Munich History, Germany

Munich area settlement is based from the Roman era while the Benedictine monks from the 18th century placed Munich on the map - creating the name Munichen or monk settlement. Thus the city's birth date was 1158 - the same year when the Imperial Diet in Augsburg authorized the ephemeral ruling of Heinrich der Lowe. Some notable milestones in the history of Munich, Germany were:

Ø   In 1240, the city conceded to the House of Wittelsbach. The well-known Wittelsbach family conquered the city until the twentieth century.

Ø   In 1255, Munich was a ducal habitation. During the succeeding century, it was extended, equipped and offered a salt-trading cartel by the creator of Alter Hof, Ludwig the Bavarian. The groundwork for a prosperous trading city was taking place.

Ø   During the year 1503, Munich flourished and became Duchy of Bavaria’s capital. 

Ø   In 1349, a plague went through the city quite a few times.

Ø   Sanitation and sewage systems progressively boosted and the population stabilized in 1505.

Ø   Munich was under Habsburg ruling in 1705-14. Reformation was not welcomed by Duke Wilhelm IV, thus remaining decisively Catholic. Thus, Munich was provisionally capitulated to Sweden in the Thirty Years' War.

Ø   Elector Max Joseph became the King of Bavaria. The Oktoberfest is his idea, originally a huge bash to commemorate the 1810 marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig I, his son. It became a regular celebration to the Muncheners since then.

Ø   When the twentieth century took off, the city was housing more than 500,000 residents. Ingenious kinds such as Marc, Kandinsky, Klee, Ibsen, Mann and Strauss made the city home, grouped in the bohemian community of Schwabing.

Ø   The city was roughly famished to extermination during WWI and as a source of after-war political mayhem and economic disintegration. The Nazi made its first get-together at Hofbräuhaus. The city was stigmatized by the later generations being the center of Hitler's actions. Weeks after his ascension to command, a fateful concentration camp was created at Dachau. 1938, it became the horrifying night for the Jews called as Reichskristallnacht. The city was extremely destroyed by the Allied bombing during the WWII.

Ø   It almost left half of Munich in ashes before it was conquered by the US forces in April 1945.

During the postwar period, Munich’s momentous foundation was leisurely and compassionately rebuilt. The population was merged and it progressively turns into a center for fashion, publishing, cinema and large conglomerates such as truck manufacturer MAN, Siemens and BMW. The substantial program of renovation concluded in Munich when it played host to the 1972 Olympic Games. The city gained a brighter and more positive spot in history books when it became the host city of the opening game of soccer's World Cup in 2006. Today Munich is confident with its luxurious, poised status and is acknowledged for gaining the greatest quality of living a German city could ever have - taking pride in a combination of artistic enthusiasm and conservatism, large-city style and down-to-earth amusement.

The city is ruled by Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands Party (SPD). This is a notable era for Munich since Bavaria is a strong defender of the conformist Christlich-Soziale Union (CSU).

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• Short visit in Munich
  review by asterix posted more then 30 days ago
  We just spent about one and half day in Munich to visit the best places in the city and to see how is life in a such a big city. The city is really beautiful but for me is really agglomerated. We just spent about 3 hours to find the street where Dan's friend work to have a good place to park the...
• Munich, the home of the Oktoberfest
  review by MadSuh posted more then 30 days ago
  Munich is certainly one of the most interesting cities in Germany. It's the second largest city with about 2 Mio inhabitants and offers a wide range of cultural activities. Something that's very nice about Munich is the fact that it is large but still has a small town character. While...
• Visit at Glyptothek in Munich
  review by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  If you are interested in history you should visit the "Glypthothek" at the Königsplatz in Munich. A lot of ancient sculptures from greek and roman history can be found there. Some really exceptional statues, like the "Sleeping Faun" or the statues of the temple of...

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• Glyptothek
  travel tip by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  If you like history and archaeology, you definitely should visit the Glyptothek at munich. There a lot fo antique statues, busts and temple parts by the ancient greek and romans. If you are a history or archaeology student, you can get...
• Visit the 'german museum'
  travel tip by Wazling posted more then 30 days ago
  If you are at munich, you should visit the 'Deutsches Museum'. It´about technical history and industry developement over the centuries.

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