Germany Part II - Hofbräuhaus, Neuschwanstein and Dachau

Although the main reason we went to Munich was for Oktoberfest, we didn't want it to be the only thing we saw or did there. So we ventured out into the German countryside to see a glimpse into the Bavarian lifestyle and see first hand some powerful reminders of history.

Hofbräuhaus am Platzl München

The Hofbräuhaus is a traditional German beer hall originally built in 1589. In 1944, the majority of the hall was destroyed by air raids in WWII. The structure was rebuilt so that one of Germany's oldest breweries could continue to produce beer. This is now a place where you can experience a small piece of what Oktoberfest is outside of the 16 days in late September and early October through the traditional Bavarian music, food and beer. Another unique feature is that the hall has lockers for it's regular guests so that they can store their own beer steins - it's seen as a high status symbol in Munich that I'm sure has a very long waiting list : )

We had drinks and dinner here one night with Melissa, Adam, Jake and Katie since we heard it was a "must-see"! The apple strudel was my personal favorite...

Neuschwanstein Castle

Set near the Austrian border is a castle that was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella castles. In 1868, the Bavarian King Ludwig II built it as a personal, lavish retreat decorating it in romanesque revival and romanticism styles. To say he spent his fortune on it is an understatement: he continually borrowed money to pay for it and died with 14 million marks debt (aka A LOT).

There is a lot of mystery surrounding Ludwig II's life. A devote Catholic, he had an interesting relationship with Richard Wagner, a German opera composer, whom he idolized (this was very apparent by his many painted depictions of Wagner's opera scenes throughout the castle). Ludwig also was deemed insane by the Bavarian government (after going into so much debt and asking for more loans) and mysteriously "drowned" in a shallow lake with his doctor just days after the government forced him to be watched and evaluated. It was ruled a suicide but there are a lot of conspiracy's around his death.

We managed to just make it onto Jake and Katie's tour to go see the castle on the day we were flying out (literally showed up 15 minutes early in the morning and thankfully two people had not shown up for the tour, so we took the last two seats on the bus!)

After a two hour ride down near the border, we stopped for lunch at a lodge, did a quick hike where we got a little too close to some cows (play video... more cow bell, anyone?) and raced down an alpine slide! This was awesome and was basically a sled-looking seat that you sat in while going down a curvy, metal slide. (I think Elk needs one.) Then we toured the finished rooms of the castle (only part of it was completed when Ludwig died) and made our way back to the bus. The castle rooms were incredible - everything was so detailed and no inch was left untouched - but the walk across Mary's Bridge was my favorite because of the spectacular view of the breathtaking castle (see picture on the upper left).

Dachau Concentration Camp

The first concentration camp ever started in Germany was opened in 1933 in a small town outside Munich called Dachau. The site was chosen because it was nearby to Munich, and there was an abandoned munition factory that had been forced to close after WWI. The set up and large, empty buildings made it appealing because there wasn't a lot of work that needed to go in before it was running. The concentration camp's original intent was to hold political prisoners (anyone against Nazi reign) but it soon was enlarged to include forced labor and the imprisonment of Jewish people. During the 12 years it was used, the camp became known for it's brutal treatment and detentions. The Dachau administration recorded the admission of 206,206 prisoners and deaths of 31,951 (but likely there are thousands more that were undocumented). The site has now been opened up as a memorial so on Sunday Aaron, Melissa, Adam, Katie, Jake and I headed to the grounds for one of the free, guided tours.

At the entrance, there is an iron gate that has inscribed "Work will make you free" in German. This Nazi propaganda was false hope: no one in the camp was free no matter how hard any of them worked.

Our tour guide lived in Dachau and said that whenever she says that she's from there, the first question people ask is why would you ever live there? The entire identity of this beautiful, Bavarian town will always be associated with a painful history.

It's really hard for me to write about Dachau because it was just so powerful. I can't describe it any other way. It was difficult to walk through and imagine all the lives that had walked the same steps but in such terrible, inhumane circumstances. Seeing some of the original buildings made you cringe at the cruelty and harsh conditions people lived and died in for 12 years. The stories of guards and prisoners stayed with me long after we left.

It is a difficult but very important thing for future generations to see.