The Land of Bavarian Cuisine, Polka Dancing, and Beer

By Casey Elliott

Countless travelers enter Munich concerned; Have they reached another Americanized tourist destination? Behind the McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Starbucks, you can uncover one of Europe’s most festive cities and some of the world’s darkest history. A few days in Munich experiencing its activities and attractions can keep you and your stomach satisfied. Fill your itinerary with savoring Germany’s comfort foods, dancing the polka with locals, shopping inside the city walls, and pondering Germany’s dark Nazi history at the Dachau concentration camp.

While German is the language of Munich, English is widely spoken and getting around is simple even speaking little or no German. Take advantage of taxi rides and soak up as much conversation and culture as you can from your driver. Sometimes you find they are a wealth of knowledge that can help you along in your travels. If you want to immerse yourself in this Bavarian culture, walking the city walls would be your best choice. Easy access to all of Munich’s well known destinations can be done by walking, taxis, or streetcars.

Travelers do not need to venture far from the main train station to find authentic German cuisine and beer halls. Augustiner, famous for the Radler, a mix of beer and lemonade, is located within a five minute walk from the train station. The sweet mix is a perfect way to wash down your meal. Their menu is capable of filling any Bavarian craving with dishes such as Wiener Schnitzel, fried and grilled sausage with sauerkraut, and Viennese sausage. If you do not want to leave the restaurant with an uneasy stomach, do not attempt the sausage salad, a plate of shredded slimy hot dogs with onions drenched in vinegar. Don’t ruin your first German meal by ordering this in hopes that you will actually get American sausage on top of a bed of lettuce.

Fruit filled cakes and torts with complete their menu, hold off. Satisfy your sweet tooth in a local bakery. What may seem like an American breakfast is a common dessert for Germans. Treat yourself to a cup of coffee and a German doughnut after your Bavarian meal. The doughnuts (which have no hole) are usually deep-fried balls of yeast dough with jam or other fillings and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Relax in the bakery soaking up its sugary aroma and sip on a cup of Germany’s strong dark coffee.

Leave your calorie consumption guilt behind and walk the main center strip that winds through the city’s most beautiful scenery. One side of Munich’s downtown roads is lined with stores to satisfy every traveler’s needs and wants. High-fashion shops to small boutiques, the mile-long shopping zone is graced by the sugary aroma of caramelized nuts roasting. The strip encompasses Munich’s vibrant city walls and architecture that is seen for miles.

For a chance to savor a German beer, spend a night clanking oversized mugs filled with some of Germany’s best known beer at the Hofbräuhaus, a beer hall in the city center of Munich. For 20 Euros you can indulge in a buffet of German cuisine and beer. The buffet is all inclusive food and festive entertainment for the night. Travelers must commit to a possible hangover and bulging stomachs before attempting this buffet. A bucket of pretzels awaits your arrival at the table preparing your stomach for the long line ahead. Fill your plates with a variety of German meat including Weiner schnitzel or skip to the end of the line and embrace a homemade apple strudel with custard sauce and red fruit jelly drizzled on top. While feasting on German cuisine, embrace the warm atmosphere and mix with locals and tourists all there for the same reason. Polka dancers, medieval performances and bell ringers assure few dull moments. When your stomach convinces you one more bite may have serious repercussions, head downstairs to the main beer hall.

Midway through the hall is a table under a sign that reads “Stamm 100 Dilch”. You may receive an unwelcoming glare from a group of men who look angry and tipsy but it is worth it. The table bears a myth that all who sit under the sign and drink a beer will live for a 100 years. If you manage to fit another beer into your full stomach, you might as well go all out and try a frosted gingerbread cookie that you can buy from waitresses dressed in polka outfits carrying baskets, but do not be mistaken. At first glance these treats resemble an American cookie cake, there is a distinct difference in taste between the Germans ginger spiced cookie and Americans sugar spiced cookie.

As much as Germans like to celebrate their proud heritage with beer, polka music and sweet desserts, Munich offers visitors a sobering look at its darker history, the nearby concentration camp of Dachau. The camp is about 15 minutes by train outside of Munich. Good weather and a tour guide can make or break this experience. Warmer weather temperatures are a must for this site due to long walking hours in the cold. Guided tours are offered for around 15 Euros and can provide direction, information, and little facts that bring the camp to life. As you enter Dachau a sign in German that greeted prisoners who walked to their death in the 1930s still adorns the front gate: “Work will set you free”. The tour takes you down the path new arrivals to the camp would encounter including the gas chambers disguised as showers where they died. Walk through the barracks to see the sleeping conditions the prisoners experienced on the undersized and overcrowded wooden cots. Finish this somber experience at the crematorium that displays the process of burning the prisoners’ bodies. The end of the tour is marked by a memorial sign that reads “Never again,” in several different languages.

Whether tourists are celebrating Munich's music, food, beer and cultural heritage in its raucous beer halls or learning about its darker history at a somber Dachau, this Bavarian capital is worth your time.

Casey Elliott, a University of Kansas journaslism student, studied in the CIMBA undergraduate program in spring, 2009.