Munich...15th July..

I took the first tram of the journey to get closer to the centre.. even after all the photos of trams in previous posts from the hotel to an area of Munich called Au Haidhausen and close to the Max Weber Platz, still on the south side of the Isar river.. a calm mix of prewar and post buildings with shops, cafes and residential buildings. The tram route terminated here so I carried on walking towards the Isar, intending to walk into the centre of Munich and the old city.

A park runs along the Isar at this point and walking past a children's play area I saw this sign..

Well, was this a warning to parents to watch their children in case eagles were to swoop down and carry them away? Unfortunately nothing so dramatic.. only to identify this as a natural habitat area... 

Further on, the road curved with a high wall protecting what was behind, only revealed as i reached the river.. the Bavarian Diet..

The Maximilaneum, at the end of Maximiliansbrucke, was a statement of power of the state when built. Still the Bavarian State Parliament, it now looks slightly tired and probably not suited to modern government.. rather like our houses of Parliament.

The river is very shallow, with catfish looking for food.. swimming upstream..

The're really are fish in the river.....

When the Maximilianstrasse was being planned the intention was to define the street by a new architecture style.. neo-gothic with English perpendicular..It is certainly distinctive.. if a little odd, with the scale and proportions of the buildings not, in my opinion, not quite right..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilianstra%C3%9Fe_(Munich)

On the street I came across this....an abandoned escalator to a walkway with the escalator tread zone used as a planter.. Given that this street is meant to have the highest retail rents in Germany, I'm not sure if this overgrown mass of fauna really does much for the street..

Off the street are small enclaves and courtyards. 

This courtyard was a collection of art galleries...

With a curved glass canopy (side weep holes to stop ponding..but must have to be cleaned regularly..)

The street runs into the heart of centre, to the Max Joseph Platz and the Residenz.

The Konigsbau

Bright yellow bean bag cushions are casually strewn across the steps of the National Theatre.. a great place to rest and have a coffee from a chrome Airstream caravan tucked to one side.I decided to do a loop around the old city and finish up close to the Marianplatz where I could catch a u bahn back to the hotel..

The Residenz was the royal palace of the Wittelsbach House with a complex arrangement of courtyards and gardens. Bombed during the war and while re-built  many of the original interiors and facades were lost.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilianstra%C3%9Fe_(Munich)

On the opposite side of the Odeonsplatz is the Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church), a high Baroque church, started in 1663 and only finally completed in 1768 with the completion of the Rococo style front facade. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatine_Church,_Munich

The interior is a white baroque interior... I'm not sure if during its post war re-construction it was left unadorned but certainly a contrast to the Jesuit cathedral in Vienna.... 

The arched building at right angles to the church is the Felderrnhalle, originally designed as a monument to the Bavarian Army, it was the site of Hitlers' 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and used as a memorial by the Nazi's until 1945 to those killed during the failed Putsch. Unfortunately it is still a site that current neo-fascists try to hold commemorative ceremony's that the authorities ban through the federal courts (see tomorrow's post).  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feldherrnhalle

Close by is Herzog & De Meuron's Funf Hofe (Five Courtyards), a project won in competition in 1994 and completed in 2003. The site in the old city was originally a single building but the design created a ground floor retail environment with interlinking enclosed and open courtyards..

Walking on I entered the Frauenkirche one of the symbols of Munich and the heights of its twin towers is used to limit buildings constructed in Munich to below the 'onion' domes..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munich_Frauenkirche

From the ... I stumbled onto the ..... A major shopping street but with a hunting museum.. not always something found on our high streets..

Outside the entrance stood a big bronze boar.. a useful photo opportunity.. and after bemoaning recently the fact that I always take photos for others, an American party reciprocated the offer... finally...... but probably not the best backdrop...

Once again on the loop, I walked past this new residential building, a collection of houses and apartments.. I really liked the subtlty of texture and variation while retaining the height and density of the street.

The loop took me past the new main synagogue and the Jewish Centre the in Munich, built in 2006, close to the original synagogue, destroyed in 1938.

Close by the throng of people grew and I found myself in the Victuals Market.. like an open Borough Market.. a lovely place to spend time going from stall to stall and sitting on a trestle table watching the world walk by.. 

I finally completed my loop in Marienplatz... The original market and heart of the old city, named after the Mariensaule a victory column commemorating the end of Swedish occupation. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marienplatz

Finally a walk to the u bahn...