GREEN, I LOVE YOU, GREEN The timeless beauty of Bavaria F amous Spanish poet Federico García Lorca probably wasn’t thinking of Munich when he wrote “Green, I love you, green”. However, if he’d ever walked the banks of the Isar through the city, he would undoubtedly have uttered that verse. Mu- nich is a city obsessed with nature. How- ever, its parks aren’t sterile grassy areas, fenced off and with signs reading “Don’t Walk on the Grass”. Rather, they are vi- brant and chaotic, sports-orientated and packed with unexpected sights, from wet- suits for surfing in mid-October, to herds of sheep grazing freely just a hundred me- tres from expensive cars. The English Garden New Yorkers are rightly proud of Cen- tral Park, but few people beyond Germa- ny know that Munich’s Englischer Garten is actually a bigger urban oasis. Founded in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson, this gigantic green area stretches over almost four square-kilometres, traversing the city from the centre to the north. But it isn’t mere size that makes it a world phenome- non, but what happens there. At the very entrance to the park, on the Eisbach ca- nal, you will be greeted by absolute ur- ban surrealism. That’s because it boasts the famous standing wave, where surfers queue year-round even though there’s no
sand and no ocean.
Venturing further into the park’s depths, the landscape becomes more tran- quil, as it transitions into the style of a clas- sic English landscape garden. There you will find the Monopteros, a Greek-style circular temple that was built on an artifi- cial hill in the mid-19 th century and today offers the best view of the city’s spires. If long walks tire you, the tracks will quick- ly lead you to the Chinese Tower. Under this unusual wooden pagoda is one of the city’s largest beer gardens. Olympic Park While the Englischer Garten repre- sents a symbol of classicism, the city’s Olympic Park is a monument to vision- ary engineering. Built for the purpos- es of the 1972 Summer Olympics, this complex is a masterclass in modern land- scape architecture. The peaks of its signa- ture glass-roofed, tent-like stadium, de- signed by famous architect Frei Otto, rise over grassy hills like structures out of sci fi movies. However, this park’s most fas- cinating story lurks under the grass. To- day’s apparent idyllic hill was built in the 1960s using over two million cubic me- tres of rubble and debris left behind fol- lowing the huge bombing of Munich in World War II. Munich utilised all that de- struction to create its highest city green observation deck, where the view on clear autumn days stretches all the way to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps. Palace Garden and Nymphenburg For those with a preference for ge- ometric precision, the very centre of the city, next to the Odeonsplatz, is home to the historic Hofgarten (royal court gar- den). Landscaped in the Renaissance style
back at the start of the 17 th century, this green oasis serves as an outdoor living room for the Munich intelligentsia and students. At its centre stands the Diana Temple, the architecture of which creates fantastic acoustics. Don’t be surprised if you find a lone musician in the pavilion playing Bach on the cello or a group of people spontaneously dancing the Argen- tine tango. If you nonetheless desire complete aristocratic luxury, head westwards to Nymphenburg Palace Park. This baroque park surrounds the former summer resi- dence of Bavarian rulers, where it gradu- ally merges with a dense forest, the per- fect destination for those seeking long nature walks.
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