History of Munich

The history of Munich

Munich is a city of unreal castles, Gothic churches, beautiful parks, numerous museums including the biggest technology museum in Europe, Oktoberfest, the world's best brewery, a home of FC Bayern, the cradle  of an automotive giant BMW and the last but not the least a city of nice people who are extraordinarily kind and welcoming to every tourist.
Henri the Lion, a Saxon duke who briefly ruled Bavaria, founded Munich in 1158. In 1503, Munich became the capital of the united Bavaria. This was a city of modest size and architectural beauty until Ludwig I (1825 - 1848) succeeded to the throne. In his time, Munich was significantly expanded becoming the cultural, artistic and social center. In Munich, special attention was devoted to music and theater, which is why it was considered an exceptional cultural center of Bavaria and the whole Germany. After the First World War, Munich became the center of the right-wing movement. In 1923, Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the Bavarian government. Ever since Munich has been regarded as the stronghold of the Nazi Party. During the Second World War, the allied forces heavily bombed the city. However, some important medieval buildings have been preserved, such as the Munich Cathedral and the City Hall. After the end of the war, Munich quickly developed into a high-tech center, from which corporate giants such as Siemens, BMW and Allianz come  from. The Munich Fair  plays an important role in the economy of the city – it organizes 40 international fairs annually, featuring exhibitors from all over the world. In 1972, Summer Olympics were held in Munich.

Today Munich has approximately 1.7 million citizens, out of which foreigners account for 25% of the city's population. The old part of the city is located west of the Izar River and covers the city center with the largest and most culturally important Marienplatz square. In the city center there are numerous buildings from the eighteenth century that were built under the Italian influence. The most famous urban part of the city is Swabbing near the English gardens - the longest and incredibly beautiful urban park in the world, full of greenery and small artificial lakes. The most famous green area in Munich, visited by several million tourists on a regular yearly basis, is Theresa’s meadow, where every year the famous Oktoberfest is held. The occasion for the first Oktoberfest was the wedding of Ludwig from Bavaria and Princess Theresa from Saxe-Hilderburghausen (October 17, 1810).

The surrounding of Munich really offer plenty of contents, so you are bound to visit numerous lakes that are only twenty kilometers away from the city, as well as the famous Neuschwanstein castle, which served as an inspiration to the famous Walt Disney, who later imprinted this castle on his company logo.