U-Bahn 3 or 6. Stations: Universität (Monopterus and Chinese Tower),
Münchener Freiheit (Seehaus).
In 1789 the Military Gardens were made accessible to the public in
the hope that the French Revolution would thereby be kept from inflaming
Bavaria also. Thus originated Europe’s first public park, which
meanwhile has grown into an area covering 3.7 square kilometres, the
largest uninterrupted parkland of any major German city. The name ‘Englischer
Garten’ points to a 19th-century idea that conceives a garden as a
landscape, accessible on foot and designed like a painting after nature.
Garden architect Ludwig von Sckell, who designed the Englische Garten,
apparently subscribed to these principles too.
Actually, promenading was at first looked down upon as being idle in
public. Today the park is immensely popular. At weekends in particular a
flurry of activity reigns here. Weekdays are quieter, as are the areas
north of the Isar Ring, which are best explored after hiring a bicycle.
Our short stroll begins at the Japanese Tea House, a pavilion donated
to the city on the occasion of the 1972 Olympic Games. Ever since, a tea
ceremony is held every other weekend, hourly on the hour. The entrance
fee comes to 3 Euro and includes tea-tasting and biscuits. Past the
Japanese waterfall along the Eisbach one reaches the Monopterus,
a small Greek temple. It provides the best-known view across the city’s
spires, and from here it’s only a short walk to the Chinese Tower,
Munich’s most celebrated monument in song and poetry. The pagoda was
built in 1789 after the one at London’s Kew Gardens. A visit to the
beer garden or the Kleinhesseloer Lake might round off this stroll
through the southern part of the Englische Garten.
An overview of hotels in Munich.
Other German cities.
Englischer Garten
