It's never difficult to catch a glimpse of history anywhere one goes in Europe. Munich and surrounds are full of relics and reminders of its long and colourful histories of the city itself as well as of the former Bavarian kingdoms.
在歐洲想看歷史並不難，慕尼黑和週邊地區便有不少古蹟，見證了這個城市和幾百年前巴伐利亞王國豐富而悠久的歷史。
Munich celebrates its anniversary every year in mid-June, and this year the festivities are held on 15th to 16th June. I went into town on the 15th wanting to try the Prinzregententorte (literally Prince Regent Cake), Munich's very own cake originally made as a present for Prince Regent Luitpold, in the bakery that was believed to be the birth place of the cake. As soon as I found out that Munich was celebrating its 855th anniversary that day, I thought how appropriate it was to mark this occasion with a 'birthday cake' that is one of the symbols of the city itself!
每年六月中都是慕尼黑慶祝成立紀念日的時候，今年的活動便在6月15至16日舉行。15日那日前往市中心，一心想到「攝政王蛋糕」的始祖店一嘗這個最有本地特色的蛋糕。當時製造這個蛋糕，是要給攝政王Luitpold作賀禮（目的則眾說紛紜），但一知到那天是慕尼黑855週年紀念日時，吃這個蛋糕，便多了一重慶祝生日的意義！
A Munich birthday cake for Munich's anniversary!
慶祝慕尼黑855週年，當然要用慕尼黑的蛋糕！
Having a beer is another very local way to celebrate!
週年誌慶，值得乾杯！
Enjoying a day out in traditional Bavarian style (above) and in typical turn of 20th century style (right)
傳統巴伐利亞（左）和20世紀初（右）的服飾
The former Bavarian kings and princes have several residences around Munich, and on the 16th I visited Schloss Schleißheim (Schleissheim Castle) which is located north of the city and conveniently only about 5.5 km from where I stay. I started the visit with a pleasant bike ride and lunch in the beer garden by the castle. Then I took a ramble within the park of the castle, starting from the Neues Schloss (New Castle) at one end to the Schloss Lustheim on the other end. While it may look non-descript, Schloss Lustheim is home to the largest collection of Meissen porcelain outside Dresden thanks to a generous donation by a private collector. It took me at least an hour to browse through the entire collection while trying to understand the important artistic developments of the porcelain.
從前的巴伐利亞皇室，在慕尼黑建了好幾家皇宮，16日那天我便參觀了位於慕尼黑以北的Schleißheim皇宮，離家祇是5.5公里左右，所以騎腳踏車前往並不遠，而且沿途一片郊野景色也頗怡人。到達皇宮後，我先到那裡的啤酒園吃一道地道午餐，然後在皇宮花園逛逛，從新皇宮（Neues Schloss）的那一端到另一端的Lustheim皇宮，別小覷Lustheim其貌不揚，其實那裡展出了德雷斯頓（Dresden）以外最大型的Meissen陶瓷收藏，由一位私人收藏家捐出，走遍全館看展品和了解一下說明便花了我個多小時呢。
Neues Schloss 新皇宮
The park of the castle
皇宮花園
Schloss Lustheim from afar
遠看Lustheim宮
The ceiling in the main hall of Schloss Lustheim
Lustheim宮大廳的天花
See also this photo album for the exhibits.
展品的相片收錄在此相片集。
The Neues Schloss is nothing short of spectacular with its grand halls, including the stair hall that beams with grandeur with its high ceilings, wide stairways and the decors on the walls. Parts of it were mirrored on Château de Versailles (and it's not the first castle to do so; others include the Schloss Schonbrunn in Vienna and the Schloss Herrenchiemsee at Chiemsee) but I must say that the stair hall here is more glorious than Versailles!
新皇宮內部裝潢盡顯氣派，尤其是大演奏廳和樓梯廳的高樓底、寬闊的樓梯和牆上的裝飾。新皇宮的設計參考法國凡爾賽宮（其他參考凡爾賽宮的可不少，我參觀過的計有維也納的美泉皇宮和慕尼黑附近基姆湖的男基姆湖宮），但樓梯廳宏偉的建築可謂青出於藍！
The Grand Hall (Der große Saal)
皇宮大演奏廳
The Grand Gallery (Die große Galerie) 皇宮大畫廊
The staircase hall (Das Treppenhaus)
樓梯廳
The Victory Hall (Der Viktoriensaal)
凱旋大廳
The Vestibule (Vestibül)
門廳
Germans are big on mediaeval festivities during the summer months, and this year coincides with the re-enactment of the Landshuter Hochzeit (Landshut Wedding) held once every 4 years! The original wedding took place in 1475, between the royal families of Bavaria-Landshut and Poland (see the official website for a more detailed history). Nowadays the celebrations consist of re-enacting the wedding itself – it was open to VIPs only but a colleague and I caught a glimpse of the 'prince' and the 'princess' before they disappeared into the hall – and a long parade through the two main streets of the town with people from all walks of life back in those days. I was hoping to be able to taste some mediaeval food but instead I was offered a 'mediaeval style' beer at 10:30, the earliest time ever for me to have any alcoholic drinks!
德國人夏天時很熱衷中世紀節慶，而今年剛好遇上四年一度Landshut婚禮的重演，原來的婚禮在1475年舉行，今時今日重演的婚禮，祇開放給特別嘉賓，但我有幸在「新郎」和「新娘」遠離公眾視線踏入禮堂前看到他倆一面，婚禮後的巡遊，除了兩主角外，也有打扮成中世紀不同職業和角色的人前後擁簇著。我本來也希望趁節慶能一嘗中世紀飲食，但唯一祇是在早上10:30喝到中世紀啤酒，是我一生人中一天內最早喝酒的一次。
A mediaeval open kitchen
中世紀開放式廚房
Festival wreaths worn by many
節慶時配戴的花圈
Bands roaming around town
鎮內音樂演奏處處
Getting ready for the parade
浩浩蕩蕩前往巡遊
Burg Trausnitz (Trausnitz Castle), where the wedding took place
婚禮舉行的Trausnitz城堡
The prince and princess
婚禮的主角
The photos of this parade are in this photo album.
巡遊的相片收錄在此相片集。
Landshut itself was worth a visit without the wedding. The houses in the village were painted with a variety of bright colours, instead of other typical Bavarian villages which are dominated with wooden houses or are almost uniformly in white. It is located by the river Isar, the same river that passes through Munich and ends in confluence with the Danube, and would have made for a pleasant bike ride if time allowed.
Landshut本身也值得一遊，村內的房屋色彩繽紛，跟一般巴伐利亞村落的木房屋或一律塗了白色外牆的房屋大異其趣。流經Landshut的Isar河，如果時間充裕的話，應是騎腳踏車的好去處。
Colourful houses
色彩繽紛的房屋
Town hall
市政廳
Martinskirche (St. Martin's Church)
聖馬丁教堂
Landshut by the Isar (left and below)
Isar河畔的Landshut（左圖及下圖）
Travelling back in time always has its fascination, and these celebrations allow a community to take pride in and learn from their history. There is always more to explore but that will have to wait another time!
讓「時光倒流」，既可讓大眾認識一下歷史，也可吸引遊人，是很有意義的活動，祇可惜時間有限，值得參觀的地方和活動眾多，唯有留待將來了！
在歐洲想看歷史並不難，慕尼黑和週邊地區便有不少古蹟，見證了這個城市和幾百年前巴伐利亞王國豐富而悠久的歷史。
Munich celebrates its anniversary every year in mid-June, and this year the festivities are held on 15th to 16th June. I went into town on the 15th wanting to try the Prinzregententorte (literally Prince Regent Cake), Munich's very own cake originally made as a present for Prince Regent Luitpold, in the bakery that was believed to be the birth place of the cake. As soon as I found out that Munich was celebrating its 855th anniversary that day, I thought how appropriate it was to mark this occasion with a 'birthday cake' that is one of the symbols of the city itself!
每年六月中都是慕尼黑慶祝成立紀念日的時候，今年的活動便在6月15至16日舉行。15日那日前往市中心，一心想到「攝政王蛋糕」的始祖店一嘗這個最有本地特色的蛋糕。當時製造這個蛋糕，是要給攝政王Luitpold作賀禮（目的則眾說紛紜），但一知到那天是慕尼黑855週年紀念日時，吃這個蛋糕，便多了一重慶祝生日的意義！
A Munich birthday cake for Munich's anniversary!
慶祝慕尼黑855週年，當然要用慕尼黑的蛋糕！
Having a beer is another very local way to celebrate!
週年誌慶，值得乾杯！
Enjoying a day out in traditional Bavarian style (above) and in typical turn of 20th century style (right)
傳統巴伐利亞（左）和20世紀初（右）的服飾
The former Bavarian kings and princes have several residences around Munich, and on the 16th I visited Schloss Schleißheim (Schleissheim Castle) which is located north of the city and conveniently only about 5.5 km from where I stay. I started the visit with a pleasant bike ride and lunch in the beer garden by the castle. Then I took a ramble within the park of the castle, starting from the Neues Schloss (New Castle) at one end to the Schloss Lustheim on the other end. While it may look non-descript, Schloss Lustheim is home to the largest collection of Meissen porcelain outside Dresden thanks to a generous donation by a private collector. It took me at least an hour to browse through the entire collection while trying to understand the important artistic developments of the porcelain.
從前的巴伐利亞皇室，在慕尼黑建了好幾家皇宮，16日那天我便參觀了位於慕尼黑以北的Schleißheim皇宮，離家祇是5.5公里左右，所以騎腳踏車前往並不遠，而且沿途一片郊野景色也頗怡人。到達皇宮後，我先到那裡的啤酒園吃一道地道午餐，然後在皇宮花園逛逛，從新皇宮（Neues Schloss）的那一端到另一端的Lustheim皇宮，別小覷Lustheim其貌不揚，其實那裡展出了德雷斯頓（Dresden）以外最大型的Meissen陶瓷收藏，由一位私人收藏家捐出，走遍全館看展品和了解一下說明便花了我個多小時呢。
Neues Schloss 新皇宮
The park of the castle
皇宮花園
Schloss Lustheim from afar
遠看Lustheim宮
The ceiling in the main hall of Schloss Lustheim
Lustheim宮大廳的天花
See also this photo album for the exhibits.
展品的相片收錄在此相片集。
The Neues Schloss is nothing short of spectacular with its grand halls, including the stair hall that beams with grandeur with its high ceilings, wide stairways and the decors on the walls. Parts of it were mirrored on Château de Versailles (and it's not the first castle to do so; others include the Schloss Schonbrunn in Vienna and the Schloss Herrenchiemsee at Chiemsee) but I must say that the stair hall here is more glorious than Versailles!
新皇宮內部裝潢盡顯氣派，尤其是大演奏廳和樓梯廳的高樓底、寬闊的樓梯和牆上的裝飾。新皇宮的設計參考法國凡爾賽宮（其他參考凡爾賽宮的可不少，我參觀過的計有維也納的美泉皇宮和慕尼黑附近基姆湖的男基姆湖宮），但樓梯廳宏偉的建築可謂青出於藍！
The Grand Hall (Der große Saal)
皇宮大演奏廳
The Grand Gallery (Die große Galerie) 皇宮大畫廊
The staircase hall (Das Treppenhaus)
樓梯廳
The Victory Hall (Der Viktoriensaal)
凱旋大廳
The Vestibule (Vestibül)
門廳
Germans are big on mediaeval festivities during the summer months, and this year coincides with the re-enactment of the Landshuter Hochzeit (Landshut Wedding) held once every 4 years! The original wedding took place in 1475, between the royal families of Bavaria-Landshut and Poland (see the official website for a more detailed history). Nowadays the celebrations consist of re-enacting the wedding itself – it was open to VIPs only but a colleague and I caught a glimpse of the 'prince' and the 'princess' before they disappeared into the hall – and a long parade through the two main streets of the town with people from all walks of life back in those days. I was hoping to be able to taste some mediaeval food but instead I was offered a 'mediaeval style' beer at 10:30, the earliest time ever for me to have any alcoholic drinks!
德國人夏天時很熱衷中世紀節慶，而今年剛好遇上四年一度Landshut婚禮的重演，原來的婚禮在1475年舉行，今時今日重演的婚禮，祇開放給特別嘉賓，但我有幸在「新郎」和「新娘」遠離公眾視線踏入禮堂前看到他倆一面，婚禮後的巡遊，除了兩主角外，也有打扮成中世紀不同職業和角色的人前後擁簇著。我本來也希望趁節慶能一嘗中世紀飲食，但唯一祇是在早上10:30喝到中世紀啤酒，是我一生人中一天內最早喝酒的一次。
A mediaeval open kitchen
中世紀開放式廚房
Festival wreaths worn by many
節慶時配戴的花圈
Bands roaming around town
鎮內音樂演奏處處
Getting ready for the parade
浩浩蕩蕩前往巡遊
Burg Trausnitz (Trausnitz Castle), where the wedding took place
婚禮舉行的Trausnitz城堡
The prince and princess
婚禮的主角
The photos of this parade are in this photo album.
巡遊的相片收錄在此相片集。
Landshut itself was worth a visit without the wedding. The houses in the village were painted with a variety of bright colours, instead of other typical Bavarian villages which are dominated with wooden houses or are almost uniformly in white. It is located by the river Isar, the same river that passes through Munich and ends in confluence with the Danube, and would have made for a pleasant bike ride if time allowed.
Landshut本身也值得一遊，村內的房屋色彩繽紛，跟一般巴伐利亞村落的木房屋或一律塗了白色外牆的房屋大異其趣。流經Landshut的Isar河，如果時間充裕的話，應是騎腳踏車的好去處。
Colourful houses
色彩繽紛的房屋
Town hall
市政廳
Martinskirche (St. Martin's Church)
聖馬丁教堂
Landshut by the Isar (left and below)
Isar河畔的Landshut（左圖及下圖）
Travelling back in time always has its fascination, and these celebrations allow a community to take pride in and learn from their history. There is always more to explore but that will have to wait another time!
讓「時光倒流」，既可讓大眾認識一下歷史，也可吸引遊人，是很有意義的活動，祇可惜時間有限，值得參觀的地方和活動眾多，唯有留待將來了！
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