Munich Part I on Film

Hi Film Friends! Today, we explore the Bavarian capital of Munich! Before that however, we have to get there from Berlin and I’ve decided to do so via the railway. I had booked an early morning journey prior to flying into Europe and would have arrived in the afternoon with some time to explore Munich. However, as fate would have it, my arrival into Munich would be delayed.

Remember the hurricane winds from the previous blogpost? Well, as a result, several trees have fallen on the tracks and obstructed the railway services. Not knowing how severe the delay was, An Chun, his family and I decided to just go to the Berlin Central Station and try to figure things out. We arrived at 5am to catch our 6am trains. It was chaos upon arrival. Train services were delayed all the way till 1pm. None of the passenger service centers were open and there were snaking lines of angry passengers demanding to know what happened or simply get a replacement ride. We joined in, waiting for an hour before they even opened.

If this were Singapore, the train operators would’ve gotten so much backlash. Knowing there would be a potential delay since the night before, shouldn’t they have maybe sent out an email to notify the passengers? Or maybe open at least one passenger service center to deal with the affected passengers? Maybe clear the tracks earlier? Benefit of the doubt though. They don’t get hurricane winds like this often and must have been lost as to what to do.

Anyway, I digress, the passenger service was of no help and we ended up waiting in a cafe till train services resumed at 1pm. I boarded the train, which was free and was on my way to Munich.

I arrived safely in Munich at about 9pm and almost every shop was closed. I had a simple meal at McDonald’s before heading back to the hostel to prepare for the next day.

The next day, I signed up for a free walking tour organized by the hostel. It was a great way to see the city for cheap and meet some new friends. Speaking of my hostel, I stayed in Wombat’s City Hostels. The facilities were really nice and you even receive a couple of welcome drinks when you checked in. The hostel organizes city tours and day trips outside of Munich as well and from what I’ve heard and experienced, they are quality tours.

So we started off the tour walking to Karlsplatz where the guide gave us a brief history of the city and shared stories and anecdotes as we made our way into St Michael’s Church.

Inside, we were greeted by the high ceilings and the grand altar of the church, which really gives it a sense of grandeur. The morning light pouring in added to the overall feeling sacredness of the church. There were many other tourists in there taking photos and enjoying the church, mostly minding their own business. However, there were some who were talking really loudly and just not mindful of their behaviours. The church is still an active site of worship so be respectful when visiting.

Inside St. Michael’s Church. Famous people who were buried here includes King Ludwig II, also known as the Swan King. We’ll talk more about his story in the next post.

After visiting the church, we made our way to the main city square of Marienplatz where we watched the Glockenspiel in the tower of the Neues Rathaus (New City Hall) play alongside hundreds of tourists. The Glockenspiel chimes every day at 11am, 12pm and 5pm. The Glockenspiel depicts two stories from the 16th century. The top half of the Glockenspiel tells the story of the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine. In honour of the happy couple there is a joust with life-sized knights on horseback representing Bavaria (in white and blue) and Lothringen (in red and white). The Bavarian knight wins every time.

This is then followed by the second story, the coopers' dance. According to myth, 1517 was a year of plague in Munich. The coopers, someone who makes wooden cask, barrels and buckets, are said to have danced through the streets to "bring fresh vitality to fearful dispositions." The coopers remained loyal to the duke, and their dance came to symbolise perseverance and loyalty to authority through difficult times.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Agfa Vista 400. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

We made our way towards Viktualienmrkt (Victuals Market) for a favourite German past time, drinking beer. Especially drinking beer in a biergarten (Beer Garden), which originated in Munich! Another fun fact, there were many chestnut trees in the biergarten because according to our guide, chestnut trees have large leaves which provided shade for the beer. It also grew really quickly so they were the best kind of trees for shading beer. This was how important beer was to the Bavarians. It was so important that it dictated what kind of trees were planted in the city. I wonder how true it was though.

Next we checked out the famous brewery, Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus was founded by Duke Wilhelm V, the same guy depicted in the Glockenspiel, as the Royal Brewery of Bavaria. Interesting fact, many famous/infamous people were regular patrons of the Hofbräuhaus. The list includes Amadeus Mozart, Vladimir Lenin and Hitler. In fact, it was here that the Nazi party held their first meetings.

Entering the brewery was like entering a giant party hall. There was music being played by a mini brass band and rows of tables filled with locals and tourists wearing Lederhosens and sat shoulder to shoulder making merry with a mug of beer in their hands. It was a party atmosphere. Loud and festive. We stayed in there to get a vibe of the location and went off to the next and final location of the tour, Odeonsplatz where we tipped the guide and split off. It was a pretty informational and casual tour, though there were a few times I nearly lost my group because I was lagging behind taking photos.

Our guide enjoying a mug of good old German beer with us.

When the Bavarians couldn’t afford sculpted decorations so they just painted them on. Looks pretty legit actually.

Point where the tour group dispersed in Odeonsplatz.

After the tour came the most exciting part of my whole Europe trip and it really made me fall in love with Munich. Right before my trip, I hit up some fellow film photographers on Instagram and got some recommendations in return. However, in Munich, I managed to connect with a film photographer who agreed to show me around. I was to meet him and his girlfriend after my tour and that’s exactly what I did.

I was really nervous to meet @fluky.shooter in person as I have never met up with someone I met online while I was overseas before. Thoughts ran through my mind as I was walking to the meeting point at Königsplatz. Was he going to be cool? Would he be a creep? (Sorry Thomas!) Would it be awkward!? I felt my heart beat faster and faster as I approached two figures sitting on the stairs of the Antikensammlungen where Thomas said he would be. Contact. We exchanged pleasantries and it was a little awkward in the beginning, but the awkwardness soon dissipated as soon as our film cameras came out. Thomas and Alphie (@photophina), Thomas’ girlfriend, were both using Leicaflex SLs. Thomas has a black one and Alphie, a silver one. They looked really classy. You’ll get to see them in the next post. The three of us were also coincidentally dressed in an olive outerwear and jeans and we had a good laugh over it.

Königsplatz where I met Thomas and Alphie.

Thomas had a route planned out for us and it was nice to finally not have to worry about where to go and just follow someone. We were going to go to a rooftop cafe on top of the local university. Apparently it has one one of the best views in Munich. On clear days, you could even see the Alps from the cafe. We walked through the museums and galleries to get to the university. I took so many photos and we had so much fun just learning about each other’s culture.

Yup. That’s a basketball facing the streets. Highly unusual. Anyone knows why?

Weird looking UFO houses. Apparently they’re called Futuro houses.

Reflection selfie. We took quite a lot of selfies that day.

After a coffee and more sharing, we made our way to dm-drogerie markt, a German chain drugstore, to pick up some cheap film. Three rolls of Kodak Gold 200 film set me back only €7.99 (SGD 12.80) while two rolls of Agfa Precisa CT100 cost me €12.45 (SGD19.92). That’s pretty affordable even by Singaporean standards. So if anyone of you are ever in Germany and need some film, you know where you can get them! Friendly film tip brought to you by Thomas.

Photos up till now were shot on the Contax T2 with Fuji C200. Developed and scanned by Photocity Lab in Bangkok, Thailand.

I know this is an abrupt end. But this is the end of two rolls of film so we will continue our film walk with Thomas and Alphie next week! Thank you guys for taking time to read this week’s blogpost! Keep the comments coming! I really appreciate it! Till the next blogpost, keep shooting film friends!