München!

Today we had a guided tour of Munich, it is a beautiful and extremely interesting city. We first walked through a square with shops, cathedrals, etc.

We went to a few churches with different styles. One, where the head of the church spoke out against the Nazi party and was moved to a camp; he survived but died shortly after liberation. It was a nice sentiment to try and make him a saint in order to have more recent saints to look at as a role model. Another, had extremely interesting architecture which created the allusion the church was nearly twice as long as it actually was.

On a smaller scale: it is quite funny to see the small cultural differences of a city like this. From getting your bicycle license as a child to the traditional style clothing on sale at many large shops.

On a larger scale: it is crazy to see how deep WWII runs in the culture of the city. For example, the change in police force to more friendly as not to remind people of nazis or even ensuring the Munich Olympic games have friendly, non- totalitarian color schemes in the 70s. It seems this city cannot help but live in a post-war shadow. It really makes you realize how it was not so long ago.

We went to Hofbrauhaus for lunch where they used to brew the royal beer. Even here has WWII history intrenched within it. It was here Hitler had one of the first political congregations to speak of the ideology of the Nazi Party. This was not something advertised, a tourist would not have known without prior research or a tour guide which opens your eyes to how much this period is a part of Munich's history now.

It is also so strange how a lot of these cathedrals were rebuilt the way they were before they were destroyed in the war. On one hand it, of course, makes perfect sense but it also a bit sad as it feels like a city with a rich history trying to gain some of it back after it was destroyed in the war. Europe itself has such an old history in comparison to the U.S. It is something I've noticed to be valued a lot and it is sad to realize just how much was changed or destroyed by both the Nazi party and the war itself.

After exploring the city, we went o the Munich Standtmuseum. Our tour guide gave us a very good and concise history of how the Nazi party rose and fell in Munich. From the seduction through propaganda to the Arian ideology of the party and the way they utilized medicine, law, literature, and art to ensure German culture had only one, narrow view. In the end, she gave a brief comment about German responsibility after the war which I found very interesting. It is hard to know who exactly should take the responsibility in such a large catastrophe. It is a difficult, grey area to grapple with.

After the museum, we were cheered up by some delicious chocolate from Milka and walking through the square a bit more.

Also on a happier note: they sell gum in pill bottles here.