Beautiful buildings in Munich: facades, ornaments and other details

 

While walking in Munich I could not stop noticing all these colourful buildings and beautiful ornaments from different years...It is really worth sometime to stop for a minute and enjoy all the architectural beauties in areas like Haidhausen and Neuhausen...I hope you enjoy my small selection here:-)

Münchener Mittelalter-Weihnachtsmarkt/ Munich Middle-Age-Christmas market

 

For six years in a row on Wittelsbacher Platz (close to Odeonsplatz) one may visit (while living in the 21-st century) a Middle-Age-Christmas market....Its quiet a nice experience to sight the cute wooden houses and the way drinks and smoked fish are prepared "the old-fashined way"...Munich Christmas fairs go back to late medieval time. A "Saint-Nicolas-fair" is mentioned already back in 1410!

 

Nowadays one may enjoy he working craftsman and women and buy their art...Its a great Weihnachtsmarket, make sure to dress well, because if its not snowy and freezing, it might be raining+windy!

 

 
Next to clothes, spices, juwelery, one may also enjoy medieval spectacles and ancient music concerts on the weekends.

Christkindlmarkt am Marienplatz, Christmas market in the heart of Munich

Munich offers every year over 25 different Christmas markets, something for all different tastes! The "Cristkindlmarkt am Marienplatz" is however the oldest and definitely the most famous one...150 wooden houses create for a month Cristmas feeling in the heart of the city. Next to the stands with the mandatory warming up "Glühwein" and "Würstchen", one may gaze at candles, spices and Christmas decoration..

 

Every year one may find here the same stands: as the one with the bamboo angels for example. This year I have discovered a few new and interesting ones. A home made soap with sheep milk  from Austria or with olive oil from Italy: presented in very creative shapes and packaging (see first picture)...For the chocolate lovers there were all home-bricolage tools made out of...chocolate (a stand on Rindermarkt). Avoid the market after 18h as it gets too crowded and you might get a little be toosqueezed...however definitely worth a visit for all Weihnachtsmarkt-Liebhaber!

Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg

 

On a cloudy July day a great thing to do in Munich last weekend was a visit ot the botanical garten, Botanischen Garten München-Nymphenburg. This amazing piece of nature is situated directly next to the park of Schloss Nymphenburg and offers very beautiful and relaxing flora...One may find here over 14.000 different species as well as preserved rare plants and European bees.

 

The first botanical garden of the city was founded in 1809 near Karlsplatz, today's garden was created in 1914 at this location. In 1966 it became affiliated with the Botanische Staatssammlung München and the Institute of Systematic Botany at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

 

Several flowers were blossoming, so plenty of insects were present too-as you may see on the pictures. The garden is divided in alpine garden, arboreum, moor and steppe plants, rose gardens, and, and...The greenhouse complex is really impressive  and worth visiting! The cactus house and the huge water lilies house are just breathtaking...A great stop for all nature lovers!

 

The fountains of Munich/ Münchner Brunnen...

The center of the Bavarian capital is extremely rich on fountains...and there are all kinds, majestic and big ones, tiny but artistic ones, simple and impressive: there is something for every taste! With my pictures I would like to give you a short digital tour to those which I liked most:-)

 
On the eastern side of the square near the Neues Rathaus sits the Fischbrunnen (Fish Fountain). It's Munich's most famous and oldest fountain - some believe it goes back as early as the 1300s. Fishmongers kept their fish fresh in the fountain when this was the piscatorial part of the old market. It was the site of bizarre initiation ceremony called the Metzgersprung (Butcher's Leap) which took place regularly until 1900 and continues in an altered form to this day. 

 
Apparently animals (and fishes) are very loved subject as I have found (not even 50 m from Hofbräuhaus) the fountain with the wolves heads...On the way to the Residenz, on the Marstallplatz one may admire the fountain on picture five...

 


















Very pistoresque and full with beautiful details is the water refresher in the garden next to the Cuvillestheater.

Faschingdienstag am Viktualienmarkt in München

The biggest party in München ist usually at the Viktualienmarkt on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday ("Faschingdienstag")...I had a look for 2 hours, during my lunch break and enjoyed the colours of the different creative, funny or scary costumes in the warm March sun....

Lets dress up: Fasching in München

First of all there is no "Karneval" in Bavaria....its called "Fasching" :-) For the rest its the same: everyone dresses up and the city becomes extremely colourful and loud! Plenty of funny, interesting or weird creatures may be seen, met or photographed around! The people are celebrating the time before the fasting.

The celebrations take place over a week starting on "Weiberfastnacht" (= the Thursday before the Fasching week) and ending on "Aschermittwoch"(=Ash Wendesday). I could enjoy a concert on the Münchener Marienplatz last Sunday and a very happy ambiance, as one may spot on the pictures..

P.S. "Karneval" is the word use for carnival in Germany, north the line Bonn-Erfurt (as for example in the city of Cologne);

München in black and white...

End of January i have started an analogue photography course. The first task was the shoot a b&w film, then we developed it, in the third session we have made the contact sheets and this week we made the first proof prints. I have scanned for you some of my favorite ones below.

Some pictures from Munich really look like old post cards of the city, i found this effect pretty charming. So enjoy them and have a good weekend!

München from the top of the church "Alter Peter"....

There is no doubt, best view of Munich one may enjoy from the church "Alter Peter" next to the Viktualienmarkt, Marienplatz in the beautiful Bavarian capital. On a clear winter day this view stretches up to the Alps!

Of course not to forget (or underestimate) is the fact that there is no lift and there are 14 floors to climb up first, but the reward then is amazing. Last week I had the pleasure to enjoy one of the most amazing sunsets in my life here....

Snow actvities around Nymphenburger Schloss and Nymphenburger Schlosspark

Its is around -10 or even -12 outside and the canals around the castle Nymphenburg in Munich are frozen...People come out to enjoy the ice.

Next to ice-skating and ice-hockey one may play also "Eisstockschiessen" (Bavarian curling)...Myself had fun skating on a frozen lake, next to the footprints of ducks and swans:-)