This morning, in a spirit of cultural-must-do, I set out to hit two churches: Michaelskirche (where the tomb of King Ludwig II, the 'Mad King' and builder of castles Neuschwanstein, Linderhoff, and Herrnchiemsee rests) and Buergersaalkirche. It's so easy to get stuck in the same routine, but I was flipping through my Munich guidebook last night (Sundays get boring in Europe due to everything being closed), and resolved to put this in my planner for the very next day.
Photo: Archangel Michael (his biceps were huge!) offers holy water. Michaelskirche is stunning. Walking in, I could see why Ludwig II is buried here, since I've been to Linderhoff and Neuschwanstein and know something of his general taste. It reminded me of Theaterinskirche in style, but not all in white, but still an openess and sense of space Asamkirche doesn't have.
I followed the signs down to the crypt, paid the 2 euro admission fee, and was utterly by myself, in the crypt, with a bunch of dead Bavarian rulers, members of the Wittlesbach family. Above, the organ was playing mightly. With all the flowers spewing from Ludwig's tomb, the underground setting, and the organ playing, I half-expected a masked, caped crusader to come out and start sernading me with "Point of No Return." I was a little freaked out, at first, to be the minority in the room who were among the living, but it was really nice and quiet and there was no one to bother me. Then that revelation--that I liked this quiet--began to concern me even more. Photo: Koenig Ludwig II von Bayern's tomb is showered in flowers, plaques, and roses--just the way he'd like it.
I followed the signs down to the crypt, paid the 2 euro admission fee, and was utterly by myself, in the crypt, with a bunch of dead Bavarian rulers, members of the Wittlesbach family. Above, the organ was playing mightly. With all the flowers spewing from Ludwig's tomb, the underground setting, and the organ playing, I half-expected a masked, caped crusader to come out and start sernading me with "Point of No Return." I was a little freaked out, at first, to be the minority in the room who were among the living, but it was really nice and quiet and there was no one to bother me. Then that revelation--that I liked this quiet--began to concern me even more. Photo: Koenig Ludwig II von Bayern's tomb is showered in flowers, plaques, and roses--just the way he'd like it. I spent the most time with King Ludwig, since I really do like his castles and empathize with his difficulty in adjusting to the concept of a modern ruler (not that I've ever been in that position), but wandered around the other tombs, too. I did notice an astonishing number of princesses and duchesses from Spain (with tombs that read 'born "a Spanish name" in Madrid,' and then given a more German name when they married), which surprised me. It seems that a fair number of male Wittelsbach rulers married Spanish princesses. I also saw some countesses around my age, which made me sad. Napoleon's stepson was also among the number there. One Wittelsbach had the most elaborate tomb: Death with a capital "D" personifed, skulls, the works. It made me think of Dr. Eve Duffy's emphasis on the concept of 'memento mori" in her Early Modern Europe class: the habit of society to constantly emphasize the ever present white elephant on the room, Death himself. I would imagine that a tomb would be remembrance enough for Death, but I suppose someone wanted to drive the point home.
I left the Wittlesbachs in their eternal peace and wandered around the church itself--apparently it is a Jesuit church, and is pretty much staffed by Jesuit priests. The front facade is undergoing some reconstruction right now, so I hadn't the opportunity to really see the full effect of the church from the street. I saw some lovely stained glass toward the front with the Bavarian shield, and wished I could see it from the other side, or illuminated by sunlight.
I headed over to Buergersaalkirche down the street, on Neuhauserstasse, and noticed an astonishing number of people about. There's a chapel on the ground entrance, so I took the flight of stairs to the left and saw signs out indicating there was no photography during Mass. Checking my watch, I realized I had arrived at exactly 12 noon, and did get the chance to see the church and witness the beginning of the Mass. I couldn't follow anyone for the life of me, but I did catch "Vater unser," but I have to say, as a group, they were quite out of harmony, and I wouldn't have been able to follow them in English, let alone German. So I ducked out and resolved to come back another day. The church looked nice--not on a Michaelskirche scale, but pretty indeed.
Photo: Photo from center back of Michaelskirche, Kaufingerstraße.
Photo: Photo from center back of Michaelskirche, Kaufingerstraße.
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