We visited Dachau. I really don’t want to write about this, so I will just include some pictures and the email I sent my family in the evening.
Jason and I visited Dachau today – the first concentration camp that set the model for all the concentration camps to follow. We were there for about four hours, and it was incredibly draining. I broke into full tears four different times, Jason many times too. I do not want to go there ever again but I am very thankful we went there today.
Terms like the “atrocities of war” are trivial. Dachau and the concentration camps that followed it were simply about hatred and prejudice, not about war. I still cannot comprehend how the human psyche allows this to happen, let alone how it recruits people to implement such horrors.
I thought the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin was impactful, but I’ve been way over that line now. Standing in a museum or memorial dedicated to the memory of people murdered in the Holocaust is nothing compared to standing in a shower room where people were hanged, or where 20,000 bodies were kept before cremation, or walking through a gas chamber where “mass exterminations didn’t happen, but small groups of people were killed.” And yet I was able to walk through there as a free citizen, not as a prisoner. I cannot begin to fathom how people in these camps found the will to survive – I am not sure I would have been able to. I am crying now as I write this, ten hours later.
I encourage you to experience this sometime in your life. I do not ever want to do this again but I am very thankful that I did it today.
Please, continue to choose love and compassion in your life over hatred or intolerance. There is no justification for any other path.
Dad.
Train station sign.
Main entrance, the tracks are where trains would unload prisoners.
Entrance gate with “Work Sets You Free”.
The courtyard, where roll call and work orders happened twice a day.
First row of barracks which housed the infirmary.
The other barracks were all burned down.
Foundations where other barracks stood.
Sleeping quarters in barracks. Later the dividers were removed to make room for the 10x overcrowding.
After Dachau we were thrashed – it was an emotional ride you can’t prepare for. We headed back to the hotel and then regrouped around 5:30 for dinner. Munich’s biggest park, the English Garden, has a beer garden in the middle of it. It’s quite famous so we made the long walk over there.
Munich’s English Garden.
The walk through the English Garden was great. Seeing all the open green space and people having fun took the edge off the day. The biergarten, though, was a bit of a disappointment. We had been spoiled by Augustiner-Keller – this biergarten felt much more touristy and lacked a full serve option where we could just relax.
Beer garden in the English Garden. We longed for Augustiner-Keller.
We bit the bullet and headed across town to our favorite place instead. Even with the subway it took us about 30 minutes to make the commute, so you can imagine how hungry and thirsty we were when we arrived.
Back at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten.
Most of the tables in the biergarten are communal, and as we were looking for a place to sit a Swedish couple asked to join us. They had just finished a week long trek through the Italian Alps to celebrate Gustav finishing his PhD in Physics. We gave them a bunch of grief after our waitress showed up carrying three huge steins of beer and a tiny glass of white wine. I wish I took a picture of that.
Our Swedish friends. I thought it was just me who seemed fuzzy that night, but it was all of us.
Jason’s BFF, our waitress Angie.
As a final note, if you’re ever staying in the same hotel as Jason, make sure your floor is below the floor Jason is staying on.
I’m on the 7th floor, Jason’s on the 2nd. This is how he leaves the elevator.
Munich’s English Garden.
Beer garden in the English Garden. We longed for Augustiner-Keller.
Back at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten.
Back at Augustiner-Keller Biergarten.
Our Swedish friends. I thought it was just me who seemed fuzzy that night, but it was all of us.
Roasted chicken and a slab of pork called fried bacon.
A lively evening at Augustiner-Keller.
Jason’s BFF, our waitress Angie.
Apfelstrudel!
I’m on the 7th floor, Jason’s on the 2nd. This is how he leaves the elevator.
A Sunday drive through Munich seems like a great way to see the city, and we had booked exactly that with BMW City Tours. This three hour adventure is hosted by BMW and uses classic cars from their collection.
We began the morning with a quick taxi ride to BMW Welt – the company’s showcase building across from the factory and museum.
BMW Welt (World) as seen from the BMW Museum.
If you take delivery of your BMW in Munich direct from the factory you can sip champagne in an upstairs bar and watch your car come up a glass elevator to be parked on a turntable in the central display area. New owners have been known to cry when this happens. You will need to know this in another two or three paragraphs.
BMW Welt is part showroom part BMW themepark.
After visiting BMW Welt we crossed the street and checked in at the museum for our tour. Still a bit early, we took a quick lap through the museum – more about that in the other post page about the BMW museums. Our tour cars showed up outside to a gathering crowd. We met the other six guests and our three drivers, and they introduced us to the three cars: a 1952 502 with a V8, a 1937 335 “Model Autobahn” and a 1936 326, all convertibles.
Our tour cars outside the BMW Museum.
We’d get a chance to ride in all three but opted to begin in the 1952 502. The first leg was through BMW Welt. We drove across the street, entered through the delivery gate underneath, and drove over to the elevator.
Waiting our turn for the car elevator to the center of BMW Welt.
Then this happened:
We took a couple laps around inside and then headed down a ramp and out the front of BMW Welt. From there we drove through the factory – no pictures were allowed, but it was closed on Sunday so we only saw the outsides of buildings.
The next stop was at BMW’s private Classics Collection. I made a separate post for that stop with lots of pictures. We spent about an hour inside and were the only people there, so the tour was quite intimate and filled with wonderful stories about each car. There were a few empty spaces in the collection – when we asked where one of the cars was our guide responded, “That’s the car you rode over here in.” All the cars in the collection are not only fully operational, but they drive them all at tours and events.
Our cars ourside the BMW Classics Collection.
The next car we rode in was the 1937 335 “Model Autobahn.” It has a six cylinder 2L engine with about 75-80hp. The ride was silky smooth.
My reflection in the 1937 335. The image was manipulated to bring out the reflection more, but this car was spotless.
The weather turned so we had to ride with the tops up for the rest of the tour. That was fine for us, but not a nice for our guides who had to push the 1936 326 a few times to bump start it. The car has an extra fan in the engine compartment to help cool it during stop and go city driving – that fan is also a big drain on the battery.
Giving the 1936 326 a bit of help.
Driving in the rain.
Our final stop before returning was at the BMW Showroom in Lenbachplatz. This showroom has their latest models, a few displays and a lounge area. Everything you’d expect except salesmen – you can’t actually buy a car there. I loved the “frozen bronze” matte paint job on a new 6 Series they had – really stunning.
640i with a matte bronze paintjob.
We rode back to the museum in the green 1936 326, and luckily didn’t have to get out and push.
I’d recommend this tour to any car lover. The chance to ride around in these classics, to see behind the scenes of BMW Welt, a private tour of their Classics Collection – it was all wonderful. As importantly, our guides were great, too. They all did this for fun – BMW hires only students and police officers for the job (we didn’t really understand the police officer connection there). One of our guides had worked for BMW for a number of years and had just completed his MBA – he was waiting to hear if he got the job there that he’s applied for.
From the museum we caught a taxi, raced back to the hotel to pick up our bags and went to the train station. We had an hour ride to Stuttgart for another great car day tomorrow, walked around the downtown area a bit to get oriented, had dinner at a steak place and called it a day.
Stuttgart train station. Another great car day tomorrow…
More pictures from the tour:
BMW Welt (World) as seen from the BMW Museum.
BMW Welt is part showroom part BMW themepark.
Us, as reflected in a chrome M3.
Our tour cars outside the BMW Museum.
Our tour cars outside the BMW Museum.
The 1952 502 would be our first ride.
Jason reflected in the 1997 335 convertible.
Entering the car delivery area under BMW Welt.
Waiting our turn for the car elevator to the center of BMW Welt.
1952 502 (though one guide thought it might be a 1955)
1937 335
1936 326
Our cars ourside the BMW Classics Collection.
My reflection in the 1937 335. The image was manipulated to bring out the reflection more, but this car was spotless.
Giving the 1936 326 a bit of help.
Driving in the rain.
640i with a matte bronze paintjob.
Reflection in the 1936 326 headlight.
Stuttgart train station. Another great car day tomorrow…
Prior to our BMW Classics City Tour we took a quick walk through the BMW Museum. There is a fascinating kinetic display in the museum made of metal orbs suspended on wires that rise and fall, telling the story of design development. Here is a short video I shot of a bit of it. Mesmerizing in person.
During the car tour we stopped at BMW’s private classics collection for about an hour. This is where they restore and keep cars that are not in the main museum, and they also restore and maintain classic BMWs for private collectors. I looked online at other people’s pictures of this collection and it looks like it changes often. There were only eight of us there with our guides, so it was a very personal tour. Each car had interesting stories behind it. Many pictures are included below, here are a few of my favorites…
Original owner BMW with over 300,000 miles.
This 1930s era BMW belonged to a German gentleman. When the Nazis were coming through his town confiscating anything of value he completely disassembled his car to make his garage appear to be a collection of spare parts. Years after the war he put it back together and traveled all over the world in it. He put on over 300,000 miles. When he died he gave it to the museum with the requirement that they never restore it.
1937 320 Cabriolet.
We asked about the empty slot in front of this 1937 320 and he told us that’s the space for one of the cars we were touring in. Sure enough, there were three empty slots with oil spots on the floor.
1937ish 328
How amazing would it be to cruise around in this Roadster? Evidently Elvis had one while he was stationed in Germany and all the girls would kiss it. He had it painted red so the lipstick wouldn’t show.
Isetta and Me.
I love Isettas, and I don’t know why. Don’t be too surprised if I pull up in one someday. The door opens from the front – it looks like a refrigerator door because it actually is one. This model is about the same age as me.
1949 HH49 Formula 2
Okay, I love this 1949 Formula 2 racer even more than the Isetta, but it isn’t quite as practical.
1950’s 502 Limo retrofitted with beer kegs and taps in the trunk.
On a more practical side, how about a 1950’s era 502 limo with beer kegs in the backseat and a trunk that opens for the taps. I missed the part when he explained why this car even exists.
Hood from 1999 LeMans entry.
BMW raced in LeMans for the first time in 1999. They won. After that they never entered again. (I checked online and couldn’t verify that.) Check out how much damage the front takes during just a portion of the 24 hour race.
Beautiful bike, don’t know model number.
BMW’s bike lines are well represented there, too, with probably a hundred motorcycles on display. I don’t know bike models at all, but this one caught my eye – I love the early simplicity of it.
If you want to look up BMW models from the beginning to today, they have a nice guide online at bmw-classic.com/produktkatalog/. That was part of my cheater’s guide for captions on the pictures.
As I mentioned in the post about the Classic City Tour, this is something any car fanatic must do in Munich.
More pictures:
Our tour cars in front of the Classics building.
1936 326 – One of our tour cars.
1937 335 – One of our tour cars.
1952 502 w/V8 – One of our tour cars.
Original owner BMW with over 300,000 miles.
1935 319
1937 320 Cabriolet. The space in front is where one of our tour cars parks.
1937ish 328
328 Roadster
326
1950’s 502 Limo retrofitted with beer kegs and taps in the trunk.
We arrived in Stuttgart yesterday afternoon via train and saw a bit of the area around the train station and our hotel. The reason for the stop in Stuttgart was to see the Porsche and Mercedes factories and museums. A few weeks before the trip I realized that the museums were closed on Mondays – the only day we’d be in town. I emailed Porsche and Mercedes and we got on their factory tour lists, but the times overlapped so Porsche won.
PORSCHE!
I have a 1997 911 Cabriolet with over 100,000 miles on it. I love this car, it’s my daily driver. It surprised me, though, how excited I became when the taxi dropped us off in front of the Porsche museum to meet for our tour. I get now why BMW owners get teary eyed when their new car shows up in BMW Welt. Crazy isn’t it?
I hope not.
Porsche Museum.
The museum opened earlier this year, the Google map image of it still shows dirt. I wish I could talk about how great it was inside. Sigh. Ahh, but the factory… That was amazing.
Porsche Factory.
The very first thing that happens on the factory tour is they make you check your cameras and phones – absolutely no pictures are allowed.
I wrote down pages of notes afterwards, and I’ll share a few highlights here. (National Geographic did a show in 2010 about the Porsche factory, some segments are on YouTube if you want to see it more in depth.) The two hour tour starts in the engine assembly building, then visits the interior line followed by the body assembly and marriage (body and chassis) line.
Parts are delivered to the lines by robots – we had to step aside occasionally to let them pass, though they will stop and wait for you to move. The factory only has a five hour backlog of parts on hand.
The engine assembly line is shared by people and robots, with robots doing the mundane but precise work and people doing work that is more variable. There is a five minute break every hour, after each break people move to a different task. Everyone on the line is trained to do every job – at the end of the day they can say “I build Porsche engines,” instead of “I install crankshafts.” They all have technical degrees and go through a three year apprenticeship. The line makes every variation of the flat 6 engine.
The body line makes every type of 911 and every variation of them (like left vs. right hand drive). The cars are intermingled with proper parts following each one around on robotic transports. You’ll see a left hand drive Carrera S followed by a right hand drive Turbo Cabriolet.
The rims are conical to direct air and heat to the outside to assist in cooling the brakes. That’s why my rims are always dirty. It’s a good thing!
Trivia! Coming off the line, the Porsche shield on the wheel hub points to the tire valve. (WARNING: blog post time warp ahead…) When I got home I checked mine and they were misaligned. Damn local mechanics. I fixed them and felt like the cool kid on the block. Two days later they aren’t aligned anymore – they really aren’t all that tight.
Porsche shield and tire valve, happily aligned.
There’s a ton more of interesting manufacturing details from the line. If you want to hear all about it I can be had for the price of a beer.
After the Porsche tour we took a taxi to the Mercedes-Benz Classic car building. This is the equivalent to the BMW collection that we visited in Munich. They maintain all the Mercedes for the museum and will help you acquire and maintain a classic Mercedes if you so desire. With the M-B factory tour at the wrong time and the museum closed on Mondays, this was our best shot at some authentic Stuttgart Mercedes face time.
Mercedes Classics – closed.
Closed?!? I don’t understand.
And that brings us to our last night in Europe. We longed for an authentic German meal. Lucky for us a Stuttgart police officer saw us staring at a map in the train station trying to figure out what line to take back to the hotel – he generously offered to help after bumping Jason’s arm and scaring the crap out of him. During our police escort back to the hotel we asked him where we could get some authentic German food in the area. He thought for a long time and confessed that Stuttgart isn’t really a great dining town and we’d be better off going for Turkish or Indian food. We thanked him profusely.
Undeterred, we headed to what used to be the old town part of Stuttgart. “Used to be” because 70% of Stuttgart was destroyed in WWII by 186,000 aerial bombs. We found a good street cafe with decent German food and Dinkelaker beer.
Dinkelacker.
Our conversation went like this:
“You’re a Dinkelaker.”
“No, you’re a Dinkelaker.”
“No, you’re a Dinkelaker.”
etc.
We knew it was time to go home.
PORSCHE!
Porsche Museum.
Us, reflected in the Porsche Museum ceiling.
Porsche Factory.
Porsche shield and tire valve, happily aligned.
New 911 in the showroom. My car, 15 years later.
Porsche Diesel Junior. I’m not so crazy about their diesel designs.
Mercedes Classics – closed.
Dinkelacker.
Okay, it wasn’t really time to go home yet. Maybe just one more beer.
We took the train from Stuttgart to the Frankfurt airport. BTW, these trains are great. We cruised at 152 MPH (see the GPS pic below) with a silky smooth ride.
A hour or two to kill at FRA, then off we go.
Auf weidersehen Germany.
570 MPH, a couple movies, a couple meals, lots of picture processing, and finally home.
Hello SFO.
Yea! Home!
Jason barely managed to catch his connection to Denver, but all ended well.
Hey Jason – great trip. Thanks buddy!
Train from Stuttgart to Frankfurt.
Leaving Stuttgart.
Train cockpit.
Cruising at 152 mph.
That’s me waving in the window next to the emergency exit.
