Giesing or "Giasing", as Munich people call this district east of the Isar river, is divided in Obergiesing ("Upper") and Untergiesing ("Lower"). Following the logic Lower Giesing lies at the Isar and Upper Giesing above. Kyesinga, as the settlement was called in 790, used to be a farmers' village. Until 1812 there were 18 farms. In the course of industrialisation Giesing became more of a working-class neighborhood during the 19th century. Especially in Untergiesing you will still find the densely settled apartment houses as a proof of this period.
One of Germany's most famous persons grew up in Giesing's Zugspitzstraße as son of a post office clerk. And almost he would have started his football career at the neighborhood's traditional club, TSV 1860 München (the Blues). But his path led him to the Reds, famous FC Bayern München. Of course, we are talking about the "Kaiser" - Franz Beckenbauer who today is chairman of the supervisory board and grey eminence of Germany's No.1 football club.
Until a couple of years ago Giesing used to be an insider tip in terms of bars, cabaret and low priced gastronomy. Unfortunately, the neighborhood has lost almost all of its stages and only maintained a few pubs or restaurants worth swinging by. Once, Bavarian singer/songwriter Konstantin Wecker would play his famous songs at Kaffee Giesing, one of the remaining live music bars - today there is a variety of artists performing from 21pm daily. Another institution is the Brandner Kasper, a bar which is distinct for its audacious decoration.
Schyrenbad, which until 1938 (after its opening in 1847) remained a men's bath, is the city's oldest outdoor bath. Back then, the water was freezing and conducted from the near Isar river via a brook into the bath. With its modernisation for the 160th anniversary the bath was thoroughly reconstructed. Pools and changing rooms as well as the entire technology. Based in Claude-Lorrain-Strasse in Untergiesing it is the first outdoor bath to open its doors on May 1st every year.
Take a walk back in time along Mühlbach, a canal fed by the Isar river. This brook was first mentioned in 957. Though having its origin in Thalkirchen and being led back into the Isar in the Au, its longest part is found in Untergiesing. Around Mondstrasse - also called Munich's Little Venice - the Auer Mühlbach goes underground and reappears only after Kolumbusplatz.
Between Tierparkbrücke and Korneliusbrücke you will find "Flaucher" where thousands of sun worshippers cavort along the shingle beaches of the Isar. Skinny-dipping keeps being en vogue for many years here, and also sports people use the trails for jogging, walking or skating. Dogs find playfellows on the large meadows and in warmer nights many bonfires light up the dark.
by Dietmar Stanka
Location: S5 / S6, U2 Giesing
Highlights: Kaffee Giesing - live music and history
Bergstraße 5, 81539 München
Telephone 089 69 20 57 9. www.kaffeegiesing.de
A Frederics serviced apartments service – short-term accommodation in Munich - boarding house Munich Schwabing and boarding house Munich Gern
Frederics -
furnished apartments in Munich >>
Apartment house
Hohenzollernplatz:
Hohenzollernplatz 7
80796 Munich
Apartment house
Dantestrasse:
Dantestrasse 18
80637 Munich
Office Frederics:
Ohmstrasse 18
80802 Munich
Phone 089 21 18 70 50
Fax 089 21 18 70 55
