Ein deutscher Urlaub Trivia Quiz

Answer: Brandhorst Museum

The Brandhorst Museum is part of the area known as the 'Kunstareal' (literally 'art area'), which also houses the three galleries known as the 'Pinakotheken', the Glyptothek - which was commissioned by Ludwig I as a museum for his Greek and Roman sculpture collection - the Florentine-inspired Lenbachhaus, and the Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst (State Collection of Egyptian Art).

The Brandhorst Museum contains rooms dedicated to the works of American artists Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol, as well as Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and up-and-coming German artists.

Some of the pieces we saw included an installation which took up an entire room and was inspired by Pacific Island art, a video of Japanese street dancers, and a children's play house which had been converted into an artwork.

Answer: The Allianz Arena

Although Bayern Munich are the Manchester United of Germany in terms of trophies and popularity, their stadium isn't the biggest - that honour belongs to the Westfalenstadion, home of Borussia Dortmund. Bayern Munich moved to the Allianz Arena from their former home, the Munich Olympic Stadium, in 2005.

It was also home to Munich's lesser-known team, TSV 1860 Munich, though they were forced to seek a new ground after being relegated in 2017. The stadium's exterior is illuminated in different colours, depending on the team playing there (red for Bayern, white for the German national team and blue for 1860).

The stadium tour gives fans the opportunity to see the players' changing rooms, the press boxes and even walk onto the pitch to the tune of the Champions' League theme! The associated museum also houses the many trophies the club have won over the years, gifts from other teams and a club shop with its own brand soft drinks, amongst other things.

Answer: Marienplatz

The Marienplatz is part of the Old Town of Munich, and is named after the statue of Mary, which was erected to celebrate the end of Swedish occupation in the 17th century. If you stick around to watch the show when the clock strikes, the first thing you'll see is the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V and Renata of Lorraine, with a pair of knights on horseback having a jousting contest.

The knight in blue and white represents Bavaria, and wins the fight; his opponent, in red and white, represents Lothringen.

The lower part of the display features a dance known as the Schäfflertanz, or coopers' dance, and it's based on a local story about coopers dancing during a time of plague to cheer locals up. Right at the end, a little golden rooster (not pictured) at the top of the Glockenspiel chirps three times.

Answer: Dachau

If you look closely at the photo, you can see the various triangles representing prisoners; yellow for Jews, red for communists, Social Democrats and other political prisoners, pink for gay men (which was added relatively recently), and blue for Poles and other foreign workers.

Other memorials for the victims of Dachau include a wall with 'Never Again' written in English, French, German, Hebrew and Russian, and a statue of dead bodies entangled in barbed wire. Visitors can either go on a tour (which we did), or explore the area in their own time. Unlike other camps which were destroyed by the Nazis, Dachau is relatively intact; though some of the barracks have been rebuilt, and most others are marked by beds of pebbles.

Incidentally, if you're interested in the history of Nazi Germany and/or the Holocaust, it is well worth taking a tour - it is handled very sensitively.

Answer: Tyrol

The first few books of Elinor M Brent-Dyer's 'Chalet School' series are set in the Tyrol, which borders Munich to the north, and the scenery at the Alpsee certainly wouldn't be out of place in the books. The nearby town of Füssen is just one kilometre away from the Austrian border.

The Alpsee, named for the nearby mountains, has a large swan population. It's a popular spot for both sailors - you can rent boats there - and hikers.

Answer: Oberammergau

I took a considerable number of photos here because there was so much to look at - from the many houses with frescoes depicting Biblical scenes, fairy tales and traditional Bavarian peasant life (a style of art known as 'Lüftlmalerei') to the wooden carvings in the shops. Oberammergau is home to many wood carvers and even has a school dedicated to the art.

As for the theatre, it's actually an open air theatre which has had various renovations performed on it over the years; the Passion Play was originally performed in the graveyard of the local church, but a new venue was needed when the audience became too big for the graveyard to hold.

The first play was performed in 1634 and was conceived by the villagers as a way of thanking G-d for sparing them from the bubonic plague.

Ever since then, it has been performed every ten years, albeit with a few cancellations as the result of both World Wars and the coronavirus epidemic of 2020. The parts are played by local villagers and the plays are attended by visitors from across the globe.

Answer: Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau, like Neuschwanstein, gets its name from the local swan population; it even has a fountain in its garden in the shape of a black swan. The castle itself changed hands over the centuries, and the version we see today was reconstructed by King Maximilian II as a summer and hunting residence.

Its rooms include the Tasso Room, which has a starry sky on its ceiling; the Hohenstaufen Room, which served as a music room; the Oriental Room, with decor inspired by the Ottoman Empire; and the banquet hall, known as the Hall of Heroes.

Much of the art around the castle is inspired by local legends. (We didn't go into the castle itself, but had a walk around the outside and through the gardens.)

Answer: Ludwig died before it was completed.

King Ludwig did, in fact, live to see the palace completed. We went on a tour of Linderhof, but unfortunately, visitors are not allowed to take photos of the rooms, although you can see what they look like on the official website. Ludwig was reportedly a fan of Louis XVI and was inspired by the Palace of Versailles, which explains the extravagant decor of the interior. The Hall of Mirrors, Audience Chamber and the king's bedroom are all covered in gold, with enormous ivory chandeliers; the four cabinets were also antechambers for the main rooms, and each is decorated in a different colour, with the yellow and lilac cabinets on either side of the Audience Chamber, and the blue and pink cabinets flanking the dining room. The dining room contains a table which functioned like a dumbwaiter; it would be lowered into the kitchen, servants would put food on it and it would be raised again. It's said that Ludwig had it set for four people so he could talk to his imaginary friends.

Outside in the gardens, there are statues of various Greek deities and angels (like the one with the trumpet here), a Moroccan-inspired house and the Venus Grotto, which Ludwig had built both as a tribute to Richard Wagner and because he wanted his own Blue Grotto of Capri to row through. To achieve a similar effect, twelve dynamos were installed in a nearby house to provide electricity.

Answer: Oktoberfest

As it happens, we were in Munich in September, and Oktoberfest was only a couple of weeks away - despite its name, it actually begins in the middle of September and lasts for nearly two weeks. It is attended by both locals and tourists from all over the world, many of whom can be found decked out in dirndls like these, or the lederhosen and feathered hat combo.

It started out as a combination of horse races and an agricultural fair, and added a parade in 1850 to commemorate the wedding of Prince Ludwig I and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Local brewers and restaurant owners also take part in the parade. Traditionally, Oktoberfest begins with a twelve-gun salute and the Mayor of Munich tapping the first keg of beer, before giving a litre of beer to the Minister-President of the State of Bavaria. Beer served at Oktoberfest has to be brewed within the city limits of Munich and conform to the Reinheitsgebot (purity order).

As well as beer, visitors can also enjoy music, local foods and funfairs.

Answer: Black Forest gateau

Or, as they call it in Germany, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. The cake beloved of '70s dinner parties in the UK is traditionally made with sour cherries, such as morello cherries, and a cherry spirit known as Kirschwasser; it can only be considered a true Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte if it contains the latter.

It is filled and topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This photo was taken in a café near the Alpsee, during our day trip to the castles and Oberammergau. Another local food I enjoyed while in Munich was the pretzel, sometimes filled with butter or covered with cheese.