The Cork Board: Germany Day 2: Dachau and Hofbrauhaus

After a long day of travel on Thursday we were all ready to get up and going on Friday. Caitlin, Nicole and I were staying in a hotel with our friend Clare from Galway and Betsey from Scotland. The five of grabbed a hefty morning meal from the free continental breakfast offered at the hotel to stock up for the big day ahead of us.

We then met up with Sarah, and Kate who are studying in Spain, and Patrick who is in Dublin. It was SO fun seeing more Holy Cross students! The eight of us headed out to Dachau, one of the concentration camps during World War II. Later in the day we ran into two more HC students, Brad and Dan and the ten of us explored the city of Munich.

Part 1: Dachau

While I would not classify this experience as fun, I am definitely glad that I was able to see it. It is an incredible piece of history, and it was almost surreal that I could see for myself something that I have learned so much about throughout my years of schooling. We got audio guides which are telephone-like devices that you hold up to your ears to have a narrator explain what you are seeing as you move around the grounds.

Entrance

Main Area, this is where they would have had roll call and all the prisoners would have been expected to stand here

Inside the museum they had posters illustrating the timeline of events of the course of the 12 years of the war. In addition to the historical facts, these boards were loaded with propaganda from the time, quotes from survivors, and pictures from when the camp was in use

This room is inside the museum but it is where all the prisoners would have come through when they first arrived to be shaved, stamped and striped of their clothes

Memorabilia left behind

Catalogue of the prisoners

Inside one of the barracks; the camp was built for 6,000 people but at the end of the war there was over 32,000 people living there.

This entire space on the left used to be barracks that held prisoners but have since been destroyed by the Germans. To the right is the barbed wire that encircled the whole camp.

Dachau was one of the first concentration camps to be built and is the only one to have been used throughout the entire duration of the war.

Part 2: Munich City Center and Hofbrauhaus

After the concentration camp we made our way to the City Center (called Marienplatz) around noon. Immediately upon arriving we came upon one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. We walked by it numerous times throughout the weekend and it never ceased to amaze me.

The Rathaus-Glockenspiel building

Very hard to get good photos of the building because it was so big, wish I had mom's nice camera with her wide angle lens!

Vitkatulen Markets in town square

After grabbing some food, pretzels and beer we headed to the Hofbrauhaus! It is one of the city's most famous beer halls. They serve you beer in one litre quantities and is delicious! Note the HB on the side of the stein.