Munich - A Walking Tour

 As my conscripted wife indicated, today was a guided walking tour of the Munich Third Reich experience.  We woke early, breakfasted and made our way to the rendezvous point.  I didn’t want to miss out!

The tour was to be conducted in English, so we had a collection of Americans, Brits, Kiwis and Australians.  The other Australians were a nice family of four from the Gold Coast.  We soon met our guide, Josh.  Josh is Munich born and bred.  He was formerly a teacher but has shifted to tour guide to pursue variety and research interests.  Josh spoke excellent English and was extremely knowledgeable.

Munich was the birthplace and heartland for Nazism.  The band of criminals (Adolf, Heinrich, Joseph, Hermann et al) were either born in Munich or had drifted to the city.  Munich was very conservative which led to it being a fertile breeding ground for Nazism.  Josh took us to various sites which were familiar…. Minus 1000s of Nazis, flags banners and fires.  He talked about the unfortunate machinations of German government that presented a minor party with an opportunity to take over.  Even though Berlin is the capitol, Munich remained the home of ‘the party’: Party HQ, Gestapo HQ, Party Records Office etc.  Fact: of the 65,000,000 Germans, 11,000,000 were party members.



Panorama of the Nazi meeting ground



Same area, circa 1930s.  The building in the black and white photo is the building on the right, above.

It was eerie to stand here.






Josh was very forthright in acknowledging direct and indirect complicity of many of the German people.  For example, he explained that tens of thousands of foreign workers worked in and around Munich (foreign workers = slave workers); the Jewish community in Munich was relocated and later removed from Munich and so on.  The myth of ‘we didn’t know’ was emphatically debunked.  By the way, the Bavarian Motor Works was using 90% foreign workers by 1944.  Those workers were never compensated. Bavarian Motor Works…. BMW.

To arrive at this point of acceptance for most of the German people has taken two generations, 40+ years.

In and around where the former the former Nazi buildings are, are some embassies and consulates.  The one adjacent to Adolf’s building is the Embassy of Israel.




The Jewish Memorial in Munich.  We paused for a minutes  silence.  There is a perpetual flame within a cage.







Later we visited Marienplatz, which is the town square,  surrounded by beautiful gothic buildings.  Most of the buildings have some degree of rebuilding due to the Allied bombing campaign.  The square was full of people from around the world.





The Town Hall.  It was damaged by bombing but repaired.






Awkward moment of the day:  Josh highlighted in one of the Nazi Manifestos that one of their catch cries was ‘make Germany great again!’  Along with control of the media, manipulation of the truth…  At least some of the Americans cringed.

As we returned to our hotel WE decided to visit the Jewish documentation centre (and museum). The centre was built on the site of the ‘Brown House’ which was a key site for Nazis.  Initially, the centre started as a repository for copies of the books burnt by Nazis.  The books were principally by Jewish authors, but also included many free-thinking authors who wrote of ideas not conducive to Nazi ideology.  The museum had a number of displays that remind you that the people killed during the holocaust were just people: fathers/mothers; daughters/sons; husbands/wives; girls/boys.  Some of the stories are gut-wrenching.  What was intended as a quick visited lasted over an hour.



The Jewish Documentation Centre, at the back.

The block work in the foreground was originally a Bavarian monument (with marble pillars) but the Nazis re-purposed it to commemorate 16 rioters who were killed in the Beer Hall Putsch.

The pillars were blown up and the base has been allowed to become overgrown.  The shabbiness is to avoid neo-Nazis turning it into a shrine.




The tour and the day were very full.  Karen even said that she found the tour much more interesting than she thought it would be.  I give full credit to Josh!  But I feel being ‘on site’ brings a sense of connection to this dark chapter in human history.

Tomorrow, a much lighter note as we visit Neuschwanstein Castle… the fairy tale castle of the mad King Ludwig.


  

Comments

  1. Kaz14 July 2023 at 23:04

    I agree that it is an incredible experience to walk in the footsteps of those who have gone before us, in those places with such a rich history - both famous and infamous. You cannot hurry the visit either, especially when confronted with the real life stories of ordinary people. Have fun at Mad Ludwig's digs! From memory, if you're not booked on a castle tour by lunchtime, you'll miss out. We lined up for hours back in 2011, only to be told to come back the next day. Hopefully the internet has improved the system for you. Karen...you must visit the Viktualien Markets!

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