Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [261]
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MUNICH’S OLYMPIC TRAGEDY
The 1972 Summer Olympics were particularly significant for Munich as they gave the city a chance to make a historic break with the past. It was the first time the country would host the prestigious sporting event since 1936, when the Games were held in Berlin under Hitler. The motto was the ‘Happy Games’, and the emblem was a blue sun spiral. The city built an innovative Olympic Park, which included the tentlike plexiglass canopies that were revolutionary in design for the times. It was the perfect opportunity to present a new, democratic Germany full of pride and optimism.
But in the final week of the Games disaster struck. Members of a Palestinian terrorist group known as ‘Black September’ killed two Israeli athletes and took nine others hostage at the Olympic Village, demanding the release of political prisoners and an escape aircraft. During a failed rescue attempt by German security forces at Fürstenfeldbrück, a military base west of Munich, all of the hostages and most of the terrorists were killed. Competition was suspended briefly before Avery Brundage, the International Olympic Committee president, famously declared ‘the Games must go on’. The bloody incident cast a pall over the entire Olympics and sporting events in Germany for years to follow.
These tragic events are chronicled in an Oscar-winning documentary, One Day in September (2000) by Kevin McDonald, as well as in Steven Spielberg’s historical fictional account, Munich (2005). The killings prompted German security to rethink its methods and create the elite counter-terrorist unit, GSG 9.
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COURSES
Large numbers of expats and immigrants who make Munich their home mean there are tens of language schools in the city offering German language courses for all levels. Prices start at around €250 for a four-week course:
DESK (Map; 263 334; www.desk-sprachkurse.de; Blumenstrasse 1) Tried and tested school with 25 years of experience behind it and a central location.
DeutschAkademie (Map; 2601 8989; www.deutschakademie.de; Sonnenstrasse 8) Small groups, qualified teachers and courses running throughout the day.
Inlingua (Map; 231 1530; www.inlingua.de; Sendlinger-Tor-Platz 6) A national chain with branches in every large city across Germany; serving a more corporate clientele.
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Map; 2180 2143; www.fremdsprachen.uni-muenchen.de; Schellingstrasse 3) Summer and term-time courses at the university.
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MUNICH FOR CHILDREN
Museums with hands-on exhibits to play with, a well-stocked zoo, countless children’s theatre events and plenty of parks make Munich a superb city for kiddies.
You can safely leave the little ones at Münchner Kindl (Map; 2423 1600; Burgstrasse 6; per hr €7, 1st hr free; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat). Offspring aged 18 months to 10 years old are welcome at this toy-filled childcare centre near Marienplatz.
Sure-fire hits include the Hellabrunn zoo, which has a huge Kinderzoo (children’s zoo), and SeaLife, an entertaining aquarium in the Olympiapark. The Deutsches Museum has lots of interactive science exhibits and a reconstructed coal mine, while the Spielzeugmuseum (Toy Museum; ) should keep the little ’uns mesmerised.
Other entertainment for children includes the following:
Circus Krone (Map; 545 8000; Zirkus-Krone-Strasse 1-6; Dec-Apr) An enduring favourite and venerable Munich tradition.
Münchner Marionettentheater (Map; 265 712; Blumenstrasse 32) Munich’s main puppet theatre often shows Mozart’s musical plays.
Münchner Theater für Kinder (Map; 593 858; www.muenchner-theater-fuer-kinder.de,