zu Fuss (pt 2)

After my great show success in the morning, I decided to do something I should have done the day before and go on a guided walking tour of the city. I have a pretty good map in my head by now for orienting myself geographically, but a tour is a way to orient oneself historically.

We started at the Neue Rathaus, new city hall. The glockenspiel rang and we saw the Bavarian knight best the red and white Austrian in the joust while Duke Wilhelm V and Renatta of Lorraine watch. Then the coopers danced to celebrate the plague of 1817 being over (which was especially good news for people who made bier barrels!)
We then walked to the Frauenkirche, the church of Our Lady. I had been in the Dom before, but didn't know about the devil helpling build it (how else could it be finished in 20 years?), or the menorah in the ceiling, or that most of the church was destroyed in the war but the 99m towers survived because the allied bombers needed to keep a few landmarks for navigation.

The devil visited during construction and said he would help if they didn't add windows, so it would be a church for darkness. He was tricked, though, because the pillars hide great tall windows on each side!

We walked down the road where Hitler made his Bier Hall Putsch in 1923, held Marks that proved how bad inflation was in Germany (a billion marks for butter?), and talked about the Marxist revolution in Bavaria that made a fascist government look like a good idea a few years later.

Odeonsplatz. Hitler's body guard took 11 bullets for him here in November 1923.
Hitler was giving speeches between the lions a few years later.

Of you want to hear everything I learned about München while I was there (guess which nation losses the most passports at Oktoberfest? The most kids?), you'll have to come visit with me sometime! This city is quickly becoming one of my favorites :)