Exploring Munich's Altstadt

Breakfast at Eden Hotel Wolff

Mary and I awoke around 7 am after sleeping very well. That is not surprising after getting very little sleep on the flight to Heathrow on a Sunday night. We eventually got Peter moving by 9 am and made our way to the first floor of the Eden Hotel Wolff for the buffet breakfast. Since the flights had been so long, we didn't want to push Peter but when he awoke, he was ready to get breakfast and begin exploring Munich. Like the breakfast at most German hotels, the food quality and variety were outstanding. There were dozens of whole grain breads and pastries, three kinds of breakfast wurst, bacon and other breakfast meats, several cheeses, eggs, a dozen cold cereals, fresh fruit, yogurt and fresh squeezed fruit juice of every kind. My favorite has the be the various fruit preserves. The Himmelbeere (raspberry jam) was very good, but the sour cherry jam (Kirschkonfitüre) was outstanding. Peter raved on the breakfast and enjoyed a little of everything. We were very very impressed that he was willing to try things before he passed judgment. We all ate enough to carry us through to dinner.

Inside St. Peter's Church

We returned to the room, gathered cameras, maps, passes and water bottles and put our valuables in the room safe before leaving the hotel. The travel agent had left a Mehrtageskarte for us that got the three of us into nearly all of the historic attractions in the Munich area. We took the U-Bahn the short distance to Marienplatz in Munich’s Altstadt. We started our visit at St. Peter’s Church that was built in the 12th Century. The church is beautiful and contains so many ancient artifacts. I am always impressed how the US and Allied military was able to bomb German cities in two world wars and was so caring to do so little damage to historic churches. We walked up the 300 plus stairs to the top of the tower attached to St. Peter’s. The tower dates to the 1100s and is still structurally sound. We took a lot of photos from the top of the tower before descending and continued our walk through the old part of Munich. Before we left the church, Peter bought a refrigerator magnet with St. Peter's Church.

Peter outside the Munich Rathaus

We went through the market and saw many produce stands selling the white asparagus that is popular in Germany now that it is Spargelzeit. We walked the short distance to the Bavarian Royal Residenz where the emperor lived from 1508 until after WWII in 1918. The core of the Residenz was built as a fortress called Neuveste in 1385. The Bavarian rulers from the House of Wittelsbach lived in this complex during the 400 year period. The Royal Residenz has been open to the public as a museum since 1920. Much rebuilding has taken place following severe damage during WWII.

Peter in the Bavarian Royal Residence

We have visited here several times and enjoy it more each time. The structure was nearly completely destroyed in the war but has been beautifully rebuilt, restored and redecorated. We all took a lot of photos throughout the expansive building. Peter was especially amused taking photos of his face with his new camera.

We walked back to the Marienplatz train station in time to see the animated clock strike noon then and caught a light rail to Olympiazentrum where we would have a short walk to the BMW museum. We used the timed passes to the BMW museum that we had purchased online and were directed to a locker room where we stowed backpacks and other personal items. The museum was really interesting with restored BMW cars and motorcycles going back to the 1920s. There were rooms with cutaway engines from cars, motorcycles, boats, aircraft and military equipment. We all enjoyed the restored BMW convertible that was used in several Elvis Presley movies. 

1939 BMW Kamm Coupe

We liked a convertible roadster from the 1930s and a three-wheeled miniature car that the driver entered by opening the front of the vehicle. There were lots of interactive displays where visitors could photograph themselves in BMW ads or driving a vintage car. There was a room dedicated to the forced laborers in BMW factories in the 1930s and 40s during the Third Reich. During a labor shortage people were compelled to work in factories for little compensation in difficult and dangerous working conditions. After we visited all of the 22 exhibit rooms we walked across to the BMW World building. 

Peter & Oma with a 1953 BMW Isetta Knutschkugel

This large building had many BMW models on display including lots of prototypes and concept cars. Since BMW partners with Rolls Royce and Mini, there were models from those manufacturers on display as well. Since BMW World is free and doesn’t require a timed entry ticket, there were many more people there than at the BMW Museum. We walked through the displays and took a few snapshots before walking to the light rain station and returning to the Hauptbahnhof where we picked up burgers and fries from a stand in the train station. There wasn’t a huge selection at Pommes Freunde, but we brought the food back to the Eden Hotel Wolff.  We ate in the room then played three games of Farkel with each of us winning one game. We turned in and slept well.