Being in Munich in 2023
German people say that Munich is the most vibrant city in Germany.
I’ve never been anywhere else than Munich in Germany so I can’t compare but indeed Munich has some special vibes.
Architecture
The architecture in Munich is quite diverse. In the city center, there are a lot of ancient Neo-Gothic buildings.
There’re a lot of more modern buildings that look like corporate buildings of the 80s.
There also could be found more recent buildings in minimalistic tech style.
Further away from the city center where the house-living areas are located, the architecture is more in classic Bavarian style or just grey buildings in the 90s style.
There’re also a lot of living areas around the Munich centre containing modern living loft-like buildings surrounded with green areas, but they are mostly occasional.
Purity
Most of the Bayern people are proud of the cleanness of the Munich. Indeed, there are a lot of parks. The air in Munich is very fresh & pure and the water in the river is very transparent.
But still, sometimes you might notice a lot of dirt and pollution in busy central areas like train stations. It’s probably in every city like that, but some Munich residents tell that city was much cleaner 15 years ago.
Culture
The German culture has its differences and you’ll feel it in Munich.
Sport. Everyone is doing it. Mostly youth of course, but there’re a lot of fit people around. You can find a lot of people running in the parks.
I like the outdoor culture of Munich. There’re most stores and shops clothed on the holidays and parks are overcrowded with people who are swimming in the river, sunbathing, playing volleyball, and so on.
The interesting thing is that when you are going to the shops and restaurants the waiters and service people are mostly 40+ seniors. But still, there’s a lot of youth in the parks on the holidays.
Cycling
Cycling is an essential part of Munich. I’ve never been to Amsterdam to compare, but I love the culture of cycling & bicycle lines everywhere.
Services
I was expecting the quality of service in restaurants and stores in Munich to a higher level.
As I already mentioned most of the service workers are 40+. It’s really common in Munich to feel some arrogance from service people especially form older ones. I thought that this is just a dilemma of German culture but not only.
There’re a lot of kind and pleasant people in Germany and Munich. One of the Munich citizens told me that there’s a low unemployment rate for service workers in Munich and I think it eliminates the competition for getting a job. Thus, employers don’t care about the quality of the staff. So every service institution has the same level of service quality.
Vibes
Munich has some special vibes in the abundance of luxury. The clean streets with premium fashion stores like Gucci and Prada; luxury cars: Porsche, Maybach, Lamborghini, Mclaren. It makes you feel more like in Moncao.
All of these disappear though if you step out 4 km outside of downtown.
So the Munich
It’s a unusual city in Germany. A lot of people treat Bavaria as a separate country and indeed it feels different.
The combination of ambient Neo-Gothic architecture with the modern eco-green style buildings containing the vibes of luxury on the streets makes this city very special, so everyone who visited it falls in love.
The public services level though desire to be better, but I hope that it’ll change for the better soon.
