party in an outdoor stadium. Most of us have seen the WWII
news film footage of these speeches in documentaries. Now the
city is best known for its particularly tasty Nuremberger wurstl
which is not unlike excellent quality American breakfast links
although the Germans would probably not like to hear that
comparison made. Rothenberg is much smaller and sits atop a steep
hill overlooking a river on one side. Most of the town is still
inside the wall which has been well maintained. Even the
drawbridge looks like it could still be raised if necessary
although the moat now contains a children's playground. The town
is completely medieval in appearance with cobble streets and
gargoyles hanging off many buildings although there are no open
sewers or ragged beggars hanging about. We had lunch in one of
the many cozy restaurants and watched several groups of Asian
tourists wandering the streets outside. The drink of choice in
this part of Germany is wine, white wine to be more specific. We
asked our waiter to bring us something he would like and it
turned out to be quite enjoyable and not expensive.
So far we have really enjoyed our time in Bavaria and hope to
stay long enough to really explore many more interesting places
in this most pleasant part of Germany. The length of this
contract will probably decide when we will finally leave, but as
we have put the Munich area on our list of possible retirement
locations, who really knows? Auf Wedersehen.
After a long break it's now time to continue our Germany story. This time we visited Berlin and Dresden both formerly located in the so-called German Democratic Republic (GDR). With the fall of the wall these cities became a lot easier to visit.
Berlin as everyone knows was nearly completely destroyed during the last days of WWII. For that reason, it has a significantly different look and feel than most of Germany's other cities. Berliner's have developed a kind of New York City attitude towards their town, a kind of Big Apple flippancy that seems out of sorts with most of the rest of German culture. They are survivors of not only the war but also the fifty-one year Allied occupation that separated the city into two distinct halves that were in effect the haves and have-nots. The eastern side still reflects the drab, dreary architecture of the soviet era whereas the western side looks more like modern western cities anywhere in Europe. We stayed in one of the newer hotels located on Alexander square in the former eastern district not far from Check Point Charlie, that well known portal of access between east and west.
Our tour last only a couple days, but we managed to see most of the historically significant locations both in the city and nearby Potsdam where the Prussian Kaisers built their palaces and the Allies met after the war to decide the fate of the Germans. In general our photos start with the most famous locations in Berlin such as the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate and Check Point Charlie then work outwards to the Kaiser's palace at Potsdam. Summing it up I would say that Berlin still seems a city of power and grandeur such as one finds in any major capital, but with something else, a kind of undercurrent of restlessness that is atypical of most other western capitals. The city is still a work in progress both materially as well as spiritually. More than anyplace else we have visited in Germany it reflects both the hopes and fears of the country's future.
Located in the state of Saxony, Dresden is quite a contrast to Berlin.
You might call it the Baroque/Rocco center of the universe. The Alt Stadt
(old city) was heavily bombed during the final days of WWII by the Brits as a
payback for what the Germans did to some of the English cities. Even with
the destruction of those raids, enough of the old city remained to begin the
re-building process that goes on even today. A walk along the Elbe
riverfront bring a feeling of awe and history as one views the truly magnificent
structures reminiscent of the days when kings and princes decided how to
decorate a city. Next to Prague, we feel that Dresden speaks most clearly
to the romantic past that we can only imagine when looking at these relics of
old Europe.
Return to Home