Visiting Viktualienmarkt

 

Today I want to take you on a visit to Viktualienmarkt in München. This (almost) daily food and gourmet market is just around the corner from Marienplatz and as you can see from the picture above, it also serves other items beside food. Food, however, is the main draw.

"Viktualien" is the outdated word for groceries and "Markt" means market - so Viktualienmarkt stands for grocery market. It has been taking place since 1807 when the old city market was moved from Schrannenplatz (today's Marienplatz) to the area between Heilig-Geist Kirche (church of the holy ghost) and Frauenstraße. It's open every day except for Sundays and holidays.

The center of the market is, of course, a beer garden - what else can you expect in the capital of Bavaria?

Right next to the Biergarten we find the Maibaum (maypole). You can find a Maibaum in many parts of Germany as well as in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia, but only in Bavaria it is white-blue (the colors of Bavaria). It is a decorated tree or tree trunk that is set up for May 1st. Please note that this Maibaum refers to the Münchner Reinheitsgebot of 1487 (Munich purity law), which was the first food legislation of its kind in the world. It regulated which ingredients were allowed to be used for brewing beer: barley, hops and water. This only applied to beer production in Munich. This is a bit different from the more well-known Deutsches Reinheitsgebot (German purity law) of 1516 which also lists these three ingredients, but later adds yeast as a fourth ingredient. Since 1993, a new, more liberal German beer law has been in effect, but many German brewers still abide by the Reinheitsgebot.

Throughout the Viktualienmarkt there are several fountains, all of them dedicated to Bavarian actors, musicians etc.

Elise-Aulinger-Brunnen

Roider-Jackl-Brunnen

They offer what a true fountain or well should do: potable water. Feel free to fill up your water bottle.

One of Munich's famous food is Weißwurst - I wrote about it here - and of course you can get them in Viktualienmarkt. It's the sausage in the white-blue packages. The Wollwurst next to it is similar to the Weißwurst, but it does not contain parsley.

As I mentioned above, you find more than just food at Viktualienmarkt - for example flowers. 

Since Viktualienmarkt is a big attraction to tourists and locals alike, souvenir shops can be found here as well as items that are cute, but no one really needs.

We did need a little break after all that walking and stopping and walking and stopping. Beer garden or juice booth? We decided to try the juice - left is "Vitaminbombe" (vitamin bomb) and to the right my freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. These are my tickets for Elizabeth and her T Tuesday.

Life is good.