Munich: German Flags and Georg

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I love my times with Munich local guide Georg Reichlmayr — pronounced like a bad guy on Rat Patrol. Rrrrreichlmayr. We got together recently, just after Germany had beat Argentina in the quarterfinal in the World Cup, and everyone was out, going crazy. I enjoy seeing Germans wave their flag, which — with their difficult 20th-century history — they only do for football victories.

Marveling at the chaos in the streets, Georg says, “We won the game…lock up the cats!” I joke that people who were patriotic in the 1930s might be rummaging around in attics and basements, muttering, “There must be a flag around here somewhere.”
I’ve got a long list of restaurants to check for my guidebook. Post-Fussball victory, it’s not a great night for that, as everyone’s partying and it’s tough to get a fair gauge on the normal energy of the place. I complain that I have an imbalance of restaurants, with too many beer gardens and beer halls. Georg admits that’s a problem in Munich — it has an abundance of great beer halls and a shortage of fine restaurants without the noise and suds.

We pop into the Heilig-Geist-Stüberl — literally the “Holy Ghost Pub.” I always read my description before entering a place, then stow the book and see if it rings true. In my guidebook, it’s described like this: “Heilig-Geist-Stüberl is a funky, retro little hole-in-the-wall where you are sure to meet locals (the German cousins of those who go to Reno because it’s cheaper than Vegas, and who consider karaoke high culture). The interior, a 1980s time warp, makes you feel like you’re stepping into an alcoholic cuckoo clock.”

Georg cracks up about the last three words. Stepping inside, it’s perfectly described. It’s hard to get out, but I have to be very disciplined — one drink can kill your research momentum.

We pass an Apple Store — open late and thriving, just like those in American malls. Then we see a bookstore with big reading lounges. Georg says these are all the rage here. I say, “Bookstores providing a ‘third place’ have long been popular in the US.”

A few blocks later, a guy at a curbside table hollers at me. He’s a US soldier stationed at Grafenwöhr. He says they give everyone landing there from the States a copy of the Rick Steves issue of Smithsonian magazine as a welcome gift and encouragement to get out and see Europe while they’re here. I tell him sales have been great (Smithsonian thinks they will sell out of their double-sized print run), but I didn’t realize we were getting distribution at US military bases in Europe. It’s a great bit of news.

Talking with the soldier gets Georg going on Germany’s involvement in Afghanistan. He muses, “What are we doing in Afghanistan? Let’s give the baby a name” (a wonderful German phrase for our “Let’s call a spade a spade”). I say, “You’re there to make America your friend.” He says, “Of course. We’re not defending Oktoberfest. The Taliban is no concern of ours. This last Oktoberfest came with extreme security — the most I saw. Why? Because Germany is in Afghanistan.”

A bit later, seeing someone walk by with a T-shirt reading, “Costa Rica: no army since 1948,” Georg says, “I think America would be more a super power without an army. With no army at all. Think of what you could do with your money instead.” I explain to Georg that you cannot seriously discuss that issue in the USA. He says, “Yes, I know. We have a long history of important families like Krupp making vast fortunes on armaments.”

With our work about done, we stop by Georg’s favorite beer hall, Der Pschorr. At the Hofbräuhaus, they have a big wooden keg out on display, but draw beer from huge stainless-steel dispensers. At Der Pschorr, every few minutes you hear a whop! as they tap a classic old wooden keg. Hearing this, every German there knows they’re in for a good fresh mug.

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In a beer garden, you’re surrounded by big women in uplifting dirndls. Georg confirms that German men don’t favor petite women. These famously low-cut outfits seem designed for German Rubenesque tastes. With the euphoria associated with the World Cup games, there are flags flapping everywhere. A beermaid with German flags painted above her cleavage joins us to take our order. I can’t resist saying, “Nice flags.” I don’t think…it just comes out. Nice flags. She looks at Georg and says, “Warum sagen alle Männer das Gleiche?” (Why do all men react the same?). Georg says, “Weil du sie genau dort trägst” (Because you put them right there).

I ask if they sell half-liters. Georg says, “This is a Biergarten, not a kindergarten”…and he orders us each the standard full Mass, or liter glass (about a quart, nearly what we’d call ein pitcher — but for one person).

Conversation flows like the beer in these beer halls. I mention that Austria just went smoke-free in restaurants this month. Georg thinks they’ll fight it. I marvel at how many people still smoke despite the comically blunt “smoking kills” warnings on cigarette packs. And he can’t resist commenting on America’s love affair with guns. “In European eyes, this America and private guns is something very funny. In the supermarket, kaboom, you defend yourself with a gun.” He doubles over in laughter. Recovering, he admits, “In a different aspect, we are mad, too. In Germany, every man has the right to go as fast as he wants on our roads. All Europe has a speed limit except in Germany. That’s our gun. Not even the Social Democrats dare to have speed limit discussion. Only the Greens do. It’s guns for you, speed for us, and smoke for Austrians. And Italians…they vote for Berlusconi. Berlusconi just bought a Botticelli. Like Mussolini owning a Rafael. They shouldn’t let it happen.”

To Georg, having guns everywhere and the death penalty seems incongruous. He marvels, “You have the death penalty and you give people the right to have a gun. To join the EU, you can’t even talk about the death penalty. It is so fundamental. The state does not kill people. That’s one reason why Turkey can’t get in to the EU. But we kill ourselves without guns. On a night like this, when Germany wins a World Cup match…tomorrow we read about more dead on our roads. The Autobahn is safe. It’s the countryside roads — they are suicide.”

Then, whop! Another keg is tapped as this night of German flags, high-volume conversation, and Georg’s favorite beer seems to be just starting.

Comments

17 Replies to “Munich: German Flags and Georg”

  1. I travel to Munich several times per year for work. I like the beer halls and the Bavarian food, but I usually only have one German dinner per trip (the beer, on the other hand…is in every restaurant and so much better than American beer). I have several great non-German recommendations: Just a block south of the Viktualianmarkt, there are two great restaurants on Utzschneiderstrasse. At #4 is Osteria Veneta – great Italian. Next door at #6 is Yum! Thai restaurant, one of my favorite Thai restaurants anywhere in the world. A few blocks northwest of Odeonsplatz is Sarovar Indian restaurant at Furstenstrasse 12 (or try Goa at Thierschstrasse 8 near the Isator stop). Near the zoo about a block from the Thalkirchen stop is Mangostin Asia restaurant at Maria-Einsiedel-Strasse 2. In Schwabing, get off at Giselestrasse for Italian at L’Osteria (Leopoldstrasse 28) – a great choice for budget-friendly pasta and pizza. A few doors down at #44 is Don Luca Cantina which has decent Mexican food. Speaking of Mexican, just west of Ostbahnhof is Escobar on Breisacherstrasse 19. Finally, a German biergarten I’d rather go to the more local-oriented Hofbraukeller near the Gasteig than the Chinese tower biergarten or some of the other tourist-heavy places.

  2. Georg Reichlmayr should do a Google search !! The Turkish parliment had already voted to abolish the death penalty in peace time in August 2002. Later in 2004, Turkey agreed to a total ban on capital punishment including during wars..

  3. I am puzzled over the “let’s give the baby a name” commment. After living in Germany for almost 24 years, having a German family, watching German TV, etc. I have never heard this idiom before. It must be something Bavarian or something Georg likes to say, but I don’t think it is a common German saying at all. Ever since the last World Cup held in Germany in 2006, one is able to see lots of German flags everywhere, though of course one sees more of them during a football championship. What is fun and even more interesting are the multitude of flags from all the other nations. That is something special!

  4. The craziest thing I ever saw was my trip to Germany in Aug 2005, was getting off the train in Cologne with Soccer Fans coming to town for a big game! It was so crazy I thought we would get crushed. We didn’t eat too much German food while we were there, a bit too heavy on a three week trip. We kept trying to order different types of beer. We could see other people having beer that looked different than us, but everytime they would bring us another Pilzner. I wonder if they just thought that is all American would drink? We found great Italian, Asian and Turkish food on that trip.

  5. That was my biggest surprise when I was in Munich: the beer! It comes in a giant buck of one liter. I don’t know how the waitresses do to handles 12 at a time.

    Gotta love those biergarten.

    Marie

  6. think the gun thing is weird. In Norway a high precentage of households do have guns. yet there are few murders. why?

  7. An America with out an army could afford to fund Rick Steves Travels in Europe PBS shows for a full hour instead of just a half hour.

  8. I don’t mean to be flippant, because I understand what Georg meant, but one could argue Germany would “be more a super power” if America had no army.

  9. Great blog! What’s more enjoyable to read than about fun and controversial conversations with Germans in their beer halls? I can remember hanging out at the myriad of bier halls and gartens in the streets surrounding the Marienzplatz on a trip to Germany just after graduating high school in 1988. My friends and I chatted up the locals, with topics ranging from the mundane, but interesting (beer maids’ cleavages), to the ongoing Soviet occupation of East Germany, to American gun laws, death penalty, and bland American beer. I love Munchen. I’ve been on a once-per-decade jaunt back to Europe, but it’s been 22 years since I’ve been to Bavaria (I’m now 40). Wow, I’m overdue.

  10. My husband and I were also in Munich the day Germany beat Argentina in the World Cup…we got some amazing footage of all the people going nuts in the Meirenzplatz metro! We spent the first part of the day at Dauchau, which was a quiet and reflective experience, only to be greeted by a wild celebration once we got back into town…we went to the Hofbrauhaus to partake in the fun. We loved the German food and beer there…and ended up talking politics and American medical coverage policies with an Australian guy. He was pretty shocked that we have to actually PAY to have a baby in the U.S…always interesting to hear how things run in other countries…every place has it’s positives and negatives, I suppose.

  11. A german suggesting that American not have a military. That is ironic and hilarious. I would remind him that he should be ashamed to not have a realization that history has proven evil powers surface and a cable army is necessary to protect against them. Or say sarcastically “I’m sure you Germans would have really liked that idea in the 1940s”. I dont agree with this fellow, but I can at least see his point on the Afganistan and gun control issue, but the no millitary comment is absurd. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he is probably not much of a student of economics. The last generation of German’s seemed ashamed of there countries history and would never suggest something like that. However, there is apparently this younger generation that has lost touch with that idea. The only time I have spent in Germany is at the airports, and that was enough for me. Stepping off a plane in Frankfurt and being jammed into a crowded bus, and given no real explanation of where we were going was odd “I can’t believe this” type of experience. Of course it was just a shuttle to the terminal, but given that countries history, I think it’s not fair to put foreign travelers through that experience. There are too many great places in Europe and rest of the world to see, don’t bother with Germany. I can drink beer in my basement if I really wanted a beer hall experience.

  12. To JustGriff: As of yet, my only German experience was also at FRA–last November as a short stopover to and from Istanbul. But unlike you, I’m not going to generalize an entire country based on 21/2 hours space betwen planes. (And judging from Frankfurt? The least historically perserved city in Germany? Really now…) I do look forward to really seeing Germany someday–one of my friends is trying to persuade me to include Munich since I would be in Europe around the time of Oktoberfest this year. But had I seen last year what I had to put off until this year, I would. (Berlin would be interesting on the 20th anniversary of Reunification, but I digress.) Great blog Rick, once again you tempt the loyal reader to possibly rethink their intineraries…

  13. Taliban is no concern of Germany, says Georg. Bet he thinks the Nazis were of no concern to the world either. I’ll also bet he could care less about the Islamification of western Europe.

  14. I think the answer as to why Germany is in Afghanistan is simple, they are part of the NATO Alliance. I suppose it isn’t convenient to talk about the billions we spent keeping West Berlin and West Germany safe for 45 years. That’s the thing about alliances it requires support from all members to work. Further when we realistically discuss reducing our presence in Germany there is an uproar in the local communities and German states our bases pump defense dollars into. As a military member nothing would please me more than an end to conflict but I don’t yet live in a world that reflects that wish. I suppose these are the inconvenient truths Georg Reichelmayr hasn’t or won’t consider.

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