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| Origin as medieval town | |
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The year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is only the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg.[6] By that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Salt Route and a toll bridge.
In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification. In 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. (Wittelsbach's heirs, the Wittelsbach dynasty, would rule Bavaria until 1918.) In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split in two, Munich became the ducal residence of Upper Bavaria.
Duke Louis IV was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt monopoly, thus assuring it of additional income. In the late 15th century Munich underwent a revival of gothic arts—the Old Town Hall was enlarged, and a Munich's largest gothic church, now a cathedral—the Frauenkirche—constructed in only twenty years, starting in 1468.
[edit] Tags:Bavaria,Upper Bavaria,German,Isar,Monks,Augsburg,Guelph,Henry The Lion,Duke Of Saxony,Otto Ii Wittelsbach,Louis Iv,Gothic, | |
| Capital of reunited Bavaria | |
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Marienplatz, Munich about 1650
Banners with the colours of Munich (left) and Bavaria (right) with the Frauenkirche in the background.
When Bavaria was reunited in 1506, Munich became its capital. The arts and politics became increasingly influenced by the court (see Orlando di Lasso, Heinrich Schuetz and later Mozart and Richard Wagner). During the 16th century Munich was a centre of the German counter reformation, and also of renaissance arts. Duke Wilhelm V commissioned the Jesuit Michaelskirche, which became a centre for the counter-reformation, and also built the Hofbräuhaus for brewing brown beer in 1589. The Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609. In 1623 during the Thirty Years' War Munich became electoral residence when Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria was invested with the electoral dignity but in 1632 the city was occupied by Gustav II Adolph of Sweden. When the bubonic plague broke out in 1634 and 1635 about one third of the population died. Under the regency of the Bavarian electors Munich was an important centre of baroque life but also had to suffer under Habsburg occupations in 1704 and 1742.
In 1806, the city became the capital of the new Kingdom of Bavaria, with the state's parliament (the Landtag) and the new archdiocese of Munich and Freising being located in the city. Twenty years later Landshut University was moved to Munich. Many of the city's finest buildings belong to this period and were built under the first three Bavarian kings. Later Prince Regent Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Munich (see Franz von Stuck and Der Blaue Reiter).
[edit] Tags:State,Orlando Di Lasso,Heinrich Schuetz,Mozart,Counter Reformation,Renaissance,Wilhelm V,Hofbräuhaus,Maximilian I, Duke Of Bavaria,Electoral Dignity,Gustav Ii Adolph Of Sweden,Habsburg,Kingdom Of Bavaria,Landtag,Franz Von Stuck,Der Blaue Reiter, | |
| World War I through World War II | |
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Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, life in Munich became very difficult, as the Allied blockade of Germany led to food and fuel shortages. During French air raids in 1916, three bombs fell on Munich. After World War I, the city was at the centre of much political unrest. In November 1918 on the eve of revolution, Ludwig III and his family fled the city. After the murder of the first republican premier of Bavaria Kurt Eisner in February 1919 by Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley, the Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. When Communists had taken power, Lenin, who had lived in Munich some years before, sent a congratulatory telegram, but the Soviet Republic was put down on 3 May 1919 by the Freikorps. While the republican government had been restored, Munich subsequently became a hotbed of extremist politics, among which Adolf Hitler and the National Socialism rose to prominence.
Bombing damage to the Altstadt. Note the roofless and pockmarked Altes Rathaus looking up the Tal. The roofless Heilig-Geist-Kirche is on the right of the photo. Its spire, without the copper top, is behind the church. The Talbruck gate tower is missing completely.
In 1923 Hitler and his supporters, who were then concentrated in Munich, staged the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and seize power. The revolt failed, resulting in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the Nazi Party, which was virtually unknown outside Munich.
The city once again became a Nazi stronghold when the National Socialists took power in Germany in 1933. The National Socialist Workers Party created the first concentration camp at Dachau, 10 miles (16 km) north-west of the city. Because of its importance to the rise of National Socialism, Munich was referred to as the Hauptstadt der Bewegung ("Capital of the Movement"). The NSDAP headquarters was in Munich and many Führerbauten ("Führer-buildings") were built around the Königsplatz, some of which have survived to this day.
The city is known as the site of the culmination of the policy of appeasement employed by Britain and France leading up to World War II. It was in Munich that British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain assented to the annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region into Greater Germany in the hopes of sating the desires of Hitler's Third Reich.
Munich was the base of the White Rose, a student resistance movement from June 1942 to February 1943. The core members were arrested and executed following a distribution of leaflets in Munich University by Hans and Sophie Scholl.
The city was heavily damaged by allied bombing during World War II—the city was hit by 71 air raids over a period of six years.
[edit] Tags:Germany,Ludwig Iii,Premier Of Bavaria,Kurt Eisner,Anton Graf Von Arco Auf Valley,Bavarian Soviet Republic,Adolf Hitler,National Socialism,Beer Hall Putsch,Weimar Republic,Concentration Camp,White Rose,Resistance Movement,Hans And Sophie Scholl, | |
| Postwar | |
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After US occupation in 1945, Munich was completely rebuilt following a meticulous and – by comparison to other war-ravaged West German cities – rather conservative plan which preserved its pre-war street grid. In 1957 Munich's population passed the 1 million mark.
Munich was the site of the 1972 Summer Olympics, during which Israeli athletes were assassinated by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich massacre, when gunmen from the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team.
BMW Welt
Most Munich residents enjoy a high quality of life. Mercer HR Consulting consistently rates the city among the top 10 cities with the highest quality of life worldwide—a 2007 survey ranked Munich as 8th.[7] The same company also ranks Munich as the world's 39th most expensive city to live in and the most expensive major city in Germany.[8] Munich enjoys a thriving economy, driven by the information technology, biotechnology, and publishing sectors. Environmental pollution is low, although as of 2006 the city council is concerned about levels of particulate matter (PM), especially along the city's major thoroughfares. Since the enactment of EU legislation concerning the concentration of particulate in the air, environmental groups such as Greenpeace have staged large protest rallies to urge the city council and the State government to take a harder stance on pollution.[citation needed]
Today, the crime rate is low compared to other large German cities, such as Hamburg or Berlin. This high quality of life and safety has caused the city to be nicknamed "Toytown" amongst the English-speaking residents. German inhabitants call it "Millionendorf", an expression which means "village of a million people".
[edit] Tags:Berlin,1972 Summer Olympics, | |
| Geography | |
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Munich: View from the Englischer Garten
Munich lies on the elevated plains of Upper Bavaria, about 50 km (31.07 mi) north of the northern edge of the Alps, at an altitude of about 520 m (1,706.04 ft) ASL. The local rivers are the Isar and the Würm. Munich is situated in the Northern Alpine Foreland. The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile flint area which is no longer affected by the folding processes found in the Alps, while the southern part is covered with morainic hills. Between these are fields of fluvio-glacial out-wash, such as around Munich. Wherever these deposits get thinner, the ground water can permeate the gravel surface and flood the area, leading to marshes as in the north of Munich.
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| Climate | |
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Munich has a continental climate, strongly modified by the proximity of the Alps. The city's altitude and proximity to the northern edge of the Alps mean that precipitation is high. Rainstorms often come violently and unexpectedly. The range of temperature between day and night or summer and winter can be extreme. A warm downwind from the Alps (a föhn wind) can raise temperatures sharply within a few hours, even in winter.
Winters last from December to March. Munich experiences cold winters, but heavy rainfall is rarely seen in the winter. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of −2.2 °C (28 °F). Snow cover is seen for at least a couple of weeks during winter. Summers in Munich city are warm with an average maximum of 24.0 °C (75 °F) in the hottest month of July. The summers last from May until September.
Climate data for Munich
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
17.2
(63.0)
21.1
(70.0)
23.3
(73.9)
26.6
(79.9)
30.0
(86.0)
33.8
(92.8)
36.1
(97.0)
35.0
(95.0)
30.0
(86.0)
26.1
(79.0)
18.8
(65.8)
20.5
(68.9)
36.1
(97.0)
Average high °C (°F)
1.1
(34.0)
3.5
(38.3)
8.4
(47.1)
13.3
(55.9)
18.0
(64.4)
21.4
(70.5)
23.8
(74.8)
22.9
(73.2)
19.4
(66.9)
13.6
(56.5)
6.5
(43.7)
2.3
(36.1)
12.81
(55.06)
Daily mean °C (°F)
−2.2
(28.0)
−0.4
(31.3)
3.4
(38.1)
7.6
(45.7)
12.2
(54.0)
15.4
(59.7)
17.3
(63.1)
16.6
(61.9)
13.4
(56.1)
8.2
(46.8)
2.8
(37.0)
−0.9
(30.4)
7.78
(46.00)
Average low °C (°F)
−5
(23.0)
−3.7
(25.3)
0.4
(32.7)
2.9
(37.2)
7.1
(44.8)
10.4
(50.7)
12.0
(53.6)
11.7
(53.1)
8.8
(47.8)
4.5
(40.1)
0.2
(32.4)
−3.5
(25.7)
3.82
(38.88)
Record low °C (°F)
−26.6
(−15.9)
−22.7
(−8.9)
−15.5
(4.1)
−6.1
(21.0)
−2.7
(27.1)
−2.7
(27.1)
3.8
(38.8)
3.8
(38.8)
0
(32)
−6.1
(21.0)
−14.4
(6.1)
−21.1
(−6.0)
−26.6
(−15.9)
Precipitation mm (inches)
48.0
(1.89)
45.2
(1.78)
57.7
(2.272)
69.9
(2.752)
93.4
(3.677)
127.6
(5.024)
131.6
(5.181)
110.5
(4.35)
86.3
(3.398)
65.4
(2.575)
71.0
(2.795)
60.8
(2.394)
967.4
(38.087)
% humidity
80
74
62
57
55
58
55
55
61
71
80
81
65.75
Avg. rainy days
10.0
8.6
10.5
10.9
11.6
13.8
12.0
11.4
9.6
9.1
10.7
11.2
129.4
Sunshine hours
61
84
128
157
199
209
237
213
173
129
69
49
1,708
Source no. 1: World Meteorological Organisation[9]
Source no. 2: "Climate Munich – Bavaria". http://www.climatedata.eu/climate.php?loc=gmxx0087&lang=en.
[edit] Tags:/, | |
| Demographics | |
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Main article: Population Growth of Munich
Munich: St. Lukas and River Isar
In July 2007, Munich had 1.34 million inhabitants; 300,129 of those did not hold German citizenship. The city has strong Turkish and Balkan communities. The largest groups of foreign nationals were Turks (43,309), Albanians (30,385), Croats (24,866), Serbs (24,439), Greeks (22,486), Austrians (21,411), and Italians (20,847). 37% of foreign nationals come from the European Union.
With only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the population doubled about every 30 years. For example, it had 100,000 people in 1852 and then 250,000 people in 1883; by 1901, the figure had doubled again to 500,000. Since then, Munich has become Germany's third largest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted and in 1957, Munich's population passed the 1 million mark.
49.3% of Munich's residents are not affiliated with any religious group, and this group represents the fastest growing segment of the population. As in the rest of Germany, the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous, slow decline in their memberships. As of 31 December 2010, 36.8% of the city's inhabitants were Roman Catholic, 13.6% Protestant, and 0.3% Jewish.[10] There is also a small Old Catholic parish and an English-speaking parish of the Episcopal Church[disambiguation needed ] in the city.[11] There's also a significant number of Muslims living in Munich, mostly composed of immigrants.
Ancestry
Number
Germans
72%
Other European
9.4%
Turks
4%
Africans
6%
Asians
3%
Other/Mixed
5.6%
[edit] Tags:Cest,Third Largest City, | |
| Politics | |
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Results of the elections for the city council 2008
Munich's current mayor is Christian Ude of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Munich has a nearly unbroken history of SPD governments since World War II, which is remarkable because the southern part of Bavaria is a conservative stronghold, with the Christian Social Union winning absolute majorities among the Bavarian electorate in many elections at the communal, state, and federal levels. Bavaria's second city Nuremberg is also one of the very few Bavarian cities governed by a SPD-led coalition.
Munich is currently governed by a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the Rosa Liste (Pink List, a gay rights party).
As the capital of the Free State of Bavaria, Munich is an important political centre in Germany and the seat of the Bavarian State Parliament, the Staatskanzlei (the State Chancellery) and of all state departments.
Several national and international authorities are located in Munich, including the Federal Finance Court of Germany and the European Patent Office.
In 2003, Munich decided to switch 14,000 computers gradually to free software. It develops a Debian based Linux distribution called LiMux.[12]
[edit] Tags:Spd, | |
| Subdivisions | |
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Main article: Boroughs of Munich
Since the administrative reform in 1992, Munich is divided into 25 boroughs or Stadtbezirke.
[edit] Tags: | |
| Architecture | |
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Main article: Architecture of Munich
The New Town Hall and Marienplatz
Frauenkirche
The city is an inspiring mix of historic buildings and impressive architecture, since Munich reconstructed the ruins of their historic buildings but also created new landmarks of architecture. A survey, conducted by the Society's Center for Sustainable Destinations for the National Geographic Traveler, chose over 100 historic places around the world and ranked Munich as the 30th best destination.[13]
[edit] Tags: | |
| The inner city | |
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At the centre of the city is the Marienplatz—a large open square named after the Mariensäule, a Marian column in its centre—with the Old Tags: | |
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