Beginning on the Schwanthaler Höhe and above the Theresienwiese, Munich’s Westend isn’t far from the centre. The Westend, former home of the Munich trade fair, was vigorously redeveloped after the fair was relocated. It didn’t take long before 1,800 flats and a modern business centre emerged on the former exhibition grounds. In May 2003, the Transport Centre of the Deutsche Museum opened in the listed Art-Nouveau buildings. The Centre is home to exhibitions on city transport, travel and technology and all are packed with wonderful exhibits.

Sendling, which consists of Obersendling and Untersendling, begins south of Westend and stretches along the western bank of the Isar along to Thalkirchen and over to Solln and Fürstenried. The western border reaches Laim. Sendling was one of the towns which existed long before the city of Munich was founded. One of the main commercial centres of this district is the ‘Grossmarkthalle’ on Thalkirchner Straße. Founded in 1912, the market halls cover 140 products from 83 countries and are worth over €750 million every year. In addition, there are 65 gardening companies, 45 florists and 15 wholesalers from other branches. In total, 270 importers and wholesalers supply five million people.

An even more important and, along with BMW, one of the largest employers in Munich, is located on Hofmannstraße in Obersendling: Siemens AG. Westpark provides a bit of greenery to the three districts. Thanks to the International Gardening Exhibition of 1983, a landscape was set up by landscape architect Peter Kluska which is reminiscent of the foothills to the Alps. A large lake, several little ponds and a trail attract many visitors. Two beer gardens and two cafes are at hand in case of the need for refreshment. In the summer, cultural events, as well as an open air cinema, can be found on the stage on the lake. In the western part of the 720,000 m² grounds, you will discover the Far East: The ensemble, complete with a Chinese Garden, a Japanese Garden, a Thai-Skala, as well as a Nepalese pagoda, is really quite impressive.

At the ‘Kart-Palast’ on Hansastraße, you can really put your foot down - racing in the gas-powered Go-Karts, that is. 600 metres of racetrack which include two bridges and two tunnels, among other obstacles, are open from 10am until 1am every day. Villa Flora, a restaurant with a cosy bar and a large beer garden, is the epitome of culinary delicacies on Hansastrasse.

One classic element of the Munich cinema scene is the Rex in Laim. The ‘Laimers’, renowned well beyond the borders of Laim, is also housed in the same building. The traditional tavern, with its cosy beer garden, serves Bavarian dishes at a reasonable price. According to first traces, Laim was founded at some point between 1047 and 1053, the first foundations of the St. Ulrich parish church on Agnes-Bernauer-Strasse were laid around the same time.

Agricolastraße, Byecherstraße and Lanzstraße are just three of 25 streets named in honour of the Munich Hostages, who were handed over by the city of Munich to Sweden during the Thirty Years War to avoid complete annihilation. The Munich prisoners were only released after three years in captivity.

by Dietmar Stanka


Location:            S1 -8 Laim

Highlights:          Bistro No. 2 - Laim's legendäre Musikkneipe
                           Fürstenriederstraße 5, 80687 München
                           Telephone 089 580 66 77. www.bistro-no2.de