Tales From Germany Part 4: Munich 1: Glockenspiels and Churches

Every day at 11AM, in Munich's main square (the Marienplatz, so named for a golden statue of the Virgin Mary (Marien) that overlooks the square), the Glockenspiel (decorative clock) on Munich's Rathaus turns on its centuries-old gears, causing the ceramic statues below the clock to spin to life and perform a series of dances commemorating the Crusades and the end of Black Plague.

Munich may be known for its beer and its parties, but Shewara and I were fact that the interior wasthere for the cultural aspects, and we were not disappointed. Munich, the longtime capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria and now home to Germany's most successful soccer franchise, has some amazing churches and palaces. Our first stop after the Glockenspiel viewing was the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), the bi-towered, onion-domed cathedral that has become Munich's unofficial symbol. The cathedral's most interesting (and I thought visually appealing) aspect was the made of strikingly bright white plaster, a stark contrast to the somber dark stone used in most medieval cathedrals. The church houses multitudes of small chapels, each beautifully decorated, as well as the amazing tomb of a 14th-century Bavarian general. Munich is also the home of the Bavarian archdiocese, and thus the residence of all Bavarian archbishops. From the 13th century to the mid-1800s, the likenesses of these men were recorded in wooden statues that surround the main altar. Since then, their personal seals and names have been inscribed on gold tablets. The last entry read:

JOSEPH RATZINGER 1973-1982

(You may now known Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI).

After the Frauenkirche, we headed over to a much smaller, but much more dazzling church, the Asamkirche. The Asam Church has some ridiculously long official name that I cannot remember (and apparently neither can most people), so it was colloquially named for the two cracked-out architect-brothers who designed the thing back in the late Baroque period. The Asamkirche only has twleve rows of pews, but it is quite possibly the most visually overpowering place I've ever stepped inside. Every surface is covered with gaudy gold, pink, or green decorations, interspersed with white marble images of saints. To top it off, the front right section of the church houses an old tomb, where the body had been placed in a glass coffin on view and covered with nothing more than a shroud. You can see the body's skull through the shroud (check out the front right of the photo of the church's interior - you can just make out the skeleton. No less creepy is the golden skeleton teasing the figure of a young boy by the church's entrance; I can only assume that they are trying to say that death is always looming, even to the young. But really, they could have done it in a less creepy way. Maybe a sign or something.

Tired of churches and creepiness, Shewara and I then headed over to Prinz Myshkin, a highly recommended vegetarian restaurant only a block from the church. We would spend the rest of our day wandering around some more interesting parts of Munich, parts I will write about tomorrow.