Munich is the most visited city in Germany after Berlin, and it earns its visitors differently. Berlin is chaos and history and reinvention. Munich is order and tradition and a very specific form of joy — the kind that involves a litre of beer in a sunny Biergarten under a chestnut tree. The city rebuilt itself after the war with deliberate fidelity to its pre-war appearance. The result is a city that looks older than it is, but the feeling — that sense of deep, rooted, unshakeable Bavarian identity — is entirely genuine.

Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel

The central square has been the heart of Munich since 1158. The Neues Rathaus — the New Town Hall, a neo-Gothic fantasy built between 1867 and 1909, 400 rooms, the façade covered in statues of Bavarian dukes, kings, and saints — dominates the square. The Glockenspiel in the tower performs daily at 11am and noon (and 5pm from March to October). The 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures re-enact two stories: the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V in 1568, complete with a jousting tournament, and the Schäfflertanz, the coopers’ dance that celebrated the end of the plague in 1517. The show lasts 12-15 minutes. The crowd gathers ten minutes before. The Glockenspiel is a mechanical marvel from 1908 and it is, entirely unironically, wonderful.

Englischer Garten

One of the largest urban parks in the world at 375 hectares — larger than Central Park in New York. The Eisbach, a small artificial river at the southern edge, has a standing wave that surfers have been riding since the 1970s. The city tried to ban it. The surfers ignored the ban. The city gave up. The wave now has official status and viewing platforms. The surfers queue and take turns. It is the most Munich thing in Munich. The Chinesischer Turm, a wooden pagoda in the centre of the park, has a Biergarten seating 7,000. The beer is served by the litre. The pretzels are the size of a dinner plate. The oompah band plays on summer Sundays.

The Residenz and Nymphenburg

The Residenz, the city palace of the Wittelsbach dynasty who ruled Bavaria for 738 years, is in the city centre. The Antiquarium, built in 1568, is the largest Renaissance hall north of the Alps — 66 metres long, the barrel-vaulted ceiling covered in frescoes, the walls lined with antique sculptures. The Treasury holds the Bavarian crown jewels. The tour takes two hours. Nymphenburg Palace, 5 km west of the centre, is the summer palace. The Hall of Mirrors, the Gallery of Beauties — 38 portraits of women painted by Joseph Stieler for King Ludwig I between 1827 and 1850, including the dancer Lola Montez, whose affair with the king triggered his abdication in 1848 — and the park behind the palace, with its canals and follies, are the highlights.

Dachau

Dachau, 20 km northwest of Munich, was the first Nazi concentration camp — opened in March 1933, barely two months after Hitler became chancellor. It operated for twelve years and held over 200,000 prisoners. Roughly 41,500 were murdered there. The memorial site, established in 1965, is free. The museum traces the camp’s history in unflinching detail. The reconstructed barracks, the crematorium, the gas chamber that was never used for mass extermination but stands as a monument to what was planned. The gate with the words “Arbeit macht frei” — work sets you free — is the original. The visit takes three to four hours. It is not optional. Munich’s beauty and prosperity exist alongside this history. The city does not hide it. Neither should any visitor.

What is the one thing in Munich — the Glockenspiel, the surfers on the Eisbach, the Biergarten, the silence at Dachau — that you think about most?

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