Munich and Murnau/September 30-October 1

To see larger views of the pictures, simply click on them!!



Our first stop....Munich, Germany!!















Bavaria, being the most Catholic of all the 16 states of Germany, has many beautiful churches and chapel in honor of our Blessed Mother, Mary.
This is one in Munich, located at the Marian Platz, or Mary's Plaza. 

A close-up of the front of the Marian church, which is over 150 years old.

The large Glockenspiel, or "Playing Bells", which ring at set hours and include music and figures in motion.  You'll find these types of displays in many of the churches...saw one in Nuremburg, too!

 To learn more about this special church, go to:


Church of Our Lady in Munich

This statue is located in the center of Marian Platz and is the patron saint of Bavaria...the Madonna and Child.  You will see this statue all over this southern state of Germany!

This inscription is at the base of the Madonna statue and shows that Pope John Paul II visited here and dedicated the statue on November 19 in
1980.  Notice how the date's form is different from ours...in much of Europe, they will put the day before the month.

Notice the blue and white patterned Bavarian flag!
I'm still not sure of why it is that way...not too crazy about it!  ;-)

Almost EVERY building throughout Germany and Austria has beautiful flowers growing from window boxes!

The Augustiner Restaurant is on the Marian Platz...we had lunch here.  Yummy food!  I had the traditional Bavarian wieners with potato salad...good, but not like Mom's!!  :-)

                                        This is inside of the beautiful Cathedral to Our Lady that you saw in photos above.  SO many amazing churches and chapels throughout Germany and Austria!  Many are in the Gothic or Baroque style of architecture.

I lit a candle inside of this cathedral for my family and all of my friends!  A special candle was lit for my SJB family!

The view from inside our hotel room in the little village of Murnau, south of Munich.  We stayed here for two nights over the Oktoberfest weekend.  And boy, do those Germans party!!  My sister and I were lucky to have been on this side of the hotel as other guests were overlooking the courtyard....let's just say that there was no concept of time down there, and several in our travel group were looking sleep deprived at breakfast!!

The quaint village of Murnau...love the cobblestone streets and small shops.  There are also many outdoor cafes, as is typical in much of Europe. Shopping is always fun, but you had to remember that you were shopping with EUROS, not American dollars.....exchange rate that week was about $1.38 = 1 Euro. 

Outside view of the hotel and restaurant in Murnau...an old building, but well cared for.

There are many different types of fountains in plazas throughout Europe...here's the one in Murnau!

Outdoor cafe in Murnau...later that evening after we returned from having seen the Passion Play in Oberammergau nearby, Monica and went out for a walk, looking for some hot tea or coffee to soothe our sore throats....had some Italian ice cream instead!!! :-)  I had never tried Gelatto until now...in Germany of all places!  It was SO, SO good! 

This beautiful Marian chapel is in the center of Murnau's main street...very old!

Another statue of the Bavarian Madonna

The name of this Marian chapel is "Maria Hilf", which literally translates to "Mary Help", but better named Mary, Help of Christians.  That's also the name of the church at Holy Hill back in the Badger State!

Translation:  "Mary, Mother of the Oppressed, please pray for us!"

Believe it or not, this is a butcher shop!!
(Metzgerei....ein Metzger is a butcher)

Every shop or building on this main street in Murnau was painted SO beautifully...many have murals that also tell a story.  You'll find this throughout much of Germany and Austria, especially in smaller towns.  

Any "Rathaus" is the town or city hall.
It's not pronounced like the rodent, please!  :-)
(rot-house)

This mural of Emperor Ludwig is on the Rathaus.
I'll tell you more about him and another long-time ruler by the name of Maria-Therese!

You'll see many of these "onion dome" tops to buildings and churches throughout southern Europe as they represent the style of architecture brought to the region during the Turkish occupation of long ago.

This inscription is found on many church and chapel doors as well as over the doorways to many homes throughout Germany and Austria...and many other Catholic nations.  It is customary to write this on the feast of the Epiphany (Three Kings) on January 6th each year. The numbers represent the year 2010 and the letters C, M, and B represent the first letters of the names of the Wisemen:  Caspar, Melchior, and Baltazar.  Many families believe that by inscribing this on their doors they will be blessed with a good new year!  My mother told me that her mother would do this every January 6th as well!

These next few photos were taken inside of the Maria Hilf Church in Murnau.....

More beautiful buildings along main street in Murnau

                                   I couldn't resist taking pictures of the ethnic German outfits!  The Dirndls for the women and girls and, of course, Lederhosen for the men and boys!
The hearts you see around the necks are the traditional "greeting cards" made of gingerbread and decorated with any message you'd like....happy birthday, I love you, etc.  They are very popular throughout Germany!  We saw many for sale at Oktoberfest along with the pretzels and beer!  :-)