Munich Macabre Group Walking Tour

Marienplatz: the ancient market square of Munich. Meet your guide, archaeologist and historian Taff Simon and kick off the tour with a brief overview of the origins of the city and the why it looks the way it does today.

Today fairly unremarkable, it occupies an area which ran alongside the Medieval Jewish quarter. Here we learn a little about how the community contributed to the economic and cultural life of the city and how they suffered with baseless accusations of "Blood Libel", of spreading the Black Death and of aiding and abetting criminals and witches. We learn about how recent archaeological excavations as part of a new U-Bahn project has contributed to our understanding of this part of Munich.

St Peter's: the oldest church in Munich - so it must have the oldest graveyard, right? Learn how to decipher symbols on gravestones and discover the ancient burial rites of the earliest Bavarians up to more recent times, where "Rest in peace" more often than not meant "Rest in pieces". Class, trade and the Guilds are also discussed, as reflected in the gravestones and architectural features of the church. Get to handle and examine original ancient coins - which would have been given as Alms Note: this stop uses as examples of Dark Age/early Medieval burial rites photos of archaeological excavations that the guide has been involved with (typically on construction sites). This is a sensitive subject but we take the view that the educational value of showing some examples of how the ancients treated their dead and how it can inform us of their religious beliefs and social structure, on balance, is worthwhile. The issue of gravegoods like jewelry and weaponry in graves is also discussed.

Today this is a lovely framers market: the locals buy their pretzels and cheese before throwing back a few cold ones in the popular beer garden. In the medieval times though you would be very unfortunate to find yourself here...an outcast no less.Find out why... Here guests also get to try authentic Medieval beer (samples, not full ones sorry!) and learn about the terrible penalties for making bad beer and pretzels.

The Alter Hof was originally a castle for the Wittelsbacher; the Bavarian Royal family. Here we learn about a murder which shocked medieval Europe and the repercussions this would have for subsequent generations of Müncheners . Following on from the subject of murder we consider some aspects of Medieval combat, drawing on the theories of Hans Talhoffer, legendary late medieval sword master. Get to handle replica swords and perhaps some armour too. Time permitting, we look at a fascinating archaeological discovery made here in 1944 when an Allied bomb inadvertently unearthed some seriously ancient artefacts. Get to handle and compare different types of ancient pottery and other artefacts.

The most vicious "Witch" trial in German history was conducted here in central Munich. Learn about the background to it, the charges, the methods used to gather "evidence" and the subsequent fate of that most unlucky of families, the Pappenheimers. The events that played out here would have far reaching consequences... felt as far away as a little town in colonial Massachusetts....

We end the tour here in the same place as we started. We sum up, recommend further reading and can make suggestions for places to eat and drink in the neighbourhood.