In an Englische countryGarten

No visit to Munich could ever be complete without a trip to Europe’s first public park – the Englische Garten in Munich. Andrew Burnyeat reports

The beer flows almost as quickly as the river which runs through the centre of Munich’s Englische Garten.

Despite being one of Europe’s biggest public parks, you could visit Munich without realising it’s there, surrounded as it is by thousands of trees and several rather unattractive arterial roads.

And, once beyond the trees, you could spend hours in the garden without discovering a 10th of its attractions.

The beer garden is deeply rooted in German social history. There are many beer gardens within the Englische Garten, founded in 1789 as German rulers quaked at the prospect of revolution spreading eastwards from Paris. They created Europe’s first public park as a gesture towards the idea that land should be shared in common.

Before this, the Englische Garten was owned by the military.

The garden proved immensely popular, as it was free for families to spend an afternoon in the open air.

Families have been part of the German beer garden culture since its inception and the tradition has remained. Today, the Englische Garten is full of local families and those of tourists.

The presence of families makes for a happy, yet restrained atmosphere without the lads-standing on-tables you’ll see at the Oktoberfest or the Hofbrauhaus in central Munich.

Even a noisy group of lads at a beer garden table will cause eyebrows to be raised.

And the origin of the beer garden is also closely related to German top-fermented beer and how it’s brewed. By royal decree of King Ludwig I of.....

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By Andrew Burnyeat

Section : Spotlight

Page number : 47