Munich: Mechanical Jousting, Beer, and Other Cool Stuff

Click HERE for a Munich slideshow.

The first step in negotiating our way through Germany is finding our way to the S-bahn (subway/train) so we can get from the airport to our hotel. It is totally guesswork on my part that leads me to decide that the green signs showing a circled “S” are leading us to the S-bahn. Luckily, my guess is correct. Had the “S” signs actually signified the way to a stegosaurus or a slime pit it would have been a very unfortunate and disastrous guess on my part. I could always ask somebody. But that reduces the sense of adventure. At the S-bahn, I am baffled by the posted schedule. Fortunately, a nice man asks me where I am going and then says, “Let us figure this out together.” Thus, I am allowed to keep my dignity more than if he had said, “Stupid American tourist! Let me show you how obvious this S-bahn schedule is!”

So we get on the right train and in about 45 minutes, we find ourselves in the Hauptbahnhof (central train station) in the center of Munich. Our hotel is only a few blocks away, and following a map printed from their website, we find it in short order. The Creatif Elephant Hotel is quaint and has a lot of character. To some, I suppose, that would translate to “The Creatif Elephant Hotel is little and old.” But having stayed in some sterile, chain, tourist barns (see Vienna hotel), I prefer this sort of hotel. I had requested a room for three, since Madeline would be joining us, and unfortunately, the only reason our tiny room can be called a room for three is that there is a double bed and single bed in it. The single is shoved right next to the double and other than a small armoire, there is no other furniture in the room, nor is there room for any other furniture. To get out of the double bed, we discover that it is necessary to walk across the single bed. So that's quaint. But the hotel staff is friendly and helpful, the hotel is well kept, and we soon find out that the breakfasts are phenomenal.

Madeline meets us a couple hours after we've checked in, having come in by train from Austria. We do a quick walk-around the Aldstadt in the afternoon. Mainly we hang out in Marienplatz in front of the Rathaus (town hall) to watch the Glockenspeil go through its paces.

Marienplatz

The Glockenspiel is a clockwork conglomeration of chimes and mechanical figures that goes into action three times each day. It was without a doubt, pretty amazing in 1908 when it was originally built, but in this day of computer-generated images, it seems a little lame. It is essentially mechanical puppets going in circles.

The Glockenspiel has two levels and tells a separate story on each level. The top-level figures enact the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V (he founded the Hofbrauhaus, so he is OK in my book) to Renata of Lorraine. Part of the story involves a joust between two knights in honor of the wedding couple. Spoiler alert! The Bavarian knight wins! The crowd gasps as the other knight is knocked off his horse and then the Glockenspiel tells the second story: In the 1500’s Plague came to Munich and everyone locked themselves into their houses, afraid to come out lest they catch the disease. Well, the coopers (dudes who made barrels) were not happy that people had shuttered themselves away, since they weren’t out drinking beer, which would result in brewers buying barrels. So to convince everyone that it was OK to come out, the coopers did this crazy dance through the streets (The Schafflerstanz—it was kinda the Watusi of 16th century Munich). Everybody was so amused that they came rushing out of their houses. Then they all caught Plague and died horrible and hideous deaths. Well, no, actually, they all started doing the crazy dance too and the duke was so amused by the whole spectacle that he ordered that these crazy shenanigans should be reenacted every seven years. Go to Munich next summer and you can watch, or even participate in this crazy event.

So the mechanical coopers are dancing around a central scary clown figure (don’t know the significance of the scary clown—maybe one of Stephen King’s ancestors was involved in the design), and then about 15 minutes into it, everything stops and a tiny mechanical owl at the very top of the Glockenspiel hoots. Thrilling End of Show.

In the few days we are in Munich, we somehow manage to watch this show three times! This is delusional and abnormal behavior. After having seen it once, the time I spend watching the other two shows could have been spent quaffing a couple dunkel biers in the Hofbrauhaus.

The Glockenspiel In All Its Splendor

The burgers (e.g. citizens, not beef patties) of Munich do like their beer. There are breakfast places that serve beer. So civilized! The Creatif Elephant does not serve beer, but the breakfasts, we discover, are excellent: Eggs, sausages, and a nice mélange of peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and basil. As well as juices, coffee, tea, and cakes. We sit at breakfast the morning of the 15th and chat for a long time before finally heading back to the Alstadt for a walking tour. (Stent Man perspective: Sitting & chatting = good. Walking = bad) Our walking tour guide is a young guy from Wisconsin who has moved to Germany and does English language tours for a living. He is interesting and way into it, but after an hour my body is telling me “MUST….SIT….DOWN….!!!” so loudly and persistently that I can no longer hear what the guide is saying. We see lots of baroque churches including the Frauenkirche, hear about how much of the old buildings in Munich were destroyed by Allied bombs, and hear about a lot of Ludwigs and Maximillians. We walk through the Royal Gardens and on into the huge, expansive English Garden, and finally wind up at the Hofbrauhaus where I am able to sit my body down and drink a beer.

Hofbrauhaus!

We discuss the possibility of a second tour later in the day that focuses on the Third Reich, but my Stent Man body tells me that it would not be a good idea. So I go back to the hotel to rest while Kathy and Madeline rent bikes and bike around the English Garden. When they come back, Madeline brings me a little wind-up inchworm. You can think of it as working on the same principle as the Glockenspiel, but simpler and more amusing, actually.

The morning of the 16th we have another great Creatif Elephant breakfast and then walk (Stent Man: “Aaarrrgh!”) around the botanical gardens. Then we pack our bags and walk to the train station to meet Mike. We position ourselves under the large Coca Cola sign in the front of the train station, our designated meeting spot. On the 15th I had used my Skype connection to call his cell phone voice mail to leave detailed instructions about getting to the train station from the airport, how to come up out of the S-bahn stop and go back into the train station, and where to look for the giant Coca Cola sign. His email reply, “Got your voice mail. It was a little garbled. Something about meeting by a Coke sign. I didn’t understand it all, but I’m not worried.” Yet amazingly, here he is walking across the train station! Hugs and greetings are exchanged & then we get on the train and head for Salzburg.