[TRAVEL LOG] MUNICH, BMW, AND RECONNECTING

Whether it was due to jet lag or another reason, I was wide awake at 5am yesterday morning.  Considering this is midnight at home, I can’t quite say jet lag was the culprit.  Perhaps it was the thought of seeing Munich again that day.  Before leaving the hostel, we all partook in the traditional breakfast buffet offered by most hostels in Germany.  I am a big fan of this European style breakfast.  Muesli, yogurt, fruit, fresh bread, cold cuts, and cheese are the order of each morning.  Along with my “Americano” style coffee, I felt welcomed back in the Bavarian state.

German/Austrian Traditional Breakfast

I recommended to the guys that we take the “priceless” tour offered by Radius Tours (a local English touring company I used several times last year).  We began this walking tour of Munich at 10:30am, and I actually learned many new things about the city I didn’t know previously.  The guide was excellent, and he offered many good suggestions for further exploration should we have time.  I smiled because I had already done many of these things while I was here last year.

The tour began at the train station, and we walked down to the Marienplatz where the tour “officially” started.  Once there, we viewed the Glockenspiel as it announced the 11 o’clock hour.  The two knights, one from Bavaria and one from Austria, began to circle and make jousting passes.  As usual, the Bavarian knight was victorious as the mechanical figures faced off.  Not long after, the barrel makers began their traditional dance as the cooler winter season approached.  They did this dance back when the black plague was striking Europe.  At that time, the plague would affect less people in the winter months.  This was obviously because the rats were not as numerous and carrying the fleas that infected people.  At the time, however, nobody really understood how disease was transferred, so they believed that the brewers had something to do with preventing the plague from spreading.  The dance of the barrel makers was their preparation for the brewing season. 

As the tour progressed, we learned much about the city and its origins.  We learned of its relation to the Catholic Church and how many of its origins go back to monasteries that originally were in the area.  Munich actually received its name because of the German word for what we know as a monk.  We also learned how Munich would not be as large as it is today if it hadn’t capitalized on the salt trade that occurred in the region.  Salt would be brought up from Salzburg (a city in Austria whose name literally means “Salt Mountain”), and pass through Freising where a wooden bridge existed crossing the Isar River.  At that time, the bishop controlled that trading location.  At some point in history, a political leader burnt that bridge and built a stone one in Munich.  From this point on, Munich claimed much of the trade taxes and business.  Today, Munich is clearly the larger of the two cities with nearly 1.4 million people. 

In the tour we also visited the Viktualienmarkt, where we were told about the government subsidized open air market in downtown Munich.  Its existence speaks well to the Bavarian culture.  They support such a marketplace style way of living, and they loyally support local business.  The government assures that these local owners can continue being successful by providing cheaper rent on the market square.  Only German business is allowed, and even those are scrutinized, reviewed, and placed on a waiting list before they are allowed to set up shop in the market.  

Beginning Tour at the Justice House

Recommended Butchers

Metzgerei

Original Location of H.B. Cellars

Our Guide

Max-Joseph Platz

Theatine Kirche

Clinton on Odeonsplatz

Theatine Kirche

We traveled through a number of other city streets and ended the tour in Odeonsplatz next to the Theatinerkirche.  By this point it was nearly 1:00pm.  After tipping for the tour, the guys went to see the inside of the church as I found a pay phone to make a dinner table reservation for later that night.  I would later be meeting up with Jan and Christian, two co-workers of mine from when I worked in BMW’s research and development center (FIZ) in 2011.  This was really my first time conversing completely in German on this trip, and I felt a little bit of accomplishment in how well I retained some of my speaking skills. 

Just before lunch, we went up in Old St. Peter’s bell tower to get the best city view offered for 1.00 Euro.  The view from that tower is astounding, and the nice weather made it all the more worthwhile.  After scoping out the Bavarian landscape from the church, we walked back to the market square to get lunch.  We stopped at a Metzgerei (butcher’s shop) that was recommended to us by our tour guide.  I chose to purchase the famous Leberkäse sandwich.  Others bought various types of Wurst.  These are definitely the meats of Germany.  They are offered in most all cities, and you can be assured that potatoes are always nearby as well… whether mashed or in fried form.  According to our guide, many of German’s traditional foods have French origin.

Jordan and I in St. Peter's Bell Tower

We all enjoyed our meal along with a beer in the city Biergarten (beer garden).  It was explained to us that while Americans have community pools for swimming, Bavaria has community Beirgartens for drinking.  I laughed, because I knew it was a true statement.  While the guys all had a Mass of helles beer (1 liter of light beer), I had what is known as a Radler (beer with lemonade whose name literally translates to “bicyclist”).  At first, I wasn’t a big fan of this type of beer, but it grew on me last year.  It is a nice and refreshing beer for breakfast or lunch.  Along with those beers, I decided to be daring and try a new kind of meat.  They actually sold horse meat at this market!  I went and purchased two variations of the Pferdefleisch and shared it with the group.   Honestly, it was not distinguishable from any other type of meet I’ve ever had… but now I can say I’ve tried it.

Pferdefleisch mit Senf

As we sat there, we had an extensive conversation about how well a Biergarten would go in an American city such as Cincinnati.  We discussed some of the political, legal, and cultural implications of actually undertaking such a business venture.  I think we were all advocates for making it happen.  We said as much in jest, but I personally think Cincinnati could host such a venture.  I believe Christian Moerlein’s initiatives downtown are helping shape this possibility. 

After the meal and a short reprieve, we began walking north of the Altstadt.  I wanted to take the group through the Englischer Garten (English Gardens), but time only permitted that we see the southernmost portion of the city park.  We were able to catch some surfers on the river rapids at the park entrance too.  Very cool!  Once three o’clock chimed, we kicked it in gear to get to BMW on time.  Our tour was at four and I didn’t want us to miss it.  We made our way to the U-Bahn station (subway station) and I bought us some group tickets so we could take the rail line up to Olympia Park where the BMW Welt (BMW World) is located.  We made it with five minutes to spare!

River Surfers

I am very grateful that I made the tour reservations several weeks ago.  These plant tours book up quickly, and one of the reasons I never went on one last year was because I waited too long to book a tour.  Unfortunately, two other UC MBA students who were in Munich with us could not join the tour because it was sold out; however, for the rest of us, the 5 Euros (after a nice student discount) was a very fair price for what we saw. 

BMW Headquarters (4-Cyliner)

 The production facility was incredible to see, and varied greatly in some ways from the Toyota manufacturing facility I toured three weeks ago.  The biggest constraint on Munich’s BMW plant is the space available.  As one of the only inner-city car manufacturing plants in Europe, BMW has some unique production facility challenges they face on a regular basis.  I believe it was mentioned at the tour’s start that the plant had a capacity of 900 cars per day.  In Munich, variants of the Three Series are manufactured daily.  We started the tour in the press shop and proceeded to welding.  The level of automation was astounding and the plant was extremely clean.  I was amazed at just how little clutter, dust, and dirt was present. In comparison with the Toyota plant, this place was pristine.  I’ll comment more on the comparisons in another post.

After welding, we witnessed paint, engine assembly, full car assembly, and final inspection.  As we exited the plant, we could see the brand new vehicles driving onto the train cars located right at the plant exit.  These BMWs would be brought up north to the port, where they would be shipped all over the world.  The process was an incredible one to observe and the tour lasted nearly two hours.  Once back at BMW Welt, we explored some of the displays and exhibits before dispatching for the evening.  We were going to attempt a video blog, but were unable to do so because of a dying camera battery. 

Jordan at the Wheel

Eric, Paul, and Dan at BMW

BMW Welt

At this point in the evening, it was about 6:30pm.  I made some recommendations to the guys on what places they should visit for the evening, and I then broke off to meet up with my German friends at Blücher Café.  It was nice walking through the familiar streets near where I lived last year.  It was hard to believe it had been over seven months ago that I had last walked these streets daily.  When my friends arrived at 7pm, it was a wonderful reunion.  We had a great meal and several drinks along with much good conversation.  We talked for nearly four hours before realizing it was getting late.  This is what I recall best of German culture.  Time is less bounded at meals and the atmosphere is what is commonly referred to in Germany as gemütlich (literally translated to “cozy”).

Our conversation was all spoken in German, and I was excited to see that my speaking skills hadn’t deteriorated too much since last fall.  I guess language can be like riding a bike… at least in the short term.  It also reminded me of how much easier it is to immerse in a culture when you know the langue well.  We had some more “culture sharing” later in the night, when I pulled out the gifts I brought from America.  I towed along four of Cincinnati’s Christian Moerlein brews for them to try at some point.  The concept of a microbrew is not well known in Germany.  Most of their beers are light, dark, or wheat.  There is very little variation outside of this.  American microbrews tend to have a unique and wide spectrum of distinct tastes.  Since the guys had introduced me to so many types of German beer last year, I thought it would be nice to return the favor by offering some Cincinnati culture.

The night ended well as we wished each other luck and good health until our next encounter.  Perhaps next time, they’ll be making a trip to America!  I returned to the hostel around midnight and promptly went to bed.  I was up early this morning for breakfast and some writing.  I now sit on a Rail Jet (train line) on my way to Linz.  We left Munich at 11:30am and should arrive in Linz not long after 2:00pm.  In fact, we just passed through Salzburg, where I could recognize some familiar mountains.  I look forward to the start of our MBA program.  I have never been to Linz or Prague, so it will be exciting to see something new.  I’ll be in touch after we arrive!

On our way to Linz!