Friday July 22, 2016
Tram 19
I was staying in Munich for the Opera Festival. Tram 19 ran conveniently from my hotel to the opera house (Nationaltheater). As I waited at Hauptbahnhof S a family of half a dozen immigrants began arguing loudly in a language I did not understand. I observed the naked aggression on the face of the youngest, directed to his group. I was uncomfortable and reflected that this was not the Germany I knew.
Peterskirche
Friday morning and I visited the Frauenkirche, watched the Glockenspiel on the Town Hall in Marienplatz (10 minutes of musical box and clockwork figures), and then popped into Peterskirche. A service was in progress. There seemed to be much more atmosphere to Alter Peter than to the Dom. Posters announced Nightfever- a mass at 18:30 followed by candlelit procession finishing at 23:00.
Outside Peterskirche I spotted no less than ten police officers. They were traffic officers intent on the serious business of stopping cyclists in the pedestrian area outside the church. They lurked out of sight then smartly sprang into action when an offending cyclist was seen. If you did not have ID and suitable change for a fine then you were marched off for further interrogation. I walked towards Marienplatz and tried to warn a young lady cyclist, to no avail. She ignored me and went straight into the trap. And I thought all Germans were law abiding, fare paying non jaywalkers.
Beer Purity Festival
A bonus of my visit was that, after I had planned it, I discovered there was to be a 3 day festival to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the passing of the Bavarian Beer Purity law in 1516. Stalls were laid out over more than 400 metres of Odeonsplatz where streets were closed. Over 110 brewers had set up stands where 30cl of Helles was 3€ with another 3€ for the souvenir glass. Food stalls and three sound stages with live bands completed the entertainment. It was a gloriously sunny day. Objective number one was to find some shade in which to drink and eat.
German Tradition - Mastersingers
I reflected on the German tradition. Earlier that week I had watched a web relay of Glyndebourne's 2011 production (David McVicar) of Mastersingers that had been made available for just one week. It doesn't make one a Nazi to love the opera and its celebration of a High German art- in this case singing.
The Reinheitsgebot (Beer Purity Law) seemed to fit in this celebration of all things German. Not to mention Dürer and Caspar David Friedrich in the Altepinakothek.
The Transport Network
One of the reasons I love Munich is the transport network. Running straight through the centre of Munich connecting eight stations including Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof are seven suburban through lines running full size trains. It is the equivalent of the RER in Paris or the future Crossrail in London. Munich's system was established for the 1972 Olympics. Trains are almost continuous with waits of 1-2 minutes typically. Add to this a good tram network and transport is easy. Not necessarily cheap. I paid 43.40€ for 5 days travel including two airport trips and one suburban excursion. But the most amazing thing to my mind is that there are no ticket barriers, only slots to validate your ticket, and I saw no inspectors in the whole of my stay. Is no-one tempted not to pay?
Nationaltheater- the audience
The opera was the Flying Dutchman played without an interval from 19:00 to 21:30. This blog is not an opera review, so I'll just comment that the audience at Germany's largest stage is sophisticated and well dressed. I am used to meeting well turned out Spanish aristocrats at the Teatro Real in Madrid, but to my mind the Munich crowd win the prize.
After the opera
As I left the opera house I felt impeded by others looking at their mobile phones. What has the world come to that no-one can walk out of the opera without stopping to catch up with messages. I idly looked over a shoulder to see what looked like a WhatsApp page with messages from various friends confirming their locations. I thought no more of it.
I crossed Max Joseph Platz to Spatenhaus where I was looking forward to a teller of cured ham and raw vegetables, only to find the door firmly locked. Well dressed residents, probably with reservations, unsuccessfully tried the door and stared crossly at their mobile phones. The only words I caught were "heirat" (wedding) and polizei.
I crossed Perusastrasse to Zum Franziskaner where the Löwenbräu was good but the platter below Spatenhaus standards.
As I sat eating my post-opera supper I noted that I had not seen any trams pass, although there had been polizei. Clearly the tram line had stopped.
Walk home
I stepped out of Zum Franziskaner and made for Marienplatz where I could catch the S-Bahn instead of the defunct Tram 19. At this stage I should say that I was in Munich without a data service on my smart-phone. I was relying on wi-fi at the hotel and the offline maps I had downloaded from Google.
I noticed that Dienerstrasse was deserted. This was surprising. At 22:15 I would have expected a big crowd carousing and falling out of the bars. The U-Bahn entrance was roped off. Maybe the escaltors have failed I thought and carried on to the main S-bahn entrance in Marienplatz. An empty square apart from armed police guarding the S-bahn entrances. I asked a policeman what was going on. He said he could not say, I must read it in the newspapers. But with no trams, buses, trains or taxis he confirmed my only option was to walk the 2 miles to my hotel.
It was an eerie walk past what I later discovered were 3,600 armed policemen with just a few brave pedestrians making their way home. Nobody was panicking. The policemen even seemed to be in a good mood. I was left to speculate. Two possibilities sprang to mind. First an incident in Munich requiring a strong local response. Secondly a more global issue (nuclear attack?) requiring a precautionary shut down everywhere.
As I approached Stachus where the big department stores are located, heavily armed police refused entrance and all walkers were diverted North. By a travel agent near Hauptbahnhof a group of Africans was moved on by police. The station itself was closed.
Half an hour later at the hotel the night clerk told me of a shooting at a shopping centre and I could get the news on wi-fi.
News
My first reaction to news of a shopping centre attack was that it must have been at the heavily guarded Stachus, but that was wrong. It was a few miles away at Olympiazentrum. There were already messages on my mobile phone asking if I was OK so I busied myself on facebook and e-mail to assure everybody that I was safe.
The news eventually boiled down to a lone German-Iranian 18 year old gunman who had been planning a Breivik style attack for a year. With a false facebook page lure he had killed eight people and himself and conceivably achieved the notoriety he sought. The attack took place at 18:00 and his body was found at 20:20. Initially it looked as if others may have been involved and the motive or a possible IS connection were not known. The police response was justified in the moment, but once the facts were known was too much. The city wide lockdown continued all night and helicopters could be heard much of the night from my hotel room.
#Offentur
I hesitate to think what happened to those opera-goers who lived in one of the surrounding villages 20 miles away served by the S-Bahn lines. They had no option but to spend the night in Munich. The hashtag #offentur on twitter was used by Munich residents to offer a spare room in a house to those trapped by the lockdown.
I even heard that the mosque was opening its doors for those needing somewhere to stay.
It was ironic that the same words Open Door describe Angela Merkel's policy of welcoming immigrants. A policy that many are quick to blame for any violent incident.
Media and the electronic age
I reflected on the impact of our age and electronic media on the outrage. It seems
Ali David Sonboly may have bought his weapon on the "dark web". He had also been researching mass killings for at least a year. In a pre-internet age surely the local librarian would have confided in the friendly priest about the lad's interest in violence.
The publicity given to each mass killing must surely have an influence on other deranged persons. This is not terrorism, but the effect on the public is similar, and we must look to the media as one of the generators of evil intentions.
Other atrocities occurred in the same week in Southern Germany. An axe attack, a suicide bombing with possible IS connection or sympathy.
S-bahn seat
Just to give a fair balance to my report and not just report noisy immigrants, I must report the S-Bahn seat. The next day on a full train I was refused the one empty seat by a well dressed hausfrau who needed it to place her raincoat. Very politely done with all the appropriate "es tut mir Leid" but at 73 I was still left standing. So native Germans can be unthinking too.
Festival abandoned
On my return to the Beer Festival, I discovered that it had been cancelled as a mark of respect for the dead. I can see that it is difficult to carouse with tragedy around, but I did also feel sorry for the brewers and their customers.
I wondered what happened to the candlelit procession from Alte Peter.
Sunday July 31, 2016
Munich is paying tribute to the victims of the July 22 shooting in which nine people were killed with a church service attended by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck.
The nondenominational service at the Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, was the first of two memorial events on Sunday. Gauck was speaking later at an event in Bavaria's state parliament.
The Bayerische Staatsoper postpones "Opera for all" and live stream out of respect for Munich victims
The Bayerische Staatsoper and the BMW Group are cancelling the Opera for all-event and the linked live stream, due to take place on Sunday, July 31, since the Memorial Service and Vigil for the victims of the Munich shooting is set to take place at the same time. "The Staatsoper and all its employees, singers and musicians mourn for the loss of last Friday's victims. We have decided to carry on with our performances so that we may find some solace in art. However, it does not seem the right time to hold a large summer event in front of the theatre while we are surrounded by grief", says General Manager Nikolaus Bachler. "Seeing as the two events are happening simultaneously, we have decided that the live broadcast of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg will not take place."
The Bayerische Staatsoper, together with partner BMW Munich, is discussing the possibility of holding the open air event and the live stream in October. The Sunday performance of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg will be held on the National Theatre stage, like the rest of the current Munich Opera Festival performances.
