Olympiapark

Berlin underground, broke and creative against traditional Munich, prosperous and bourgeois? Apparently, everything seems to oppose the two most visited cities in Germany. Yet the beautiful Bavarian, behind her folk accents, her famous Oktoberfest and her flourishing economy, hides less known and just as interesting facets. Those of an arty, trendy and eco-friendly city, which has many surprises in store for curious people looking for alternative places and seeking Berlin airs in the capital of Bavaria.

Munich arty

The latest addition to Munich’s museums shows how much the Bavarian city has evolved. Rich in an extraordinary cultural heritage, between its three art galleries , its Antiquity museum and that of ancient Egypt or its Residenz , seat of the Wittelsbach dynasty, it therefore welcomes a newcomer , the Muca .

The museum of urban and contemporary art, the first of its kind in Germany, opened at the end of 2016, in place of an electricity redistribution station. Hidden behind a fence, in a tiny street in the city center, the rough formwork building presents temporary exhibitions dedicated to street art, with sizes like Shepard Fairey, JR, Banksy, Invader, etc.

The graffiti artists also invested in ”  Pathos Kreativquartier  “, west of the trendy Schwabing sector and just south of Olympiapark. A former industrial site which has become an interdisciplinary artistic platform, recalling the alternative Berlin spirit. The hangars, warehouses and production buildings have been converted into theater, workshops, studios, rehearsal and performance rooms, bar and Biergarten , regularly scheduling performances, concerts, exhibitions and clubbing evenings .

Even well-established institutions are playing the underground card, literally! Since the Lenbachhaus , a collection around modern art in general and the Blue Knight movement (Blaue Reiter) in particular, has an annex… in the metro! More precisely an exhibition space called Kunstbau, in the neighboring station of Königsplatz .

By returning to the surface by the stairs which also go up from the U-Bahn platforms, it is impossible not to stop in front of the extension of the Lenbachhaus inaugurated in 2013: a golden cube with a minimalist design, drawn by Norman Foster and posed next to the original building, which was built in the late XIX th century on the model of Renaissance Italian villas.

The striped facade of the new wing seems to match that of the Brandhorst museum, in the same district: it is also striped but in different colors. An original contemporary architecture that suggests the nature of the works it houses: paintings by Andy Warhol, creations by Polke and Damien Hirst, or even the giant roses painted by Cy Twombly, magnificently highlighted by the lighting and the white volumes of the vast rooms.

Munich trendy

Munich residents are very proud of their traditions. It is not only during Oktoberfest (from mid-September to early October), but on many occasions that they wear leather pants ( Lederhose ) or Bavarian dresses with necklines and aprons ( Dirndl ). They love to shop at Viktualienmarkt , the main market with appetizing stalls filled with local produce and in the center planted with a May tree, a sculpted pole typical of the region.

However, they are also fans of shopping sessions and trendy outings in several districts well distributed in the city. Like Schwabing , who was already bohemian in the 1900s. At the time, Paul Klee, Kandinsky or the poet Rainer Maria Rilke lived there. It is still frequented by students of the university and the Academy of Arts and is full of cafes, bars, restaurants or clubs.

Just south, it has a more recent extension in Maxvorstadt . Many hype addresses in this sector also have branches in Glockenbach , on the other side of the heart of Munich: like the Marais in Paris, this gay district has gone from the militant avant-garde to the bohemian trend. While keeping its original and creative touch, with its pretty shops, especially around Gärtnerplatz and on Reichenbachstrasse.

For example Delikatessen , a flea market that sells leather goods made from the patinated leather of recycled gym equipment, such as pommel horse. Or Phasenreich , a concept store that is both a café and an urban, eco-friendly and equitable ready-to-wear boutique.

Munich green

Munich has an ecological fiber, and not only in fashion or by fashion effect! Admittedly, the city hosts an automobile temple, the BMW museum , an illustrious Bavarian firm. But in the city center, there are pedestrians, cyclists and public transport organized in a very dense network.

Right next to the BMW museum is the Olympiapark , a huge park designed for the 1972 Olympic Games. Since then, it has been the joy of walkers and sportsmen, with its hilly relief or its lake adjoining the stadium which literally seems to come out of the ground.

Another vast green space emblematic of the capital of Bavaria, the English garden or Englischer Garten which covers almost 4 km²! Much flatter, it is also embellished with large lawns, paths to cover on foot, by bike or on horseback and a large lake where you can sail aboard pedal boats, boats and small electric boats.

A site a little too quiet, however, for surfers, who meet on the Eisbach . In the middle of this small artificial river, near the Haus der Kunst museum , baba cools, in the 1970s, had discovered a backwater conducive to sliding. A wave difficult to tame that the most seasoned, equipped with a suit, challenge each patient in turn, rain, sell or snow … They join this very unique spot with their board under their arms, by bus, by metro or by bicycle. Rather incongruous in a city that has nothing seaside!

Another amazing image that the Englischer Garten, one of the largest Biergarten in Munich, has in store at the foot of a Chinese tower. The pagoda-style roofs provide a little shade to the bands of revelers and families on the prowl who toast with one-liter mugs, accompanied by maxi-pretzels

For picnics, sunbathing and swimming, fans of idleness can also settle on the banks of the Isar , which crosses the Bavarian capital and offers it, for want of a nearby sea, a taste of the beach .

TSF Singapore can help you complete the Schengen Visa and Germany Visa application online. Go to the application page to apply online.