Munich, Germany
July 6th, 2010
When I first learned about couchsurfing, there were three nationalities I most looked forward to staying with: Italy, Greece, and Germany. The Italians, because I am Italian obviously, and I would love to learn more about my heritage. The Greeks because I wanted to learn about the austerity measures that have been placed on them recently, and to have their viewpoint on socialism. And lastly, the Germans, because I feel that I know nothing of the generation of Germans my age. I feel that most Americans still think Germans are like the ones we see in Hollywood WWII movies, without realizing that the ideologies of these people have radically changed over the past 65 years. Are they really as progressive as we are told by our media, and has this old-world country truly changed their entire identity? Well, I didn’t have much luck with securing hosts in Italy or Greece, but I could not have been luckier to have had a better host than Paula in Munich.
When I arrived from Gimmelwald in Munich, I had actually caught an earlier train and had about two hours to burn before Paula met me at the train station. I found a small café to grab a snack, and looked up at the TV to see the Simpsons was starting, which was dubbed over in German. Hearing Homer yell at Bart in German is way funnier than English!
Eventually 7 pm rolled around, so I hobbled around the train station to find Paula. She found me at the entrance, and we quickly headed off to find a bar. She brought me to a beautiful plaza in the shadow of one of Munich’s oldest churches, and we grabbed some seats and ordered some craft-brewed, local Munich beers.
I couldn’t wait to pick her mind, because I’d finally have the chance to talk to a 20-something year old German and truly learn what their society and outlooks were. We talked for hours about all kinds of random stuff, from education (we both love biology and science), to the soccer craze sweeping the nation, and even pop culture. Eventually, I just had to bring up the subject of post-WWII Germany, since I have already divulged being insanely interested in that stuff. We got to talking about being brought up in Germany today, and a few things became very clear. Paula’s generation is sick of saying ‘sorry’ for the mistakes of their grandparents. It’s almost like they are indoctrinated from an early age to understand how truly awful these events were, and I have to say that if something like the Holocaust or a system of National Socialism akin to the one the Nazis set up ever happens again somewhere in this world, the last place it will occur is in Germany. Another thing that struck me as truly profound was when Paula explained how the German schools teach the lead up to the war; they don’t explain all of the variables that lead to Germany’s desire to start the war. They basically just say that Germany was 100% at fault, and that’s that. They never delved deeply into the Treaty of Versailles, how the Germans had to repay trillions of dollars that lead to hyper-inflation, the steep recession, and the problems being caused at the same time by the Fascist Italians and Imperialist Japanese. She explained she didn’t get the full picture of these semantics until she studied abroad in England for a year, and was then afforded a full view of the entire scenario.
A huge storm was brewing, and before long, it started to pour on us. We hustled into the metro and grabbed the train back to her house. When we got home, her parents soon arrived from a party, and hung out with us in the kitchen. All of a sudden, Paula and her father were involved in a very heated debate. Her father, understanding I had no idea what the hell they were saying, was kind enough to switch over to English. What I learned was that very day, a city-wide vote had been held in Munich to determine if stricter smoking regulations were required. Paula had voted in favor of it (she can’t stand all the smoke in the clubs), but her father had voted against it (he didn’t want small businesses to have to pay for more bouncers to enforce the laws and viewed it as a frivolous waste of money). It was refreshing to see a parent and child engaged in such a political debate, one that I think far too few Americans ever partake in. I can’t imagine what that household is like when the Prime Minister is up for election!
I got to talking to Paula’s father, and alluded to some of the things we had discussed at the bar. The discussion we had was incredibly frank and candid, and I am so thankful for his honesty. It was exactly the discussion I had hoped to have with a real German who had spent his entire life in Munich, the birthplace of the Nazi movement and Hitler’s dictatorship. I won’t go into all the details, because I’d prefer to keep his opinions between us, but it is clear that he feels very differently than Paula does about the atrocities committed by his nation. Sure, his grandfather was only seven years old at the time of the war, and had nothing to do with any of it, but you could tell his generation is the one that did indeed have to shoulder all of the guilt. He seemed remorseful when discussing these matters, and he explained something that really put it all into context. Walking around Munich, I instantly noticed almost every single car, shop, and person was covered in German flags for their soccer team that was making a push for the world cup finals. He explained to me that it is very uncommon for Germans to display flags so explicitly, for during the reign of the Nazis, their flags were everywhere.
He said he did not like the newfound flag waving everywhere, because once the flags are raised, anything is possible. This may sound completely foreign to an American, where we couldn’t be prouder of our flag, and we raise them anywhere we can (like the freaking moon!) But to the German people, flags everywhere represent sinister intentions. It’s also similar to their national songs; Paula told me that when she studied abroad, she was incredibly jealous of other nations that had generations-old folk songs that everyone knows and proudly sings. The Germans certainly had these songs, but can no longer sing them since they had sinister connotations (songs about conquering the world, being superior, etc.) Again, this seems very odd to an American, but I could sense the pain she felt, and even though it is just a folk song, the fact that the Germans can’t have part of their heritage anymore saddened me as well. I hope you don’t mind me discussing these things here Paula, but I learned so much from you and your family, and I can’t thank you enough for the opportunity to have stayed with you! After our talks, Paula led me to my room and I was delighted to get off my bum knee. I opened the window and listened to the thunderstorm. I climbed into bed thinking about all I had learned, and had the best sleep I have had in weeks.
The next day was a nice relaxing afternoon, and I tested my knee for the first time without crutches by going on a four-hour walking tour. Needless to say, it kicked my ass. But I really enjoyed the tour, and learned a shitload about Munich. It is one of the richest cities of Germany, and just before the Allied bombs started falling on the city, Nazi photographers took pictures of the entire city. At the conclusion of the war, the city lay in complete destruction. But because they had these pictures, and more money than Berlin and Dresden (which were also completely destroyed), they were able to rebuild the city exactly like it was before the war. While you are staring at some building that looks like it was erected during the Middle ages, it was actually built in the 1950’s.
Learning about the proliferation of Nazism and Hilter’s rise to power was also quite eye-opening. In fact, the night that he tried to seize power by force in a Munich beer hall, he ultimately failed and considered killing himself that evening! Imagine that! But he ultimately decided against it, fought back against the Munich police, was captured and arrested, and during that year of incarceration is when he penned Mein Kampf and realized that to take power of the German nation, it would be with political means, and not military. Pretty crazy! Well, the tour completely wore me out due to dragging my leg all over town, so I called it an early night, grabbed some wienerschnitzel for dinner, and climbed into my hostel bed.
The next day, I decided I would make my own beergarten tour (beer gardens, beautiful outdoor areas where they sell one of the locally brewed beers). I bought an all-day metro ticket, and headed out for the first on my list, the Augustinerkeller garten. It’s an awesome place, with massive oak trees, beer and pretzel tents everywhere, and happy Germans on their lunch breaks catching a quick buzz. The place easily holds several thousand people, but today it was pretty dead. No worries! Let’s drink! I ordered a liter of beer from my server, who looked strikingly like Linda Hamilton in T2. After easily downing that first liter, and then another, and then another, I had a very introspective moment. Here I was, sitting in a beergarten by myself, and I couldn’t have been happier. It was one of those solo moments that has truly defined this trip that I have been on. At that moment, I didn’t need to be the gregarious, out-going, social Batty. I was just loving life on a gorgeous Bavarian afternoon, pounding some of the world’s best beer reflecting on life. It was perfect.
I then headed out to Hofbrauhaus, the beer hall where Hitler once delivered speeches at the start of the Nazi revolution. It was crazy to think that this beautiful, quaint restaurant was where the most evil human in history started his career, so to speak.
Then I headed off for the Chinese tower in the Englishgarten. After polishing off a few more liters and a massive Bavarian pretzel, I went looking for the Munich Surfers. There is this tiny bridge, where for whatever geological reason, the water surging under it makes a massive stationary wave. It is perfect for surfers to rip back and forth on the river while pulling awesome 360 jumps and other tricks. I sat spellbound (and drunk) for a solid hour watching them.
I hopped back onto the metro and headed for the farthest beergarten, the Hirschgarten, to meet up with Paula. We enjoyed a few liters of beer in the prettiest garden of the day. I loved this experience because you first get to pick your own massive mug, wash it out, and then bring it to the tent where they pour you an enormous heady beer from real wooden casks… no crappy metal kegs here!
Eventually Paula had to head out because she had class in the morning, so after she departed, I was sitting alone at a large table. Five German guys who needed seats asked if they could sit, and I happily obliged. We all quickly became fast friends, and had a great time watching the soccer match. I think the finally tally of liters of beer for the afternoon was 13. I was tanked! But the real score of the night was when one of the German guys was nice enough to give me a coveted ticket to get into the Munich Olympic stadium the following night for the Germany vs Spain game! They were expecting a few hundred thousand people there for the party! AWESOME!!
The next morning, I awoke early because I wanted visit Dachau, the labor/concentration/death camp outside of Munich. This was probably the most surreal day of my trip. You enter into one of the barracks they built for the prisoners, which were supposed to hold 200 men. When the Americans liberated the camp, over 2,000 prisoners were forced into each. I can’t fathom how unimaginably awful the living conditions were. They showed you the rooms where they would torture prisoners, or the 1x1 ft. cells they left the prisoners in solitary confinement for days at a time. Since they were so small, it was impossible to sit or lay down; you had to stand for the duration of imprisonment.
The hardest, most disturbing part of the day was seeing the crematorium and the gas chamber. It is truly haunting to stand in that gas chamber, with the German word “shower” written above the doorway. On the way out, there is a picture on the door of an American soldier right after the liberation, forcing some local German residents (Nazi supporters) to see the enormous pile of dead bodies rotting in the sun. The American is screaming for them to look, but the Germans are crying and weeping. Ultimately, these people were required to help with the burial of these poor souls. This was the price for ignorance… living five minutes from one of the most evil places ever devised and maintaining complicit innocence.
I left Dachau a complete wreck. Upon arriving back into town, I was in an understandably downtrodden mood. I had two options… crawl into the hostel bed, or go make new friends. I decided to head out and try to cheer myself up.
I met up with Blake (mentioned in several posts now because I keep seeing him everywhere) and his happy crew from Portland, including Lee and Chris. They were staying at the hostel next to mine called Wombats, and as such, had invented a new shot. They called these devices of death “Wombombs”, and essentially, it’s a shot of 160 proof German liquor (80% pure alcohol!) suspended over a glass of red wine with chopsticks like a sake bomb, lit on fire, dropped into the glass and chugged as fast as possible. Seeing as how the first round almost lit the bar on fire, I can’t believe they let us do another round. These things are positively lethal! It was the exact buzz I needed to head out for the Olympic Stadium for the game. Along the way, I bought a ridiculous German stove-top hat, and had some girl on the metro paint my face.
The jubilation at the stadium was raucous, and we hurried down to the field to get good seats in front of the massive screens. We all had a great time getting shitty watching the game, but as it became apparent that Germany was going to lose, the crowd became restless.
While watching, I met some hilarious German navy men, and a few of their girlfriends. While hanging with them, I hadn’t realized that Blake and his crew had left. Oh well, I’m notorious for making new friends on the fly. Besides, I’ll see them again in Austria. And judging by this video, I was clearly in fine fashion at this point…
My new German friends and I left after the game’s conclusion and headed for the party district of town. I don’t remember much, but these guys were awesome! They had just gotten back from active duty, and thus had inflated bank accounts. They had no problem buying beers and shots all night. I introduced them to the suicide tequila shot; snort the salt, squeeze the lime in your eye and pound the shot. They loved it! For the record… I never claimed to be an intelligent man.
I assure you… that’s table salt…
I also found it odd that these guys never gave cheers to ‘Germany’ when doing shots; they always gave cheers to ‘Bavaria’, an indication of their pride from being from the south. We ended up hitting a techno club, and then eventually some awful strip club where a rich business man who was bored kept buying us drinks (and thank god too, because each beer was 12 euros!) When we emerged from the club, the sun was up! Fuck, it was 6:30 am and I had to check out in 3 hours! I thanked my new friends, gave them my contact information and invited them to come visit me in Florida.
I slithered back into my hostel bed and tried to get some sleep, but it was in vain. Might as well get up and keep moving on. So I’m now currently on the train to Austria, destined for Salzburg with once again, absolutely zero sleep. So far, I love Germany and its people. It’s a wonderful culture with fascinating history and awesome beer. I look forward to Berlin in a few weeks! To Paula and everyone else that I met during my time in Munich, a sincere thank you, for I will never forget it.
- Batty
PS — I am without a doubt the World Cup KOD (kiss of death). Every time I have rooted for a team they have lost; Italy, America, Chile, and now Germany. So if you guys want to make a million bucks, throw everything you have down on a team, and inform me to root for the other team! Personally, I hope the Dutch beat the ever-living crap out of Spain because I am so sick of their obnoxious fans over here. They are worse than Dallas Cowboy fans!
