Dachau and Marienplatz Square

Posted by Michele September 14, 2022

Dachau and Marienplatz Square

Since Dachau is so close to Munich, I felt as though we should visit the concentration camp, as not all of Europe's history is pleasant. We took the train and then we were supposed to take a bus to the concentration camp. We realized that the bus was 28 minutes away.

Joe said he heard two younger kids say that they were just going to walk. Thinking that it was only a mile, I said, "Come on, let's follow them!" I ran to catch them to see if they were indeed headed to the concentration camp, and once they confirmed that they were, we stalked them, the rest of the way. NOT one mile, but 5,556 steps!

Oh, poor choice! The bus passed us, just as we arrived!

Walking around what used to be a concentration camp is incomprehensible.

Looking around at the beautiful trees surrounding the concentration camp I could scarcely imagine the nearly 200,000 people, of which 41,500 were killed, who were imprisoned there, for twelve years. There really are no words to describe a place such as this, so I will just share some of the photos that I took.

It was a somber experience.

We took the bus back to the metro station, and stopped at Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel do its' thing! It dates back to 1908 and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century. One celebrates the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine with a joust that happens every time and ends with the Bavarian knight winning, and knocking the Lothringen knight off his horse.

This is followed by the second story of the cooper's dance. A dance said to "bring fresh vitality to fearful dispositions" following the plague of 1517. It was amusing, but not nearly as spectacular as the clock in Prague, or the one in the church in Rostock. Surprisingly, it only plays twice a day, three times in the summer.

We meandered through the streets, down to the Asam Church, a baroque church that was built from 1733 to 1746 by two brothers as a private church. One was a sculptor, the other a painter, and while the elements inside are extraordinary, there is so much "Baroque" going on, that it is almost laughable, In my humble opinion. I recommend looking this one up on google to get a complete overview, as it is kinda kooky!

After visiting this church, we found another Thai restaurant and had a delicious meal, it is always so relaxing to find a place, clad with umbrellas, to sit, eat and people watch. Re-fueled, we decided to go to a few more churches, since we were already near. I had an amazing Basil drink, too.

St. Peter's church was just finishing up mass, so we just did a quick sneak-peek, from the back. It was, once again, quite ornate. It seems to be built in Gothic, Baroque, and Bavarian Romanesque styles, with a Renaissance steeple. Again, a whole lot going on!

The next church of the day was the Heilig-Geist-Kirsche. This is a Gothic Church with Rococo frescoes and stucco ornamentation throughout. The tower is Neo-Baroque and the pulpit is a beautifully carved wooden piece of art.

All of the churches are quite "fancy", here in Munich, gilded in much gold, with many sculptures, paintings, and ornamentation all over nearly every surface. At this point, I have seen enough, and am ready for a nice hot bath, and bed!

But before that, we headed to the "market" across from our hotel for some dessert. It was magical!