Looking out Across the Isar

Above Munich – Day 12: From downtown, this is the vantage point overlooking the Bell Brook and Au neighborhoods. Most prominent in the picture is the Catholic parish church of St. Maximilian, just before the Isar River. The 70m towers overlook the green park and beaches of the Isar. In fact, every year from mid-May to August 16, a beach bar is set up just up river at the Cornelius Bridge, with these towers as a magnificent backdrop. I have not been there, but I hear it’s great – and you have a couple more weeks before it disappears. But back to St. Max. It was built in 1908 in a neo-Roman style, like several others around town built during this same period, including St. Benno and St. Anna in Lehel. Unfortunately, much of the church was destroyed during WWII, as allied forces used the Isar river to guide their planes during nightfall. When it was rebuilt in 1953, the towers were not quite built to their original grandeur because of scarce funds. They omitted the tower tops.