The Versailles of Bavaria
Munich, Germany
May 7, 2007
A couple years ago, I became the Delta representative to the Unisys Cargo User Group, a consortium of international airlines that use Unisys’s revenue management software and systems to optimize cargo inventory and pricing.
Twice each year, Unisys hosts the member carriers to discuss issues, concerns, challenges, and successes with their tools and services. We exchange ideas, learn about new features, and offer suggestions about how the product can be improved.
Our group includes airlines from France, Germany, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, and a couple carriers from the United States. These get-togethers provide an opportunity to meet industry experts from around the world, and (as an important aside) to sample the sights, scenes, culture, and cuisine from interesting places on distant shores.
Our Fall gathering is always at the Unisys conference facility in St-Paul-de-Vence, in the south of France, just north of Nice. The Spring setting follows the rotation of the earth, moving annually from west to east…continent to continent…from the Americas, to Europe, to Asia.
Last year, we were in Honolulu, where Rita and Alexander joined me on Waikiki. Next year, the sessions shift to Beijing, where we will explore the Middle Kingdom on the eve of the Olympics.
This week, we are in Bavaria. I’ve never been to Germany, and will only be here only a few days. But I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far.
With long meetings during a short stay, I don’t have much time to see what Munich has to offer. But its setting and size make sight-seeing efficient, and convenient on foot.
We spent today, and will spend tomorrow morning, in meetings. After the final session this afternoon, I scurried quickly upstairs, changed clothes, and set out for the middle of Munich. Much of the city…and almost everything I saw…was at least partially destroyed in the Second World War, but has been impressively reconstructed since.
Renovation was much easier a thousand years ago. In 1158, Bishop Otto von Freising controlled a profitable toll bridge over the Isar. His cousin Henry the Lion claimed this favorable crossing on the lucrative salt route.
Rather than fight for it, Henry burned the bridge down, and built his own further up the river. Being a good Christian and introspective man of peace, he called the settlement Munichen, after monks at a nearby church.
Unfortunately for Henry, his cousin Otto appealed to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who decided against the arsonist. Henry fell from grace, and was handed over to the Wittelsbach family, who ruled Bavaria till the end of the First World War. I was told that if were I to see only one thing in Munich, it should be their palatial home.
I started my expedition by wandering thru the southern end of the extensive English gardens, in search of the Wittelsbach Residenz. It was hard to miss.
Unbeknownst to me, I had stumbled upon the Versailles of Bavaria. This palace is the largest in Germany, and a splendid assemblage of architectural, floral, and painted art. Remarkably and fortuitously, whether because of the time of day or day of week, the place was virtually empty. I had it almost entirely to myself.
When, during the Thirty Years War, King Gustavus Adolphus conquered Munich for Sweden, he looked upon the Residenz and lamented, “if only it had wheels!”. Fortunately, the Swedish king made no attempt to move the palace, and left it intact.
Destruction would be left to our own more “enlightened” age, when the bombs of the Second World War damaged most of the complex, necessitating that it be almost entirely rebuilt. The results are magnificent.
As across much of Munich, the renovation or recreation of pre-war construction, detail, and form is miraculous. As the palace was resurrected from the rubble, the restoration paid astounding attention to meticulous detail. Many valuables and works of art were preserved from the pile, and now grace the walls and rooms as if no shots had been fired.
With limited time, and not knowing where to start, I went the conventional route…and began at the beginning. The original buildings abutting seven central courts date from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and blend Renaissance, rococo, and neoclassical styles.
The Antiquarium is the oldest part of the place. Built in 1571 to accommodate the Wittelsbachs’ collection of antiques, the voluminous vaulted hall is decorated with Bavarian views, grotesques, and putti.
These, and my guidebook, led me next to the adjacent Grotto Court, off of which is a cavern of volcanic rock that Duke Wilhelm V constructed in 1586 as a “secret pleasure garden”, replete with mussel shells and chunks of crystal.
From the glittering depths of this elaborate cave, I ascended to elegant heights, moving upstairs to the aptly named “Rich Rooms”. These rococo masterpieces flow toward Duke Maximilian’s 1615 Secret Chapel, laden with marble and lapis lazuli, interspersed with gold tendrils and colored stone. In the next room are some of the Duke’s remarkable reliquaries, including those containing the heads of St John the Baptist and his mother.
Next, for only five euros, I received the crown jewels. For that modest fee, I entered the Schatzkammer. This “treasure chamber” holds not only the royal gems of Bavaria, but also other ornaments dating to the turn of the second millennium.
With them the Schatzkammer features an elaborate collection of eccentric and precious objects, including golden stags with coral antlers, and a drinking vessel of carved rhino-horn. Most impressive was a stunning statuette of St George straddling an agate stallion draped in rubies and diamonds, while the valiant warrior slays an emerald dragon with his crystal sword.
Running short on time…and with other places to go and things to see. I left the rest of the Residenz to what I hope will be a future visit, made my way out of the palace, and into the stately Hofgarten.
This former royal park opens onto Ludwigstrasse, a 19th century vegetable garden that Ludwig I converted into a main drag connecting Odeonplatz to the Siegestor, a triumphal arch that rose in 1850 to honor Bavarian armies.
On my way up the strasse to the Siegestor, I stopped to make my way into the neo-Romanesque Ludwigskirche. The façade and extensions pioneered the 19th century “round-arch” style that influenced synagogues, train stations, and brownstones in Germany and parts of the United States.
The interior is vast, but not particularly appealing…except the enormous fresco of The Last Judgement that fills the altar. This is apparently the second-largest fresco in the world, comparison to which is one of the only ways the adjacent mammoth murals of the Creator, Nativity, and Crucifixion could possibly be minimized.
Time is another, particularly when it drifts rapidly away. With almost disrespectful haste, I glimpsed these fabulous frescos, and then at my restless watch. Acknowledging my time was up, I left the church, hurried to my hotel, and prepared to meet my counterparts for dinner.
JD
