Munich, Ettal, and Mittenwald

I haven't written in the past few days because we have been getting back to our hotel very late at night. Last night we returned from the opera house in Munich where we were treated to a contemporary version of Verdi's "I Masnadieri". The view from the front balcony was unrivaled! You could see everything that was going on from every corner. It was superb!

We've just returned from our evening meal and visiting Marienplatz where we saw the Neues Rathaus (the new town hall) where the glockenspiel (or carillon) is located. Pictured above is this town hall that looms 259 feet in the air. It was built between 1867 - 1909 in the Flemish Gothic style. The bells in the glockenspiel are struck by hammers and the figures perform the Schlaffertanz (the cooper's dance) which was originally performed in 1517 in Marienplatz to commemorate the end of the Black Plague. The column of St. Mary sits in front of the town hall and was erected in 1638 to celebrate the end of the Swedish invasion. The statue of Mary was sculpted earlier in 1590 and has four different symbolic figures on the four corners at the bottom of the pedestal representing the city's overcoming war, pestilence, hunger, and heresy. This sqaure is known as Marienplatz and is the heart of Munich. During the Middle Ages the square was used as a market place and as a site for tournaments and festivities. The square was named Marienplatz to invoke the Virgin Mary's protection of the town from the cholera epidemic.

This morning we visited a Benedictine Monastery in the Bavarian Alps in the town of Ettal which is near the Austrian border. The monastery was built in 1330 by King Ludwig I. What an interesting place! They have an international boarding school with students from all over the world including the U.S. Our group was split into two groups. One group sat in a high school lesson, and the other group (the group that I was in), sat in a fifth grade class. Students are all the same all over the world! We also visited the nearby town of Mittenwald where we saw how they make violins from beginning to end by hand. A student has to not only make 10 instruments, but be gifted in playing them. Naturally, students have to be accomplished violinists to be accepted to the school. They only accept 12 students per year although they have four times that in applications. Bavaria is a very colorful part of Germany. Many of our images of Germany come from this area.

We visited Buchenwald, the former concentration camp while in Weimar last week. We were told that the word buche means buckeye. Wald is the word for forest. There were a lot of buckeye trees in this area which was a park before it was turned into a concentration camp.

Another place we visited before coming to Munich was the library in Weimar that housed medieval manuscripts and rare books, maps, and first editions. This was another very exciting place to learn about and visit.

My time is running out so I must end this blog for now. I will try to keep in touch. Love to all.