Showing posts with label Munich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Munich. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Munich's Alte Pinakotek

Munich offers five world-class museums to choose from. We chose the Alte Pinakotek--the old paintings--observing our preference for things that have stood the test of time as well as our interest in the older North German and Netherlands works. The museum is overwhelmingly wonderful.
A view of the Alte Pinakotek







Our favorite, at length, was Breughel's (the Elder) The Land
of Cockaigne, a political satire depicting the sloth and
corruption of the classes...knights, clergy, scholars, peasants
too







Our favorite genre is the damnation...here a detail of one
of Breughel's, torment by fart...











The usual St. Sebastians












Durer's incredible self-portrait












The obligatory Rembrandt self-portrait
(did he paint anything else?)













And this, widely thought to be Velazquez's
self-portrait--something the Prado would
like to have back, one assumes













The largest and most varied collection of
Peter Paul Rubens I have seen; this his
damnation














This, Rubens' self-portrait with his first wife;
one of the few he did of non-obese people
with clothes on...













Rubens' Last Judgment















I have never seen a museum with more live
painters at work















Rubens' powerful death of Seneca













Titian's portrait of Caesar Carlos IV
(or V, depending on whether you're
counting Spanish or Hapsburg
kings)


















































































































An incredible museum I'd visit again in a flash. The displays were excellent, the order logical, the audio-guide, for once, genuinely tasteful and helpful.

Botanischer Garten

Right next to the Nymphenburg Palace is the Munich botanical garden, 14,000 species, something I could not resist.

Extent of the place







On the grounds




Early August, most everything still in bloom















Lily pond











Closer up




Mexicohaus









 I love bromeliads, cycads
















Tree ferns, like New Zealand












And a visiting exhibit from Yunnan and Sichuan

Hirschgarten

After the Nymphenburg, we headed to the nearby Hirschgarten for a late but leisurely lunch.  Although out in the suburbs, the Hirschgarten is reputedly Munich's largest bier garten--seats 8,000, they say--and the scale is indeed impressive.

Entry signage













A bit, but a representative tiny bit, of the Hirschgarten






The Hirschgarten's old-style Pisshof









Help yourself to a mug; maybe give it an extra rinse







The cafeteria-style food area; I had my favorite bratwurst
mit currysauce and pommes frites; and bier; Vicki had my
pommes frites and a gelato, a balanced choice

Nymphenburg Palace and Park and Amalienburg

We spent the better part of the day out at the Nymphenburg Palace, one of a dozen or so palaces and castles of the Wittelsbach family, who ruled Bavaria for 700 years.

Of course, we ran into a wedding











Nymphenburg, the main building--actually it is a huge
ellipse all around the lake










Main hall















How paintings get restored; how chiropractors get clients










Royal bed-chamber











Queen's bed-chamber, original furniture, where Ludwig II
(Loonie Ludwig) was born










Part of the Hall of Beauties--Ludwig I had
portraits done of 40 contemporary women
he regarded as great beauties (no word on
what the Queen thought of this)














My great achievement of the day was
locating and photographing the portrait of
Lola Montez, in the Hall of Beauties, with
whom Ludwig I had an affair that brought
down his government and forced him to
resign; Lola went on to America and was
a famous personage in the American Wild
West (I speculate: the character of Lillie 
von Schtupp, in Blazing Saddles, is based, 
um, loosely, on her)





















Nymphenburg Palace from the gardens







The Amalienburg, the Queen's hunting lodge











A bit of the interior











All solid silver, of course











The kitchen, beautiful tile-work

Hofbrauhaus

Of course we had to revisit the Hofbrauhaus, site of memorable experiences in 1979 (including, not least, an acquaintance, a nurse, who downed 3 mugs in our presence before heading off to work)

A way-old place, re-built twice since the war, but to generally the same specifications







Most people head to the bier garten








Or the ground floor halls











But we headed to the upstairs Festsaal, with its entertainment and 
buffet meal of Bavarian goodies













Including bier; 1 liter is the only size available (at least
that's what I told Vicki)




There was the old German band















And dancing, including slap-dancing and whip-dancing







And, most memorably, this card, stuck to the ceiling above the stage at the 
head of the hall, 30 feet up there; none of the staff conceded any knowledge 
of it





There it is (click to enlarge); I believe it marks the spot where Hitler's bullet hit 
(in the re-construction) in his attempt to quell the Beer Hall Putsch crowd in 1923
(everyone kept putsching and tschoving...); must check this out someday











Munich Sights

We left the Obersalzburg, finally, and drove on to Munich, staying at Camping Thalkirchen (where we had stayed in 1979) for three nights while we re-explored this beautiful city, using the very convenient bus/subway/tram system for transportation.

Yes, we are in the land of super-sized
pretzels












One of the twin domes of the Marienkirche;
the other was under scaffolding












Interior of the church; rather dull, I thought











The Augustiner, one of the older brewhouses








Street scene; the Starbucks dates from 1328...












Another...all this undoubtedly re-built;
Munich was fairly flattened by bombing in
1944-45













The very famous Rathaus











With its even more famous clock











The joust, at the critical moment












Followed by the dancing of the apprentices
or someone else












My attempt at going native ended successfully