Further out of the city center is the headquarters of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, along with the BMW Museum, which exhibits motorcycles and cars. In 1917, BMW began producing airplane engines, expanded to motorbikes in 1923 and cars in 1928. The aluminum-clad main office building was designed after a four-cylinder engine. It was completed right […]
Archive | Destinations RSS feed for this section
Asamkirche, or St-Johann-Nepomuk, Munich
This over-the-top 18th-century church was designed by the Asam brothers, who Rococo’d many of Bavaria’s churches. The Baroque façade pops out of an otherwise ordinary street. The interior is small, just 22 x 8 meters, but not an inch was spared. It is divided into three sections – the dark, lower portion is for visitors […]
Theatinerkirche, or St Catjan, Munich
This 17th-century Baroque church is a burst of color, with golden towers and a green copper dome. It is modeled after Rome’s Sant’ Andrea della Valle. The façade was completed in Rococo style by François de Cuvilliers, who was credited for bringing Rococo to Germany. The interior is white stucco. The church and monastery were […]
Frauenkirche or Dom, Munich
The Frauenkirche’s15th-century copper onion-domed towers loom over Munich’s skyline. When the church was built, the 99-meter towers were the tallest in the city; today, no new building is allowed to obstruct the view. The towers were meant to be topped with spires, but lack of funds resulted in Plan B: the domes, which were inspired […]
Munich
A German friend once told me that Bavaria is the Texas of Germany, which I don’t think is meant to be a compliment. True, the region is religiously and socially conservative and its residents speak with a unique accent, but as a tourist I’m always pleased to find Germany’s most enjoyable clichés here: Lederhosen, cavernous […]
Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, Barcelona
Sagrada Família is the one must-see in town. This commission was originally for a modest orthodox church in a neo-Gothic style. Obviously, it went a different direction. Gaudì started this project when he was 31 and spent the rest of his life working on it, living in an on-site studio and becoming a recluse. For […]
Casa Milà, or La Pedrera, Barcelona
Casa Milà is another one of Gaudì’s extraordinary designs, commissioned by the flamboyant developer Pere Milà and his wife. This apartment building shook the neighborhood in the early 1900s with its rippling limestone façade and wrought iron balconies and windows. It consists of two buildings, each nine stories, joined around a courtyard. Gaudì was a […]
Casa Batlló, Barcelona
Industrialist Josep Batlló hired Gaudí in 1907 to give his plain building a facelift. He ended up with a fantastic yet functional abode. I’ll let the images do most of the talking. Gaudí designed a new undulating façade of glass, stone and mosaics, complete with curvy windows and wavy balconies. Like the facade, the interior […]
La Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Barcelona, or La Seu
Barcelona’s stunning 15th-century Gothic cathedral is dedicated to local martyr Santa Eulàlia, whose tomb rests in a crypt below the high altar. The cathedral sits on the site previously occupied by a Roman temple and a Christian basilica. The neo-Gothic façade is relatively new, having been completed in the 19th century. I didn’t get to […]
Palau Güell, Barcelona
Antoni Gaudí left his modernisme mark all over Barcelona. His very unique, very imaginative architectural and design style enlivens a number of buildings around town. Palau Güell is an example of Gaudì’s early work, when he was cultivating his own expression of form and space. Industrialist Eusebi Güell commissioned Antoni Gaudì to construct this unique, […]
