Do as the Munich people do! Bring your home made lunch to the beer garden and have a Mass of beer (1 liter or 35.2 oz). In and around the city many fellows bring baskets of Bavarian delights, often with a table cloth in blue and white (colours of the Bavarian flag). Take a bike and do as they do! Or even on foot or by car, although the latter should be left in the garage on a sunny day. Some may find it strange that the owner only makes money with the beverages which are self-service. But it seems worthwhile for the reduced labor costs and since the beverages are more profitable.

The tradition of the brought food originated from a lack of beer cellars in Munich. The city ran out of refrigeration cellars so that further cellars were built outside the city walls from 1724 around the Gasteigberg. Broad-leaved trees were planted in order to have additional protection against the heat. After the abolition of the beer constraint in 1805 the hosts were able to get their beer from any brewery and the brewers received a public license. Yet with the obligation to sell the beer cheaper than the regular restaurants and to offer no food. Thus the visitors brought their own food to the cellars and a tradition was born.

Munich is home of the country's largest and cosiest beer gardens. Hirschgarten in Munich's west can entertain up to 8.000 guests and is situaetd in the middle of the park with the same name, which was designed in 1780 by elector Karl Theodor as a hunting ground for the nobility. The beer garden still gives consideration to this name: the area comprises two hectares where fallow deer can be found.

If you drive inbound from Hirschgarten on Arnulfstraße you will find Augustiner Biergarten on your left, shortly before Bayerischer Rundfunk (Bavarian broadcast) and central station. Situated beautifully below old chestnut trees it is a meeting point for young and old, rich and the not so affluent. While in the front area the waiters are running like crazy to satisfy the thirsty and hungry mouths, the rear and larger area is only self-service.

At the end of Rosenheimer Strasse, shortly before the motorway A8 to Salzburg you will find the restaurant "Alter Wirt", right in the old centre of Ramersdorf. Together with Obermenzing's restaurant of the same name it is one of Munich's oldest beer gardens. "Nomen est Omen" is the motto since the restaurants feature down-to earth kitchen, friendly staff as well as quality and hospitality.

Finishing our overview on Munich's beer gardens (which will be subject in other articles of the Frederics Guide) a little bit of history: thanks to the beer garden revolution the Münchner beer gardens pour the Mass (1l of beer) until 11pm.


by Dietmar Stanka

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