THE CITY OF MÜNCHEN IS FOUNDED BY HENRY THE LION

Today, The Grandma has been reading about München, the Bavarian city that was founded by Henry the Lion on a day like today in 1158.

Munich, in German München, is the capital and most populous city of the Free State of Bavaria, Germany.

With a population of 1,589,706 inhabitants as of 29 February 2024, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, and thus the largest which does not constitute its own state, as well as the 11th-largest city in the European Union. The city's metropolitan region is home to about 6.2 million people and the third largest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union.

Straddling the banks of the river Isar north of the Alps, Munich is the seat of the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Bavaria, while being the most densely populated municipality in Germany with 4,500 people per km2. Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area, after the Austrian capital of Vienna.

The city was first mentioned in 1158. Catholic Munich strongly resisted the Reformation and was a political point of divergence during the resulting Thirty Years' War, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant Swedes. Once Bavaria was established as the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806, Munich became a major European centre of arts, architecture, culture and science.

In 1918, during the German Revolution of 1918-19, the ruling House of Wittelsbach, which had governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich and a short-lived Bavarian Soviet Republic was declared. 

In the 1920s, Munich became home to several political factions, among them the Nazi Party. After the Nazis' rise to power, Munich was declared their Capital of the Movement. The city was heavily bombed during World War II, but has restored most of its old town and boasts nearly 30.000 buildings from before the war all over the city.

After the end of postwar American occupation in 1949, there was a great increase in population and economic power during the years of Wirtschaftswunder. The city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics.

Today, Munich is a global centre of science, technology, finance, innovation, business, and tourism. 

Munich enjoys a very high standard and quality of living, reaching first in Germany and third worldwide according to the 2018 Mercer survey, and being rated the world's most liveable city by the Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2018. Munich is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive cities in Germany in terms of real estate prices and rental costs.

In 2021, 28.8 percent of Munich's residents were foreigners, and another 17.7 percent were German citizens with a migration background from a foreign country. 

Munich's economy is based on high tech, automobiles, and the service sector, as well as IT, biotechnology, engineering, and electronics. It has one of the strongest economies of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of all cities in Germany with more than one million inhabitants. The city houses many multinational companies, such as BMW, Siemens, Allianz SE and Munich Re. In addition, Munich is home to two research universities, and a multitude of scientific institutions.

Munich's numerous architectural and cultural attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest, attract considerable tourism.

More information: Big Boy Travel

Munich was a tiny 8th-century friar settlement, which was named zu den Munichen (to the monks). The Old High German Muniche served as the basis for the modern German city name München.

The river Isar was a prehistoric trade route and in the Bronze Age Munich was among the largest raft ports in Europe. Bronze Age settlements up to four millennia old have been discovered. Evidence of Celtic settlements from the Iron Age have been discovered in areas around Ramersdorf-Perlach.

The first medieval bridges across the river Isar were located in current city areas of Munich and Landshut. The Duke of Saxony and Bavaria Henry the Lion founded the town of Munich in his territory to control the salt trade, after having burned down the town of Föhring and its bridges over the Isar. Historians date this event at about 1158. The layout of Munich city, with five city gates and market place, resembled that of Höxter.

Henry built a new toll bridge, customs house and a coin market closer to his home somewhat upstream at a settlement around the area of modern old town Munich. This new toll bridge most likely crossed the Isar where the Museuminsel and the modern Ludwigsbrücke is now located.

More information: Germany Travel

Henry the Lion, in German Heinrich der Löwe, 1129/1131-6 August 1195, also known as Henry III, Duke of Saxony (ruled 1142-1180) and Henry XII, Duke of Bavaria (ruled 1156-1180), was a member of the Welf dynasty.

Henry was one of the most powerful German princes of his time, until the rival Hohenstaufen dynasty succeeded in isolating him and eventually deprived him of his duchies of Bavaria and Saxony during the reign of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and of Frederick's son and successor Henry VI.

At the height of his reign, Henry ruled over a vast territory stretching from the coast of the North and Baltic seas to the Alps, and from Westphalia to Pomerania. Henry achieved this great power in part by his political and military acumen and in part through the legacies of his four grandparents.

More information: Warfare History

 Kandinsky in Munich uttered the well known words:
'Everything is permitted!'
In 1961; we still live by this heritage,
which in truth is inexhaustible.

Michel Seuphor