Most people go to Dachau to visit the concentration camp. Of course, that was on our list for our…read moretrip. But most do not seem to realize that Dachau is a premedieval city with plenty to explore that has nothing to do with the Third Reich. Take the Schloss Dachau and the BEAUTIFUL gardens. It was only a euro or two to get in to the palace - though they let us in for free with our Mehrtagesticket (best investment ever in our trip!). Now, a majority of the palace was closed that morning...I'm not sure if other parts are normally open. We were able to see the main entrance and two rooms on the upper floor...one a normal palace-y room at the top of the stairs, and then a breathtaking room with a gorgeous carved wood ceiling. It was mesmerizing...and then add the view out into the gardens...just spectacular! We went back downstairs and went around the backside of the palace to see the gardens (no entrance fee required). I think we spent more time exploring the gardens than we did the palace itself. A few mornings a week, you can get fresh flowers (I saw the sign) to bring home. If we would have had more time, I would have brought a picnic to enjoy along the paths. There is a pay parking lot right up front of the castle - it was a euro or two to park. More expensive than in the old town, but still very reasonable. Do yourself a favor and explore everything that Dachau has to offer!

My favorite place to visit when I am there (almost every year when we are there for the Dachau…read moreVolks Festival in Aug ). The gardens and views of the city are beautiful and there is a nice path to walk down to the city. There is also a restaurant where you can sit outside and a little beer garden at the wall. Wish they would publish the menu and what music and band they have playing.

It's fairly hard to imagine that an extremely wealthy and influential family decided to dedicate a…read morecluster of housing, meant to mimic a small city, to those living in poverty in early 16th century Europe. Well, the Fugger family did just that and its 'experiment' in social housing has lasted for almost five hundred years. Visitors are able to view a 'model dwelling' decorated as it would have been during the genesis of this project. In an adjacent room a film (auf Deutsch) about the Fugger family and how it came to create the Fuggerei runs on a loop. Pamphlets at the entrance are offered in a multiplicity of languages (including Chinese and Japanese), so non-German speakers are also able to gain a solid understanding of what's what. The on-site WW II bunker is quite worth a visit. One sees how the Fuggerei was severely damaged during the war and how quickly and determinedly those in charge decided to rebuild. While I very much enjoyed visiting the Fuggerei, I was constantly aware of walking around a complex in which people live. One is cautioned to be respectful and to not 'take pictures'. It's hard not to look at the facades of all the buildings when one walks by them. Well, it's hard for me, at least. Being a fan of architecture, I walked the streets of Augsburg en route to the Fuggerei pretty much doing the same thing. I happened to walk past a small boy kicking a soccer ball around, presumably, the front of his Fugger flat. He scowled at me when I passed him. That's when I decided it was time for me to go. There is information regarding who is eligible to live at the Fuggerei (adherents to the Catholic faith) and how much one pays (0,88 euro annually & three prayers daily, apparently). What I wasn't able to find out was how one is picked to live on premises. Not that I'd qualify...

This is a must-see for any visitor to Augsburg. I learned so much about Augsburger history, German…read morehistory, European history, social history...HISTORY. The story of the Fuggerei - a "social settlement" started during the late Middle Ages/early Renaissance by Jakob Fugger to help the poor and disenfranchised get their feet back under them and become self-sufficient citizens during a time where social Darwinism and caste-like class stratification were ravaging Europe - is one that will touch your heart and provide leagues of depth to your big picture understanding of life. It doesn't take long to come here, but the impact will stay with you for life. Added benefit: Almost everything that's written down is also translated into English.

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site [Bavaria, Germany]…read more The Memorial is open to visitors daily from 9 am to 5 pm and entrance to the Memorial is free. You can rent a headset for a few euros. We spent about 3 hours doing a self-guided tour exploring the grounds and looking at the various exhibitions. Guided tours are available. We were able to see remnants of the foundations of the main SS guardhouse where the arriving prisoners first entered the concentration camp, the vast open space of the roll call area located between the maintenance building and the barracks complex and all the way to the former crematorium area, the main place of remembrance in the Memorial Site. "Between 1933 and 1945, around 41,500 persons died of hunger, exhaustion, and disease, the direct result of being tortured, or were brutally murdered in the Dachau concentration camp and its subcamps." Visiting Dachau was the most poignant experience in my entire trip to Germany. I didn't leave the place with dry eyes. The grounds is huge so wear comfortable shoes and dress in layers. Review #4082

We met Stephanie our tour guide in front of the visitor center. She led us onto the cspan subway…read more10 stops to the bus. We walked in the steps of the prisoners to the visitor center. Stephanie was very knowledgeable, informative and personable. There were so many markers and information posted from the train station into the camp. Photographs, artifacts, films, maps and reenactment of the 12 years gave us insight into the lives of those held here. On 22 March 1933, a concentration camp for political prisoners was established in Dachau. It served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a "school of violence" for the men of the SS. In the 12 years of its existence, over 200,000 people from all over Europe were imprisoned here and in 140 subcamps. 41,500 were murdered. The KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau (Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site) was built in 1965 on the initiative of and according to the plans of surviving prisoners & comprises the grounds of the former prisoners' camp and the crematorium area. The Jourhaus with the entrance and the gate inscription "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work makes you free"), the utility building, the camp prison ("bunker"), watchtowers, barbed wire electrified fencing and crematoria have been preserved. At the transition from the former roll call square to the camp road with its original 34 prisoner barracks are two reconstructed buildings, one of which is accessible as a museum barrack. The service building now houses a permanent exhibition on the historical site. The focus is on the fate of the inmates, under the leitmotif "The Path of the Prisoners". In addition, four religious memorial sites (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Russian Orthodox) and a central memorial on the former roll call square were created.As further memorial sites, the former SS shooting range Hebertshausen, where over 4000 Soviet prisoners of war were murdered, the concentration camp cemetery on the Leitenberg and the forest cemetery can be visited in the vicinity. Dachau is a 800 yrs nice town, however the thousands of residents ignored what was happening literally in their backyard. I discovered after liberation townspeople buried the bodies that were piled up. The movies of the liberation with dead & barely alive men was upsetting. I was also surprised to see the enormity of businesses throughout Germany, that profited from slave labor. That the residents of Dachau & Germany witnessed starving slaves being paraded to employment. They were clean restrooms in the visitor center and Museum. The visitor center had a large bookshop and Cafe.

The imposing bell tower & the sound of the bells reverberated through the square. Everyone smiled,…read morestopped & tried to see the figures moving. Daily at 11:00 AM, noon and 5:00 PM from March through October the ornate clock treats us to a 12 to 15 minute show. 32 life-size animated figures move to music from 43 bells. The top tier shows a royal wedding & knight jousting from 1568. The bottom tier shows the traditional coopers' dance that celebrated the end of the plague. It ends with a golden rooster at the top flapping its wings & crowing three times.

A VERY FAMOUS MECHANICAL CLOCK IN MUNICH'S MARIENPLATZ…read more====================================================== My husband and I were walking around the Marienplatz on Friday, April 17, 2026 just before noon and the plaza started filling up with people waiting to see the life-size figures. The show lasts about fifteen minutes and starts daily at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. from March to October. The clock has 43 bells and 32 life-size figures and was added during the completion of the Neues Rathaus or New Town Hall in 1908. We found a good spot to stand and wait on the opposite side of the plaza which was great because we were in the shade. If you ever visit Munich you definitely have to check this out. There are plenty of places to shop or dine nearby.

Huge fan of Churches...and this one is pretty darn awesome…read more Beautiful ornate large place of worship. Gets busy so be patient. Cool to visit the tower and the views of the plaza below. Recommend if you are visiting Munich.

St. Peter's Church is Munich's oldest parish church, dating back to the 12th century. The church's…read moreinterior features stunning Baroque frescoes and woodwork, but the highlight is its bell tower, which offers panoramic views of Munich and, on clear days, the surrounding Alps.