Folks,

Well, any plans to meet with potential PINheads during my visit to Munich
were shelved after getting reacquainted with the schedule of an 8-week old
baby and the needs of a brand new mother. However, with fully loaded
carriage, we did explore Munich by foot, stopping now and then for feedings
and changings. And what an interesting city!

Finding "Old Munich" is somewhat of a challenge, since 45% of Munich was
destroyed in WWII. The debris from the bombings was removed from the center
of the city and now forms several large landscaped hills in the Olympic
complex north of the city center. Some of the major landmarks that were
destroyed have been completely restored -- well, reconstructed. It was hard
for me to tell (even mit guidebuch) what is original historic fabric and what
is a re-creation (figuring it out was also hampered by my lack of German).
Where documentation or funding is not available, things appear to have been
stabilized and left for future restoration -- spaces for unrestored (yet to
be recreated) frescoes, for instance, are painted in with vague washes of
color that simulate the hues and shading of restored ones nearby.

It is said, however, that urban redevelopment since then has destroyed more
buildings than the Allied bombings. Many historic buildings and neighborhoods
were lost during the 1960s urban renewal (sound familiar?). And even today
there is tremendous construction activity going on in Munich. The city is
experiencing rapid growth and affluence. Large apartment blocks seem to be
going up everywhere, as well as new commerical buildings. Many of the
remaining historic buildings have been or are being restored -- especially
beautiful are the Jugendstil buildings, with their highly stylized facade
ornamentation picked out in interesting colors and gilding. The city
throughout seems to smell of new paint and plaster.

New construction is apparently limited by some height restrictions, which has
preserved a moderate scale to the city. Many of the new buildings have finely
engineered and machined architectural details (my nephew, a mechanical
engineer with BMW, notes that the Germans could overdesign a toilet paper
holder...but I guess it makes for good cars). This techno-architecture makes
an interesting counterpoint to the historic, but since many of the
finely-honed new buildings are going up in the old sections of the city I
can't help wondering what was there before -- a post-war nothing? A block of
18th - 19th century stores? A garden?

Although the weather is grey and damp much of the time during the winter,
people are out on the streets and in the Englisher Garten (a huge,
picturesque public garden created in 1808) - walking, biking, strolling along
the boulevards. Bikes are everywhere. Cars are small. The U-Bahn (subway) is
incredibly efficient and convenient. Automobile traffic, however, is
congested and the city center is ridiculously difficult to navigate by car --
getting from A to B is often thwarted by one-way streets, construction, and
lack of street signage.

There is some criticism of Munich's lack of city planning and its new
architecture. And I wonder about design guidelines. Landmark protections.
What is the permitting process? Do they have preservation battles? Are there
public hearings? Who decides? Who cares about these sorts of things? I would
love to know more about how things work there. Five days is not enough. Maybe
I'll visit again when the baby is older....

Mary