A man and a woman record a podcast in a laundromat.

Munich podcasts

A feast for the ears

What is Mozart’s opera Idomeneo about? What does a Rubens painting in the Alte Pinakothek art gallery have to do with the coronavirus crisis? Can you wear glass fibre? What makes Schlachthofviertel so special and why would ants never tailgate? Listen to Munich-based experts answering these questions and many more. Whether it’s art, culture, science, philosophy or everyday matters, these Munich podcasts are well worth a listen: Unfortunately, they are only available in German.

Opernsteckbrief (opera profile) podcast by the Bayerische Staatsoper

Listening to the Bayerische Staatsoper podcast is the best possible way to prepare for a night at the opera in Munich. In less than ten minutes it delivers a summary of the plot, as well as background information on the history of the operas, composers, stage designs and productions of the Bavarian State Opera.

For example, it will tell you that director Nikolaus Bachler discovered artist Phyllida Barlow in 2017 while visiting the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Noticing references to the themes of Idomeneo in her garden of huge sculptures made from laths, boxes, paper, paint, plaster, polystyrene and fabric, he engaged her on the spot to work on the stage design for the Mozart opera.

 

Listen to the podcast episode of Idomeneo here

 

Podcast „Think & Talk“ by the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Meanwhile, the Think & Talk podcast by the Alte and Neue Pinakothek art galleries looks at works from their collections and discusses how they relate to the present day. One of the speakers on the podcast is Dr Mirjam Neumeister, curator of the Alte Pinakothek’s collection of pre-19th century Flemish paintings. She embraces the opportunity to speak to other people as they visit the museum as a wonderful gift.

She then discussed the question of whether the piece could have any relevance with regard to modern-day challenges such as the coronavirus crisis with a group of interested participants online.

In times when coming together is more difficult, similar encounters can also take place in digital spaces: for example, Neumeister recently introduced her favourite painting, “The Death of Seneca” by Peter Paul Rubens, in a short video on the museum’s YouTube channel. She then discussed the question of whether the piece could have any relevance with regard to modern-day challenges such as the coronavirus crisis with a group of interested participants online. Think & Talk summarises the curator’s impressions from these discussions again – but you don’t need to have listened to the discussion or watched the video to enjoy it.

 

Listen to the podcast episode on Ruben's "Death of Seneca"

 

Munich Next Level podcast by MUCBOOK

Marco Eisenack, founder and publisher of Munich city magazine MUCBOOK, is not one to look at the city through rose-tinted glasses. He has been quoted as saying: “Munich – a city that intoxicates, disenchants, delights, frustrates, refreshes, frightens – in a nutshell: a home that is so complicated, we forget about wanderlust.”

In the Munich Next Level podcast, he talks to people who have considered the future of this “complicated home” and who have some promising ideas and visions for the sustainable shaping of the city. His guests include Green Party politician and city deputy mayor Katrin Habenschaden as well as city planners, university professors and Munich creatives such as the legendary Hahn brothers.

Marco Eisenack, founder and publisher of Munich city magazine MUCBOOK, is not one to look at the city through rose-tinted glasses.

One of these, Laurin Hahn, talks about his automotive start-up Sono Motors from his first tinkerings in his parents’ garage to the stock market flotation of his solar-powered Sion e-car in November 2021. In the third of the podcast’s 22 episodes so far, his brother Daniel speaks of the joys and pitfalls of his many meanwhile use projects, such as the Alte Utting, a disused pleasure boat relocated to the top of a bridge in the Schlachthofviertel district and refurbished as a party venue.

 

Listen to the Sono Motors podcast episode with Laurin Hahn

 

Out and About With ... podcast by München Tourismus

In the Out and About With ... series of podcasts, author Anika Landsteiner, who writes for München Tourismus and others, meets with Munich personalities and walks with them through the neighbourhoods they live or work in. The people she meets with are from all walks of life and are as at home in their careers as they are in their neighbourhoods.

Jewellery designer Saskia Diez, Gasteig director Max Wagner, Munich graffiti legend Loomit and many more speak – often volubly – about the special atmosphere in their neighbourhoods, show off their favourite places and offer tips for going out, pit stops, pausing for a quiet moment or two and shopping. Anika has already showcased many of Munich’s districts in her podcast, including the Kunstareal (museum area), Giesing, Lehel, Haidhausen, Westend, Werksviertel-Mitte and the Glockenbachviertel area. If you’re looking for ideas for a trip to Munich, this podcast is ideal.

 

Listen to the Kunstareal podcast episode with Laura Schieferle

 

Biotopics podcast by the Biotopia Naturkundemuseum Bayern

Science really has nothing to do with fairytales and unbelievable events. Nevertheless, you’ll often find yourself wonderstruck as you listen to the Biotopia Naturkundemuseum’s podcast. There is something fantastical about the vision of architect Ferdinand Ludwig, with whom Tina Gentner converses in the first episode on the topic of “living building materials”. Ludwig founded the Baubotanik (construction botany) department at the Technical University of Munich and is working with his team on a near future when we will move through cities as through forests, with living trees and technical elements such as glass combining to form buildings atop which birds nest and bees hum, and which also have a positive impact on the carbon balance.

He is working with his team on a near future when we will move through cities as through forests, with living trees and technical elements such as glass combining to form buildings atop which birds nest and bees hum, and which also have a positive impact on the carbon balance.

The podcast also touches on future-focussed topics such as artificial intelligence and dream research, with Tina Gentner and her colleague Mischa Drautz showering renowned researchers with the questions that any layperson would want to ask. “Stay curious!” is the motto of this podcast, which was only launched in December 2021.

 

Listen to the podcast episode on living building materials

 

Deutsches Museum podcast

The Deutsches Museum is one of the world’s largest science and technology museums, and its collection comprises over 125,000 items, many of which found their way into the museum’s possession in rather adventurous ways. Thanks to some thorough detective work, some of these objects have been persuaded to reveal their stories. The twelve episodes of the podcast present musical instruments, decryption machines, particle accelerators and even the spun glass-fibre dress worn by Spanish princess Maria Eulalia, who saw the garment as a child when she visited the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893, and went on to order one for herself.

The twelve episodes of the podcast present musical instruments, decryption machines, particle accelerators and even the spun glass-fibre dress worn by Spanish princess Maria Eulalia.

The dress survived two World Wars and a period of storage in a bomb shelter, as well as several years in the museum’s warehouse, before it was rediscovered by an employee and subsequently cleaned and restored over some 170 hours. While fibreglass is only used for insulation or to make high-speed internet cables these days, an encounter with the fragile dress uncovers the beginnings of glass fibre production at a time when the material was used mainly for crafts.

The podcast not only expands our horizons by presenting portraits of prominent scientists and useful information on topics such as materials, digitisation, music history and particle physics, but it also touches on more everyday rituals such as coffee drinking. The podcast episode entitled “Der Weg der Bohne in die Tasse” (“From Bean to Cup”) offers a different kind of tour through the “Kosmos Kaffee” (“Coffee Cosmos”) exhibition in the Deutsches Museum in 2020.

 

Listen to the podcast episode on "Cosmos Coffee" here

 

Mia san Tier (We are animals) – the Hellabrunn zoo podcast

The snakes don’t have individual names because they are deaf. From the 2.15-metre-long forest cobra to the gaboon viper, with its five- to seven-centimetre-long poisonous fangs, keeper Norbert simply calls them all “Mausi”. In no time, these mousies hoover up three fully grown rats – nourishment enough to sustain them for the next two or three weeks. As they have no eyelids they can’t wink at us; all they can do is stare. That fact is probably the root of the strong hypnotic powers that the snake Kaa exercises on the hapless Mowgli in the Jungle Book, suggests podcast presenter Tina Gentner.

The snakes don’t have individual names because they are deaf. Keeper Norbert simply calls them all “Mausi”.

Listeners can look forward to a new episode of the podcast every two weeks, with stories, anecdotes and plenty of background information about the various species living in Munich’s Zoo. In each episode, Gentner and her colleague Micha Drautz bring fans along on their voyages of discovery through the zoo. Episode 50 sees Tina visit the chimpanzees which, contrary to stereotypes, do not often get bananas to eat because too much sugar is bad for our animal relatives too. Humans actually share 98 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees – so contrary to the Bavarian saying “mia san mia” (“we are ourselves”), we are also partly animal.

 

Listen to the podcast episode about the chimpanzees here

 

Nahaufnahme (Close-up) podcast by Munich’s Feierwerk cultural centre


The Munich Fachstelle Pop at the Feierwerk looks after the city’s new generations of musicians, putting like-minded individuals in touch with each other as well as providing practice rooms, helping organise performances and even assisting with tour buses. In addition, Julia Viechtl from the Fachstelle has teamed up with Esther Diestelmann from Radio Feierwerk to create a podcast that invites listeners to regularly delve into Munich’s subculture.


Guests include Rüdiger “Rüde” Linhof, who has been playing bass with indie-rock band Sportfreunde Stiller for 20 years, as well as queen of meanwhile use projects Zehra Spindler, musician, presenter and author Roger Rekless, singer Nina Sonnenberg (alias Fiva) and David Süß, who runs internationally renowned Munich techno club Harry Klein.

Guests talk about their adventures and successes, but also discuss their vices, the crises they have faced and their defeats.

The great thing about podcasts is that they allow us to get to know so many people, all with different lifestyles and viewpoints, and this is especially true of the 38 episodes of Nahaufnahme that have been released to date. Guests talk about their adventures and successes, but also discuss their vices, the crises they have faced and their defeats. Listeners will smile as they find out how David Süß launched his disco career with the boy scouts in Fürstenfeldbruck, listen to what rapper and presenter Fiva thinks of marriage (nothing at all, in case you were wondering) and hear about Roger Rekless’ happiness on overcoming a period of depression with his last album.

 

Listen to the latest podcast episode here

 

 

Text: Karoline Graf; Photos: Christian Kasper, Dominik Morbitzer, Marc Müller
A man and a woman record a podcast in a laundromat.

Munich Podcasts

A feast for the ears

Many Munich museums and institutions have their own podcast. An overview.

Many Munich museums and institutions have their own podcast. Here we present a few examples that are particularly worth listening to.

A man and two women, one of whom has a small child on her lap, in a sitting position but without a seat in a room lined with red granite.

A sneak preview of Munich's 2024 gallery exhibitions

Hungry for art

You'll definitely want to catch these exhibitions in Munich's museums and galleries in 2024!

From the Old Masters to the new young things: Munich's museums showcase art from all branches and eras. Here are some exhibitions that you'll definitely want to catch in 2024!

A wall with graffiti in Munich.

The writing's on the wall

Get graffitiing!

Munich has long been the cradle of the European graffiti scene. Our author once painted graffiti himself, and today looks back on a quite exceptional piece of work.

Munich has long been the cradle of the European graffiti scene. Our author once painted graffiti himself, and today looks back on a quite exceptional piece of work.

Fountain in Grottenhof of the Residenz photographed through a window of the Residenz in Munich.

Royal Munich

Bisou, Bisou with the Sun King

The story of Ludwig II is a legendary tale: an account of a glamorous time that played out not only in Neuschwanstein, but also directly within the Munich court – the Residenz palace in the city centre.

The story of Ludwig II is a legendary tale: an account of a glamorous time that played out not only in Neuschwanstein, but also directly within the Munich court – the Residenz palace in the city centre.

Neuschwanstein Castle in the surrounding region of Munich.

Hiking guide

Royal wanderlust

Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof, Schachenhaus and Neuschwanstein: Bavaria’s castles and palaces are among the most beautiful in the world.

Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof, Schachenhaus and Neuschwanstein: Bavaria’s castles and palaces are among the most beautiful in the world.

Endless Staircase in Munich.

Art in public spaces

At second glance

Some public art in Munich is unknown even to the locals. We present six works of art that can often only be discovered at second glance.

Some public art in Munich is unknown even to the locals. We present six works of art that can often only be discovered at second glance.

Munich Card & City Pass

Discover Munich in a relaxed and uncomplicated way: discounts for the diverse range of art, culture and leisure activities with our guest cards.

Public transport is included

Many discounts with the Card, many things for free with the Pass.

Online or at the tourist information offices

Munich's Palace of Justice

Justizpalast Tour

During the guided tour of the present-day seat of the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice, you will learn everything about the history and significance of the neo-baroque court and administrative building.

Book now for only 20€ !

During the guided tour of the present-day seat of the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice, you will learn everything about the history and significance of the neo-baroque court and administrative building.

Small meeting room of the Neues Rathaus in Munich

New Town Hall Tour

Explore the Neue Rathaus on Marienplatz with an official City of Munich tour guide. A visit of the famous law library is also included!

Book now from 20 €

Explore the Neue Rathaus on Marienplatz with an official tour guide. A visit of the famous law library is also included!

Magistrates, Monachia and magnificent celebrations: explore the Neue Rathaus on Marienplatz with an official City of Munich tour guide. A visit of the famous law library is also included!

Exterior view of the Hofbräuhaus Munich at dusk.

Hofbräuhaus Tour

Discover the most famous beer hall in the world with an official guide of the city of Munich and enjoy a fresh Mass of beer afterward!

Book for 28€, Mass beer included!

Discover the most famous beer hall in the world with an official guide of the city of Munich and enjoy a fresh Mass of beer afterward!

Discover the most famous beer hall in the world with an official guide of the city of Munich and enjoy a fresh Mass of beer afterward!

Towers at Marienplatz in Munich

Old Town Tour

The city walk for everyone who wants to become acquainted with the most beautiful parts of Munich's city centre.

Book now for 18 €!

The city walk for everyone who wants to become acquainted with the most beautiful parts of Munich's city centre.

Wort kettle at the Spaten brewery in Munich.

Spaten Brewery Tour

Experience a brewery tour at Spaten with a look behind the scenes, interesting facts about the company history and beer tasting in the brewery tower.

Book now for only 22 €!

Experience a brewery tour at Spaten with a look behind the scenes, interesting facts about the company history and beer tasting in the brewery tower.

A woman with varnished fingernails holds a gift with the inscription "simply Munich".

Vouchers

Buy now vouchers for your visit in Munich. The ideal gift! Guided tours, guest cards and more...

Buy vouchers from 6,50 €

Buy now vouchers for your visit in Munich. The ideal gift! Guided tours, guest cards and more...

A stone jug with the inscription Oktoberfest Munich.

Order now!

Oktoberfest Shop

Bring a piece of Oktoberfest home: Purchase official souvenirs such as the Wiesn poster or the Oktoberfest beer stein in the official Oktoberfest shop.

Bring a piece of Oktoberfest home: Purchase official souvenirs such as the Wiesn poster or the Oktoberfest beer stein in the official Oktoberfest shop.

Bag on green background

Vouchers

Give the gift of a special Munich voucher: we also offer vouchers for all our guided tours. Here you can book unique Munich experiences directly online, print them out and give them as a gift voucher to friends or family.

Buy vouchers from 6,50 €

Give the gift of a special Munich voucher: we also offer vouchers for all our guided tours. Here you can book unique Munich experiences directly online, print them out and give them as a gift voucher to friends or family.