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Munich, Germany

Piotr Jaworski

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Munich is a popular tourist destination and has been described as Germany's "second city".

The city has several important art museums, among them the Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, and the Pinakothek der Moderne. Before World War I, it was also the site of the Blaue Reiter group of artists.

Other famous tourist attractions include the English Garden (Englischer Garten - a formal garden park roughly in the center of the city that contains a nudist area, beautiful jogging tracks and much more), the Deutsches Museum (Science Museum), and the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, an ornate clock with moving figures atop the town hall. Perhaps Munich's most famous attraction is the Oktoberfest, a 2-week-long fair with many rides and several very large tents. The Oktoberfest was first held October 12, 1810 in honor of the marriage of crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities were closed with a horse race and in the following years the horse races were continued and later developed into what is now known as the Oktoberfest. Despite its name, Oktoberfest actually begins in September, and is usually timed to end on the first Sunday in October.

Other famous buildings in Munich include the Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady) and the Olympiaturm ("Olympic Tower"), a radio and TV broadcasting station.

The Frauenkirche is the most famous building in the city center. This is Munich's central cathedral and is famous for its twin towers which are topped with brass minaret-type structures. At first glance the two towers appear to be the same height but in actual fact one is slightly taller than the other. Unlike most buildings in Munich's old town, the towers of the Frauenkirche (but not the church itself) survived the war intact, making them more than 400 years old. The towers are apparently somewhat unstable, as there are large signs at the tower base warning visitors to keep away from the base of the tower in thunderstorms or high winds. (The Frauenkirche's towers are also the measurement for a new rule which limits the height of new buildings to the same height. This rule was passed by the people of Munich in a referendum ("Bürgerentscheid") against the will of the political parties in the cities parliament ("Stadtrat") who fear that this can harm the city's attractiveness to investors. This provides for an odd view of the city from the top of Peterskirche or one of the other central churches: one sees no skyscrapers downtown, but several dotted on the horizon, where the official city limits end, with the Hypovereinsbank building being the primary example.) BMW headquarters building (one of the few buildings that have been built from the top to the bottom) and the bowl shaped BMW museum

The Olympiaturm (Olympic Tower) was built for the 1972 Summer Olympics which were held in Munich and during which terrorist gunmen from the Palestinian "Black September" group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team. A rescue attempt by the West German government was unsuccessful and resulted in the deaths of the Israeli hostages, 5 of the terrorists, and one German police officer. Several games of the 1974 Soccer World Cup were also held in the city and in 2006 it will again be host to several games, including the opening match of the next FIFA Soccer World Cup. The 2006 World Cup, however, will not take place in the traditional Olympia Stadium, but in Munich's new soccer stadium, the Allianz Arena.

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