Dear Reader,

I like the mountains. In all their colors, shapes and seasons. I like the mountains huts where the hikers from all over the corners are gathering, sharing stories, mattresses, songs, and dreams. When I can’t go to the mountains, I try to find them in the city. Maybe in a library where they have mountains books and stories. Or in an alpine museum.
There is one here, in Munich. A white building on one of the islands on Isar. Almost in the center of the city. From outside looks like a very classical museum building. You could even guess that it could be one of those places where the members of the Geographical society meet. People dress in suits who maybe don´t even know how a mountain or a glacier look like. But this is only from outside.
The museum itself it is full of DAV (Deutsch Alpen Verein) stories. Stories of the first climbers who tried to conquer a mountain with rudimentary equipment. Stories of the people who drew the mountains because this was the only possibility to have an image of them. Stories from a time when the mountains were not open to all the people. Or better said not for the Jewish people from Bavaria. Stories of the people who loved the mountains and lived for them.
My favorite part of the museum is the inner yard of it. Very fresh and green. Like a spot in a forest. And the hut. A real one. Brought from the mountains. A hut in which you can enter, touch every corner, read the stories about how life in a hut looks like. In the upper parts of the hut, where the sleeping room is, you can even lay down for some minutes in one of the beds and listen to the stories that the hikers are sharing before they get to sleep.
For the hard cores, in the inner garden, it is also a refuge. A mountain refuge. With small beds, small cupboard, small window. And even with writings on the walls.
At the alpine museum, they have my favorite treat from a mountain hut. “Johannisbeershorle und Kuchen”.
Alpine greetings,
C.
Concrete info
Address: Praterinsel 5, 80538 München
Programm: 10:00 – 18:00 (Monday close)
Ticket: 3.50 Euro
Website: https://www.alpenverein.de/Kultur/