Marienplatz is the heart of Munich. It serves as a meeting place for friends, for street performers to earn their keep, demonstrations, taking in a tan by the water fountains and for tourists and their fascinations with Glockenspiels. It’s come a long way from originally serving as a square for jousting tournaments back in the Middle Ages.

During World War II, most, if not all, of Germany’s cities were flattened by Allied bombing runs, especially at the war’s end. I have read that one of the few buildings that consistently survived in any city was the city’s “Rathause” or City Hall. Why? They served as navigation beacons for bomber pilots coming in to drop their payload. In this picture is Munich’s City Hall. No GPS in those days…

Munich’s ‘Frauenkirche‘ or ‘Cathedral of Our Blessed Lady’ just off of Marienplatz. You ever wonder why a church devoted to the virgin Mary has two bell towers?

Something that you’ll see every spring and summer in Bavaria (and Austria) is the rich display of flowers hanging from every balcony. And all year around is the pigeon nets that hang around every statue…

Munich is a city rich in architecture both ancient and modern. But some of it can be rather bleak in nature, some of it next to the most beautiful architecture the city has to offer.

The main attraction in Marienplatz is the Glockenspiel. Every few hours of the day, the clock reenacts portions of Munich’s history. It might be a good idea if they retune the bells every few decades or so.

Street performers in Marienplatz is a constant year round. Expect anything from conservatory students hacking through crowd favorites to Mongols, xylophonists, accordianists, folk musicians, the unusual and so much more.

Munich has one of the best subway systems in the world. During my five years living in Munich, I never had to own a car, as the subway, trains and trams took me everywhere I needed to go. If only the US had such transportation…

Munich is an old city, this year celebrating its 850th birthday. The original boundaries of the city contained a series of gates that allowed people in and out of the city. This gate, at Sendlinger Tor, was first build in the year 1318.

One cannot talk about Munich without mentioning the high amount of rainfall every year. It has been said that Munich has more rain in a year than that of London, which I find almost impossible to believe. But when it rains in Munich, it often pours and hard. London’s rain is a bit more spread out… But to live in a city with the 8th best quality of life in the world, one learns to live with it.

But the store is indeed open, and the video below shows the enthusiasm of those in attendance, with most of the enthusiasm coming from employees of the store itself. Besides six or seven people eagerly showing off their iPhones, the crowd outside simply watched the celebratory antics of those employees inside, all in freezing temperatures.  I can’t help but think that while I’m sure a large amount of Apple faithful showed up at the grand opening that day, a larger group of people came as curious onlookers.  Apple’s share of the computer market in Europe is much smaller than in the United States, with market share in Europe hovering somewhere around 3% as of late 2007, compared to Apple’s nearly 8% share of the US market.

My impression during five years of living in Munich was that there was a lack of enthusiasm towards the Mac in general.  Only a few of my friends “converted” over to the Mac before I moved back to the United States at the beginning of 2006, and I can think of several cases where these same friends fought tooth and nail to convince their bosses on getting them a Mac for work, with their pleas always falling on deaf ears.  With this in mind, I can’t help but feel that Apple is banking on a few things in deciding to open a flag ship store in conservative Bavaria. Perhaps fatigue with Windows Vista and Microsoft’s ongoing battle with European Union anti-trust cases make some people want to try something different.  Or perhaps the fabled iPod/iPhone halo effect will cause people to crack their wallets in buying a new Mac.  And maybe a growing market share for a browser such as Mozilla Firefox shows European instincts in wanting to try something different.  This desire for change may not necessarily lead the masses to flock to the Mac, but I certainly hold hope in Apple succeeding at convincing some to Think Different.