Historic Munich: Career Change in old Age - How Munich Uses Old Buildings Sustainably

First walk north from the station until you see the historic gate building of the BMW Group Classic at the corner of Lerchenauer Straße and Moosacher Straße on the diagonal left. This is where the then still young company built its first production facility in 1918.  Today, you can strengthen yourself with a cappuccino or espresso in the "Boxer Bar" before the tour gets started.

Looking at the gate with the characteristic clock tower we move to the left until we come to the first traffic light. Here we cross Moosacher Straße and turn diagonally left into Strassbergerstraße. We follow the street until we come to a pedestrian/cycle path (recognizable by the blue sign), the El-Thouni-Weg. We follow this path for about 80 meters until we reach a fork, which we take to the left.

The surface changes from asphalt to red bricks and a yellow sign with the number "139" greets us - we are now entering the Student Dorm Olympic Village, one of the most popular student accommodations in Munich. We follow the path of red and gray bricks for about 400 meters in a slight right turn. At about halfway we find an orange spiral staircase on the left with the inscription "G - Eingang G zur Fahrebene" here we continue to keep to the right and follow the path until we find orange pipes that run through the air on stilts from there on. From here on we follow exactly these striking orange pipes, painted in one of the official colors of the 1972 Olympic Games. At the wide bend, the view of the 291 meter high Olympic Tower opens up on the right. We continue along the orange pipes through a kind of tunnel that houses, among other things, an EDEKA and come across light blue pipes. We follow these again for about 50 meters until the colorfully painted bungalows appear. A large staircase gives us the opportunity to get closer to the small buildings and admire the many imaginative works of art created by the inhabitants of the bungalows. Feel free to take some time here and stroll through the rows of houses. Otherwise, go straight through the village to the right until you reach the southern side. Here, smaller paths lead to a larger, rough pedestrian/bike path, which we follow to the right.

With the Monument to the 1972 Olympic assassination we leave the Olympic Village and make our way to the Olympic Park. A wide bridge at the end of which facing us is the “Klagebalken” leads us across the Georg-Brauchle-Ring. We walk between the Olympic Hall (on the left) and the Olympic Stadium (on the right) towards the Great Olympic Lake. Today, the Olympic Hall is used to host sports events and indoor concerts with up to 15,500 spectators. Looking at the lake we can either stop at the Beer Garden at the Coubertinplatz or continue our tour: We turn right until we reach the bridge of the Rudolf-Harbig-Weg, which we now follow for about 1 km to the southern end of the park.

Schwere-Reiter-Strasse opens up in front of us, which we cross at the traffic light to reach Infanteriestrasse. Along the entire length of Infanteriestraße (about 600 meters), old barracks of the Bavarian army can be admired on our right - from the yellow officers' casino in the northwest to the Munich Armory (Lothstraße) and the Clothing Office of the Royal Infantry. The latter is our next destination, so we now follow Infanteriestraße for about 250 meters. Here, on the right, we are greeted by some well-known company names in the driveway, which give us an idea of what purpose the buildings serve today: where infantry troops once rode out, students now ride their bicycles, among other things. Here we can take another rest in the "Birdie" and have a refreshing drink. We leave the area on the same way we entered it and follow the Infanteriestraße again this time until we reach the semicircular building of the Munich District Court. Here we turn right and what looks like a sneak path serves a purpose: we can get a better look at the state-of-the-art "Fire Station 4 - Schwabing" of the Munich Fire Department, built in 2016. Passing the front of the fire station, we walk along Heßstraße for about 100 meters until we reach the back of the red Munich Armory (Lothstraße)  on the right. In the symmetrical raw brick building in round arch style is today the Faculty of Design of the Munich University of Applied Sciences. Here you can sit down and recharge your batteries, which is definitely recommended, because from here we walk about 2.5 km in the direction of the city center.

We pass the back of the Zeughaus and come across Dachauer Straße. To see the building also from the front, we turn left and follow the rather straight Dachauer Straße to “Stiglmaierplatz”. Looking to the left along Brienner Straße, an imposing Greek-style city gate appears - the Propylaea. We pass through the gate, which is on Königsplatz, continue along Brienner Straße until we reach a traffic circle (Karolinenplatz) in the middle of which there is an obelisk. We take the first exit onto Barer Straße, at the end of which our next destination awaits - the Old stock Exchange. The Wilhelminian style building at Lenbachplatz 2 was the headquarters of the Munich Stock Exchange until 2007 and was then completely renovated in consideration of the preservation of historical monuments.

Via several traffic lights we reach Karlsplatz (Stachus) to the southwest, in the middle of which a fountain delights especially the young visitors in summer. After taking advantage of the many underground opportunities for culinary refreshment and refreshment, we pass through the Karlstor. Welcome to the old town. On the following 1.2km you will find everything your shopping heart desires. But beware: we're not at the end of our tour yet and every bag means extra strain on your feet and the rest of your body. We make our way along Kaufinger Strasse and Neuhauser Strasse, past the German Hunting and Fishing Museum and across Marienplatz. The street with the melodious name "Tal" leads us to the Valentin-Karlstadt-Musäum and the Isartor, respectively. The latter was built in 1337 and renovated in neo-Gothic style around 1884. Funny detail: The clocks on the main tower run upside down - an allusion to Karl Valentin and Willy Brandt's quote "In Bayern gehen die Uhren anders" ("In Bavaria, the clocks work differently").

Those who wish can end the tour at this point and take advantage of the good public transportation connections via the "Isartor" S-Bahn station. Those who have not yet had enough or long for an after-work beer (or juice) on a boat can of course continue:

Standing between the two flank towers and looking towards the street, our final sprint now begins. We take advantage of the wide streets of Isartorplatz to cross Zweibrückenstraße to Ludwigsbrücke and onto Museum Island. We pass the Deutsches Museum and cross over to the other side of the small Isar River at the Zenneck Bridge. Immediately after the bridge we keep to the right to walk along the Isar, about 1.5 km - past the Corneliusbrücke and the Reichenbachbrücke. At the Wittelsbacherbrücke we cross the Isar once again and turn left at its end onto Wittelsbacherstraße. After the street joins Auenstraße, we follow Isartalstraße to the corner of Lagerhausstraße. If you look to the right, you will see a 36-meter-long ship floating above the street. The end of our tour is reached - The “Alte Utting” and a refreshing drink are now only a stone's throw away.

The return journey can be made by subway (U3/U6 Poccistraße or Implerstraße) or by bus (132 / 62 Lagerhausstraße).