The menacing name "Panzerwiese" (tank meadows), of a former drill ground of the armee (Bundeswehr), has nothing to do with the real image of an untreated heathland, where sheep still provide the mowing. The vast area alongIngolstädter Straße, north of the Sanitätsakademie, was declared nature protection area together with the connected Hartelholz in 2002 and as manynatural surfaces it is a great area for species threatened with extinction. Thus, on the meadows rare butterflies and grasshoppers prospe and fascinate insect researchers.

In north western Schwabing Luitpoldpark and Bayernplatz have found a home. Only developed in 1910, the complex is harmonically integrated and displays a perfect recreational area with its enormous meadows and the 37 m high Schwabinger Schuttberg, which was built of the rest of the ruins after World War II. In the midst of the park das Bamberger Haus is an institution for culinary delights.

Widely visible is Fröttmaninger Berg with its windmill on the top. Across from Allianz Arena this hill is nothing more than a former waste deposit having been there since 1945. Not only for its view, but also for one of the city's oldest church buildings, Fröttmaninger Kirche „Heilig Kreuz“, this not quite aromatic hill is a very popular sight with its own parking along Freisinger Landstraße.

The Northern Isar floodplains are the natural contiuation of Englischer Garten north of Föhringer Ring near Aumeister. The powerful dam at Isarstausee Oberföhring leads a huge part into „Mittlere Isarkanal“ and is used to gain electricity. These floodplains are a perfect reservoir for birds, but also for people looking for recreation, with the chance of a quiet bathing spot.

A really cute little castle is situated in Alt-Schwabing on Werneck-Straße. The Suresnes castle can only be visited with prior notice, but is worth any minute. The baroque gem is part of Korbiniansverein of archdiocese Munich and Freising and is used to a great extent by the Katholische Akademie Bayern.

Also the north has great cemeteries, worth a visit. Westfriedhof on Baldurstraße is the last home of famous characters, like Maxl Graf, Robert Lembke and Soraya Esfandiari Bachtiar, the first wife of Reza Pahlevi, the former Schah of Persia. Nordfriedhof along Ungerer Straße follows the architecture of Ostfriedhof, but can't quite keep up with its monumentality. With Beppo Brem and Klaus Havenstein two prominent personalities have found their permanent site there.

by Dietmar Stanka