We Pack the Bags and are off To Munich

Sunday, April 1st, 2007 at 3:09 am

glockenspiel We caught the train to Munich and as we were traveling at night, we got a sleeper.

Well sleeping on a lurching train is not my idea of a restful nights sleep, but added with to excitement of traveling through France to Germany made sleeping impossible anyway.

So here we are in Munich. We weren’t there for long as we mainly came to do a tour of the palaces of King Ludwig II, the fairytale king.

We went for a walk to downtown Munich and suddenly heard this chiming, so once we found the source we stood with a number of other tourists to watch the town clock (Glockenspiel) do its thing. Has to be the most boring thing ever.

When it was over we looked at each other and said “Well is that it.” Definitely would not be on my list of must does when we return.

The Glockenspiel chimes each day at 11am and 12pm during the winter months and 11am, 12pm and 5pm during the summer months. Life-sized statues dance around each other .

Apparently the Glockenspiel will be closed for repairs during the summer of 2007. Don’t be too upset if you miss it.

There is of course, as there always is, some history behind the clock. It celebrates two events of Munich’s past on two separate levels.

On one level there are the coopers or barrel makers who are shown doing the “Dance of the Coopers” or the Schafflertanz. Apparently every seven years there is a live performance to mark the end of the plague in 1517. The dance is similar to Morris dancing with the bojangs and bells.

On the other level are jousting knights which depict a famous tournament that was held in 1568 to celebrate the royal wedding of Duke Wilhelm V in Marienplatz.