Bavaria is different. Anyone moving here from elsewhere in Germany notices it pretty quickly. You order a Radler instead of an Alster, ask for a Semmel instead of a bread roll, and say “Grüß Gott” instead of “Guten Tag.” The CDU is called CSU here, and even the weather has a character of its own – the warm Föhn winds are known to bring sudden shifts in both atmosphere and mood.

And yet: Munich is not Bavaria. The state capital follows its own rules. Lederhosen and traditional clichés are certainly part of the cityscape – but more as a backdrop for tourists or Oktoberfest than everyday life. Day to day, Munich presents itself as an international, modern metropolis with a strong sense of identity.

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Munich at a glance: a compact overview of politics, population, and city life. From the current city leadership and demographic trends to culture, climate, and Oktoberfest facts – this is Munich by the numbers.

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Alter Hof, © NEW IN THE CITY

The first newcomers arrived at the banks of the Isar a thousand years ago. Munich has come a long way since then, a way that was sometimes smooth and easy, sometimes hard and rocky. Thus the little village developed into a fully grown city over the centuries - a city with some scars, lots of traditions and a colorful past. We will now take you on a time trip spanning a millenium of Munich history.

Walking through Bavaria’s biggest city today, it is hard to believe, but time travelers going back to downtown Munich in the year 500, would find themselves on a green meadow. There would not be a single building, no road, probably not one human being in sight. The visitors from the future might go unnoticed until around the year 1,000 when the first Munich citizens would probably react to them by saying a short prayer - after all, Munich’s first settlers were monks. It was at this time when the Benedictine Monastery at Lake Tegern opened a small branch on the site of modern downtown Munich. This settlement soon developed into a small village, “Apud Munichen” (by the monks).

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Edmund Stoiber’s (Bavarian Minister President 1993- 2007) well-known slogan “Laptop and Lederhosen” aptly points out the symbiosis of the traditional and the modern that is typical for Bavaria and its capital city. On the one hand, there is the cliché of the grouchy old Bavarian who spends his days sucking on veal sausages and drinking beer with his friends at the bar, barely looking beyond his limited horizons.

On the other hand, there is the glittering example of the ever-growing cosmopolitan city of Munich, with its multicultural population and the home of international heavyweights such as BMW and the Oktoberfest – a cultural metropolis and a boomtown. The truth can be found somewhere in the middle. The facts, institutions and endearing traditions listed here provide a brief statistical overview of the metropolis on the Isar; they might also give you a glimpse of the Bavarian soul.

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