I am from Delware on the East Coast of the United States. This is the first time I have visited Munich or Germany. I arrived today after visiting Interlaken in Switzland. We took a very long train ride to Munich that lasted almost seven hours. We finally arrived in Munich and checked into our wonderful Hotel Monaco. Then, I ate knockwerst for the first time for dinner and it was delicious. We then walked to a park and saw many people in the beer garden having a wonderful time. We then walked to the center of town and saw the outside of many churches and the Glockenspiel. Tomorrow, I hope to see the insides on the churches and go up in the towers of some. Also, I hope to bike around the city and see the toy museum. Additionally, we plan on listening and seeing the Glockenspiel time at 17:00 before heading to the Hofbraehaus for dinner. Sadly, the next day, we will leave Munich to go and see the castles and then head to Austria for more sight seeing.
Posts Tagged ‘Glockenspiel’
First stay in Munich
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009Glockenspiel at the Marienplatz
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009Every day at 11 and 12 o’clock (between March and October also at 17 o’clock) the “Glockenspiel” takes place. During this time the Marienplatz is so crowed that you hardly get from one side to the other. The Marienplatz is only just about 10 walking minutes from the Hotel Monaco. The jutty in which you can find the attraction is attached to the tower of the main hall. From there the “Schäffler” are looking down on the crowds and are wondering why there are still so interesting after having danced for already 100 years. But something still fascinates people about this historic attraction.
On the lower part the “Schäffler” are dancing the “Schäfflerdance”, which was developed during the time of the Black Death in the 14th century. On the upper part you can see the reconstruction of the wedding of the duke Wilhelm V with Renata from Lothringen 1568, which took place on the Marienplatz. There they are still celebrating their “happily ever after”. J Actually, those who think it’s playing the same melody the whole year is deadly wrong. There is a programme. At the moment it’s playing “Jetzt gang i an’s Brünnele” (Now, I’m going to the fountain), “Wohlauf Kameraden auf’s Pferd, auf’s Pferd” (Let’s go for a ride my friends), “Schäfflerdance 2nd part” and “The last rose”.
After almost 100 years of attracting people, the 43 bells were completely cleaned and reconstructed in 2007. So you are lucky to be in Munich now, because the ringing is more beautiful than ever. What I found out as well, when I wrote this Blog, was that the Glockenspiel is completely moved with solar energy, which I think is great.
Best wishes.
Yours Franziska from the Hotel Monaco, Munich
Hotel Monaco – our experiences
Thursday, March 26th, 2009The fog we followed from Frankfurt lifted slightly as our ICE train pulled into the Munich station. We were met with a cold rain but our excitement of being in the city warmed us as we walked the 2 blocks to our hotel. The “Hotel Monaco” sign very prominently displayed on the side of the building, we had no problem at all finding our new home away from home. We ascended to the 5th floor reception and were met by the kindest woman, Rita. She welcomed us to Munich and got us checked in. In addition, she offered us a map of the city and described the sites not to be missed on our short trip here. Everything is such an easy journey from the hotel’s excellent location. Just when we thought it could not get any better, Rita took us to our room. I’d seen the pictures and descriptions online, but words and pictures could not do justice to the room we entered! Light hard wood floors and brightly colored curtains instantly gave warmth and comfort to the cold day that was outside the window. The room was huge by European standards and had very nice amenities including free wi-fi, a large flat-panel TV, and sundries in the bathroom such as packets of shampoo and conditioner. It was such a warm, inviting room that we actually hated to leave it as we began our whirlwind tour of the city. We drug ourselves out into the cold, misty morning and had a wonderful time seeing such sites as the Deutsches Museum and the Marienplatz where we witnessed the awe inspring Glockenspeil of the Neues Rathaus as well as the amazing ambience of the square itself. We ventured by the Haufbrauhaus and had a beer while we took in the fun and wonder of drinking with thousands while the oom-pah band played in the background. We strolled back towards the hotel and found a romantic little Italian place where we dined by the upstairs window, watching Munich go hurriedly by. Nothing could have prepared us for the comfort of the beds that we crawled into after our full day in the city! Waking leisurely, we found it difficult to leave the comfort and warmth of the big, cozy comforters and crisp sheets. We knew a delicious breakfast awaited us in the hotel’s dining room so we reluctantly left the warmth of our bed to move on with another day taking in the city. Knowing that we could not possibly see and do everything there is to do in Munich in our short over-night, we now have a wonderul reason to return–the Hotel Monaco and the beautiful city beyond its walls.