Tales of the Invisible Ben

Two Museums, a Church, and a Marketplace

Classes began today at the Schiller Center. I'm placed in level A-2-2, which from what I can tell basically means that I'm slightly better at speaking German than a golden retriever or a hyperactive three year old. Yep, a full year of college German as an undergraduate and a few weeks of intensive preparation for this trip and I'm still in a beginner class. This is not implicitly a bad thing. After all, if I were already fluent in German, I would never have made this trip in the first place, and honestly, it would be extremely naive to think that the aforementioned experience would allow me to carry on conversations with native or long-term speakers. It's slightly less uncomfortable in class. At least there, I can understand the majority of what is being said. My bigger concern in that setting is not to sound completely incoherent due to my shaky vocabulary. I couldn't remember the word for "different" today, for example, and wound up talking in circles with the teacher asking for "the word that one says when two things are not similar." The teacher assured the class later that we should not be concerned about such things. After all, we're here to learn. While this advice was slightly comforting, I think it may take a few days before I get into the swing of things here and can effectively subvert my ego and really try to speak more.

I found that to be slightly easier outside of the classroom. This was partly out of necessity...after all people who choose to avoid speaking German have a tougher time ordering lunch in Munich. It was also helpful that during my wanderings, I was able to enter into conversations at a time and place of my choosing, although given my itinerary there were a few non-restaurant related attractions where some chit-chat was inevitable. I decided to stroll around the city’s central square and main shopping district: the Marienplatz. Named after Mary, of New Testament fame, the Marienplatz used to host traditional medieval tournaments. Times have changed since the Middle Ages, however, and now the site houses a large number of modern shops, vendor's stands where one can purchase fresh produce, and museums in addition to government buildings. During the few hours I spent wandering around, I only had a chance to see a few of the sites...















This fountain is located near the local U-Bahn station, Karlsplatz. For some reason, it is also referred to on maps, but only in parentheses, as Stachus. (Wikipedia says it has something to do with a pub that used to be located at the site named Beim Stachus.) Apparently you can tell if someone is a local or not by which name they use to refer to the location. Karlsplatz is for foreigners even though one of the three medieval town gates surrounding the main square (visible on the right hand side of the picture) is named Karlstor. In any event, it's a nice fountain which serves as an easy to recognize landmark for visitors in search of the Marienplatz's attractions.




















Marienplatz got its name from from the statue of Mary on top of this column, the Mariensäule, constructed after the Swedes besieged Munich between 1632 and 1635. When the Swedish occupation ended, the city's ruler--Duke Maximilian of Bavaria--constructed the column to commemorate the city's salvation. Mary is the patron saint of Bavaria, and this Corinthian column serves as a geographic and spiritual center for the region's largest city. The angels at the bottom of the column are fighting against plague, hunger, war, and heresy. I'm not certain which is which.
























Here's a closer shot of Mary, perched on her tower approximately 50 feet off the ground. (My camera has a very powerful zoom function.) t gives a slightly better view of the sculpture's details, including Mary's holding the baby Jesus with one hand and a scepter of power in the other. Originally, however, this statue was not located on top of the tower. It was originally sculpted in 1593 by a gentleman named Hubert Gerhard and was forcibly acquired Duke Maximilian in 1638. But where was it originally located you ask?















Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present the Frauenkirche, Munich's largest church and arguably its most important landmark. Built between 1468 and 1525 with heavy support from Pope Sixtus IV, its two towers rise 325 feet into the air and are capped with unique onion-shaped domes. The church was heavily damaged by bombing during World War II, but was restored in 1994.









The interior of the Frauenkirche is vast and cavernous, but surprisingly bright due to the white pillars and the stained glass windows that line its side walls. (I'll explain why you can't see those windows in a moment.) Over 20,000 people can fit in the church's pews and church services are held regularly throughout the year. Before he became pope, Joseph Ratzinger presided over services here as archbishop of Munich.














As the largest church in the city, the Frauenkirche hosts the final resting sites of many archbishops and members of the Wittelsbach family, which ruled in Bavaria from 1180 to 1918. This elaborately decorated tomb belongs to Duke Louis XIV (according to Wikipedia) or Ludwig I (according to my AAA-approved guidebook). I'll try to confirm one way or the other at some point in the future.














This imprint in the Frauenkirche's stone floor is known as the Teufelstritt or "devil's step." The story goes that the architect of the building made a deal with the devil to expedite the task of building such a massive church. The devil agreed to lend his aid as long as it had no windows. When the work was finally completed, the devil arrived and saw light pouring into the church through a large number of stained glass windows and claimed the architect's soul as a punishment for his insolence. The architect grinned, however, and led him to a spot on the floor near the entrance to the church where no window could be seen. The devil, it is said, stamped his foot on the ground in frustration upon discovering he had been fooled and his bootprint, complete with a spur, remains today.














It is also interesting to note that the devil and I appear to have very similar shoe sizes. (10 1/2, American)



















The last thing I did before leaving the Frauenkirche was take a walk to the top of its towers. Unfortunately, I decided to accomplish this at the same time as a group of American high school students and although there was an elevator that carries passengers the majority of the way up the tower, I was still forced to dodge a large number of people traveling the opposite direction from myself as we clambered along the 86 step spiral staircase between the ground and the elevator. Still, I got a few nice shots of the city and this up close and personal view of the northern tower's onion dome.



















From the Frauenkirche, it's only a few yards away across the Marienplatz to the Altes Rathaus, Munich's old town hall. Construction on the building began in 1470, but like much of Munich, it was heavily damaged by bombing in the Second World War. It was reconstructed in 1972.



















Here's a close-up view of the tower showcasing the city of Munich's coat of arms. The figure on the coat of arms is a monk. In German, the town's name literally translates as "monks" (München) because it was originally built next to a Benedictine monastery on the Isar River. The Altes Rathaus has an interesting, and at times, grisly history. It was where lottery numbers were drawn during the 18th century and on November 9, 1938, it was where Hitler and Goebbels launched the Kristallnacht pogrom. Thankfully, today it hosts a slightly more peaceful enterprise...














That's right. Teddy Bears getting married. Actually this is just one of the featured exhibits at the Spielzugmuseum (Toy Museum) housed in the four floors of the Altes Rathaus' tower. The featured exhibit during my visit was of stuffed animals and included teddy bears like these as well as stuffed elephants and other critters. I was particularly amused by the X-Ray (Roentgen Ray?) of the Teddy Bear included in the bottom left corner of the picture. Apparently, toy historians use such techniques to determine how the arms and legs of teddy bears are attached to the doll's body. See? There's more to it than just setting up cheesy looking displays!



















Like displaying other teddy-bear related artifacts even if they promote such poor habits as smoking and writing catchy jingles laden with ursine puns!

But some of you are probably wondering if all this museum had were bears and bear-related objects. Nothing could be further from the truth. It also had:















MODEL TRAINS! (Including a crane and a zepplin!)















MECHANICAL INSECTS!















And, perhaps the scariest of all, VAGUELY OFF-PUTTING MECHANICAL FIGURINES BASED ON LICENSED AMERICAN CHARACTERS!
No, you're not seeing things...that's a Sambo-esque minstrel doll standing next to the Yellow Kid, and Pinocchio. And on the far right we see Popeye, whose career as a pilot has been terribly downplayed in my opinion in favor of his naval exploits. Of course the same could be said for Donald Duck's brief stint racing rocket sleds.

By the end of my time at the Spielzeugmuseum, I was worn out and almost decided to head home. But on the way back, nestled in a corner of the Marienplatz, I noticed a strange doorway flanked by two bronze statues, one was of a boar and the other of a large fish, perhaps a carp. Intrigued, I walked over and discovered that this was actually the entrance to the Deutsche Jagd- und Fischereimuseum...the German Museum of Hunting and Fishing. This museum has more than enough interesting things going for it to merit several additional posts, but suffice it to say its 3000 square meters of floor space is a vegetarian's nightmare and a hunting aficionado's dream. Dozens, if not hundreds, of stuffed animals are on display in an array of dioramas and trophy rooms that were, for lack of a better word, awe-inspiring. Just look at this display of deer trophies:














This was just the tip of the iceberg so far as this museum was concerned, and I'll post a few more pictures from my time there later. Needless to say, by the time I was finished there it was around 4 in the afternoon, and I went back to the Schiller Center headquarters for what I thought would be a meeting regarding my dormitories. I was apparently misinformed, however, and ended up spending some time instead doing homework and surfing the web in the upstairs media center. Then it was off to a local beer garden for dinner and then to bed.

All in all, a busy day. And tomorrow looks like it'll be more of the same. I'll let you know how it goes...one way or another.