Munich Friday Beer Gardens
(& indoors in cold, wet, & winter etc)

We go to Self Service area (so avoid anything with a table cloth), near-ish to kids play area. Easiest to find us via side gate entrance on Zirkus- Krone- Str, then walk back South along fence toward Arnulf- Str & we'll be most of the way in that direction, & either near to fence, or at most about 5 rows in from fence.

Shady Big beer garden. Own food allowed (eg could be packed from home, a shop, or eg a donner kebab picked up en route from Schiller Str). Hot & cold food sold there. Sells normal beers outside, or go inside to buy Dunkles.

Wet Weather fall back:
Inside the hall of the beer garden, near Herbst- Str, perhaps down in the deep cellar (if front upstairs crowded/ noisey/ smokey, & other top level big rooms reserved for private events). (2007.05.15 they said they had non smoking rooms, but not tonight as reserved for events). To get down use either of 2 spiral staircases, one particularly narrow, or use lift. (In event of fire there's a big broad exit staircase at back I've checked).
Mobile phones do not work in that deep cool spacious cellar

11th July 2008 we found it chained shut. Later someone (Doris or Sabine maybe?) said she'd heard infested but with what we could only guess. Don't know.

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• U Bahn: U 6 Studentenstadt: On Ungerer Str head North East for 5 minutes; then turn right=East on to Foehringer Ring; when main road bears Left (North East & North), walk on Aumeister Weg East for 5 minutes, then North East parallel to Schwabinger Bach, & somehow try to cross river (if necessary, follow river down to Foehringer Ring & Leinthalerstr).
• U Bahn: U 6 Freimann: South (into town), Across (Under ?) motorway; left=East South East on Leinthalerstr; right=South West on Sondermeierstr for 2 minutes, passing under old rail bridge.
• Cycle: North North East down the Isar, pass under Mittlerer Ring, then short cut across park Or stay by river, cycle under Herzog Heinrich Bruecke (of Foehringer Ring), immediately West North West on Leinthalerstr, South West on Sondermeierstr.
• Car: Easy parking on adjacent roads as out of town.

Large picture of beer garden (& Gaststätte) under 2 foot of snow

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Directions to Concordia Park Beer Garden, Landshuter Allee 165

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Location

Getting There

Getting Back

Cycling

Notes

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Address

Description

• South (upstream) of Munich. On river, West bank, with terraces overlooking the canal & river Isar beyond to East.
• Beer: Hacker Pschorr (Prices: cheaper than in town. @ 2003.07 : Litre Helles 6,10 @ 2006.08.19 : Alkoholfrei half litre 2.85, Spare Ribs 6.75 )
  
• Self Service & Served areas about equal size. Can bring own food to self service area . All benches even in self service area have back rests. More importantly they're well spaced, so no back rubbing unlike many central venues eg Augustiner & See- haus etc.
• Hot chips done to order (when it was a non hot quiet Sat August afternoon)
• Children's playground opposite self service area
• Owner is president of Munich football club TSV 1860 München (Löwen)

Travel

• U-Bahn: U3 Thalkirchen, then South up river approx. 1 or 2 km
  
• Bus: U3 Thalkirchen, then 57 bus to Bad Maria Einsiedl then 10 mins on foot
  OR
  Bus: No. 134 (@ Aug 2006) goes directly to Krankenhaus Martha Maria. As is it a Stadt bus, it only goes every 20 minutes. Maybe a convenient U-Bahn or S-Bahn station to hop on bus No. 134 is Harras. Bus goes to corner, adjacent to beer garden.
• Bike: south up river, on the West Bank, . If you pass an island with more drinking space on it, on you left (East), (run by other management).
  between canal & river, then you'r about the correct place but look West up hill to the terrace.
• Car: Half way along Hinter- Bruehler- See (small lake), there's a junction. It's on South corner of the junction With a navigation system type in Zentral- Ländstr./ corner Conwentz- Str. Parking: Keep driving down road & eventually you'll find a something after junction maybe.

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Description

Directions In Ascii Ready For Email

  Gyssling-str. 15, In Englischer Garten, 81545 Muenchen Schwabing. 
  Do _Not_ confuse with Hirsch- Garten (with deer, way out West)!
  U-Bahns:
    U6 Diet- Linden- Str: Walk South East on D.L.Str or take a bus., OR
    U3 & U6: Muenchner Freiheit: Walk East into park, North East past lake.
    U4: Richard Strauss Str: & longer walk or bus North West, past
        Effner Plz. & over John F Kennedy bridge into park.
            
  North of Mittlerer ring (=Isar ring). West (Tennis court) side of
  South end of Gyssling Str.  If you start from the See- haus: (on
  edge of lake "Klein- hesseloher See"): 2 ways to Hirschau, Either:
    Half a minute's walk East (toward River Isar) then curving
    Left=North East on quiet road under busy Mittlerer ring. Just
    after going under bridge, turn Right (North East) into Gyssling
    Str. After 2 minutes turn Left between car park & tennis courts
    (use your ears, listen for balls), beyond the building
    OR: 1 minute's walk North (toward Schwabing), then Right=North
    East onto footbridge over Mittlerer, after bridge, straight on
    in same direction, then slightly right (maybe you'll hear band
    if playing).
 North end (away from road entrance to beer garden), East side (near 
 car park & entrance to Beer Schanke).
         

Old Owner Gone - Good !

Bad Weather Fallback

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Description

Location

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• Zellstr. 4, 81667 München
• Tel. 458750.80, Fax. 458750.89
• 300 Seats. Normal cheap space saving 10 seat benches, all jammed together seat benches touching, so 4/5th (&) of people can rub bums backs & elbows with next table. Tables are slightly oblique rows, so 2 corner seats may be partly free of the rubbing curse. Beergardens that cram in deserve to lose customers.
• South West aspect & they say large umbrellas, but not true, a few medium size wood & white canvas, smaller than little cafe single table umbrellas, but not Big modern aluminium & white plastic Large umbrellas
• Walled all round & a small B.G. so not much draught, which may be a bad thing: with all the tobacco drug addicts round me when it was at about 25% seat occupancy, I left, rather than buy a 2nd mass, because of the smoke drifting about erratically.
• Ökofleisch vom Lava- stein- grill. 2 sausages for 5 Euro
• Small sand pit for few small kids & 2nd KPA at 150 metre out of sight.
• Near Isar cycle path.
• Bike parking not compatible with racing handle bars, only good for "city bikes" & mountain bikes.
• Mo bis Do: 17 Uhr bis 1 Uhr. Fr bis So: 12 Uhr bis 1 Uhr
• Look for a yellowish orange building, baroque, (with a swimming pool inside), & a large square factory chimney further North (= down river) from Deutsche Museum, & West (= down hill) from Gasteig.
• Wet weather fallback: They have an adjacent "Cafe [similar name to Electra, or dynamo), whether its free entry or just for concerts I don't know.
• On a tram line, between S Bahns Isartor & Rosen- Heimer- Str.

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Getting There:

Where In Beer Garden:

Beergarden Description (for announcements) :

Wet Weather fall back:

Beergarden Description (extended notes, not for announcements):

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U-Bahn: U5, Michaeli Bad; Walk in same direction as trains heading out 
    of town ( East South East, Compass 112.5 ;-) ; Along Heinrich
    Wieland Str, past Michaeli- Bad on right (first past long low
    single storey buildings behind which lie grounds of the swimming
    pool); past main pool entrance, past push bike park, curving
    gently right into park, past flower bushes, past Restaurant (a
    bit off to right, adjacent to lake), right turn, down path into
    park; far end of beer garden, past kids play area, near lake.
Cars: Ost-Park is East of the East side of Mittlerer ring. Free Car Park
    South off Heinrich Wieland. But why drink-drive ?  Use U Bahn :-)
Beer-garden:
    Own Food is legal here. They sell hot food too.  Optional hill &
    park stroll after dark.  Illuminated model boats on lake sometimes.
Wet Fallback indoor venue Options:
    1) Restaurant at beer garden now has a non smoking section.
    2) Dicker Mann, (Probably still smoked everywhere):
       Heinrich Wieland Str 11, Muenchen 81735, Map grid C 73 in
       Blue Phone Book Die Muenchner http://www.diemuenchner.de
       Between U Bahn & Biergarten, nearer U Bahn. other (North)
       side of street from park.

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• Hochstr 77, 81541 Mu. Shown on my map as "Paulaner" ... the brewery is adjacent. Cyclists: Along the cycle path to Reichenbachbruecke, South East, along Ohlmuller, up hill, left into Hochstr (before going over rail bridge). U Bahn (flat route to avoid walking up hill from river): U Bahn Silberhornstr, walk north north east along tegernseelandstr towards Rosenheimer Platz, North West = Left at junction with Ostfriedhof, down Nockherberg str a few meters over rail bridge, Due North (Right) Into Hoch Str. Maybe 50 Metres Right again.
• Their Web. Tel 459913.180 fax 81 Wirt Peter Pongratz. Leiter Haustechnik Joerg Kukulies
• Beer garden
  • Can be (if wind from West, but Munich doesn't get much wind) a pleasant view over the escarpment & into beer garden.
  • Crowded seating during the rebuilding after the fire.
  • Rebuilding complete @ July 2003, now has all the recti-linear architectural attraction & interest of an old Butlin/Pontin's holiday camp ;-)
  • In the back corner along the side adjacent to where where the Kids Play Area (KPA) was, they've put low level toilet block, & a new bandstand further down.
  • Exactly where the KPA used to be is now a pathway to the large bus car park, they didn't sacrifice any of that parking space, they sacrificed the beer garden.
  • They can now bus in hordes of eg USA BMW businessmen 2003.07.11. We were then stuck between the awful racket from the lousy `Lampion' band (some north of Munich music type ?) on the new bandstand, & the different Americanised Bavarian music from the halls.
  • We complained to management, cashiers subject to even more noise right opposite bandstand complained too, Forget any hope of a quiet relaxing beer garden unless you sit well away from halls entrance, nearer to the escarpment.
  • If you want to go, check what band will be making too much noise too close to you. They have a timetable.
  • Beer schanke too inefficient / slow though lots of staff & some quite surprisingly friendly, they'll probably get more efficient by 2004.
  • It takes a certain `skill' to manage to not pour the full content of 2 half litre alkoholfrei bottles into a litre mass glass, but they managed it, (the place used to regularly short measure on hellas & dunkles `vom fass' (on tap) served by the older man from the South Schanke (S. Schanke now gone) before the fire).
  • The KPA has grown, but moved down right by the main entrance, much easier to have your kids run off or be stolen from the new KPA, than the old South East corner location with high fences.
  • Amazingly a local tabloid (`yellow press') paper (TZ or AZ maybe, but not SZ), claimed lots of their readers like it ! Maybe they used to, hard to believe they still do.
  • Sad that it isn't what it was before the building were burnt down (about which some people after a beer or 2 there, have been heard to ask each other rhetorical sarcastic questions about the convenience of loose matches, can't keep cynics down ;-)
• The Stark Bier Fest: Traditional start point for the fest. Televised live I believe. The politicians do their ponderous bit here. Some say if you enjoy that, you've been here too long, some say if you can't understand it, you'r not a local. Whether one Wants to appreciate it is debatable. I've been here too long ! 'Cos I've enjoyed the televised Bavarian humour at times.
  • The 2003 Stark Bier Fest: (Return from the tents down by the Auer Dult) Short measures & tight fit tables bolted to the floor. Tedious rubbing of backs with next table tight packed close. A waitress tried to steal the substantial change due my female neighbour - I put my arm across to table opposite, grabbed it, & the fat old waitress bounced off & couldn't escape without paying back what she had attempted to cheat. She knew full well, she was just trying to cheat the young American female customer who was trapped on the tight bench, & couldn't get her money back. I left in disgust shortly after, I finished drinking my first & only Stark bier there outside.
  • In the front building, it used to be OK even during Starkbierfest time, it was more of a civilised restaurant in the area that led off from the left side, just before where you paid for entry to the `garden' & halls, .
  • Stark beer is seriously strong: There used to be a reputation for good number of fights at Starkbierfest zeit. Men seemed more casual after leaving the premises to go home, & vaguely wandering across the road to urinate above the escarpment beyond, but more surprising one year was to see 2 young women, trousers down, squatting in the gutter urinating about 4 meters from the entrance, couldn't even be bothered to walk up or across the road, let alone to the grass beyond ! Strong beer, & things happen. Another traditional place for Stark Bier Fest is Loewen Bräu Keller @ Stiglmaier Platz

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Outside in the self service half of the Park Cafe
        Sophien- strasse 7, Tel 51617980 http://www.parkcafe089.de
    On edge of park (ex site of Old Botanical Garden).
U Bahns: Nearest: Karls- platz/Stachus. Others: Haupt Bahn Hof & Koenigs- Platz

Warning: We Avoid Here During Football Season

• Next : 07.06.2008 bis 29.06.2008 EM LIVE
• Their web claims to have largest screen in a beer garden,
• Most of our group does not like pervasive football noise from loudspeakers.
• We won't pay extra high prices for degraded environment.
• Note the mobile number of the mail list announcer, for in case they impose football noise on us, & we leave, & you need to find us by mobile phone, as happened 02.07.2004: Rip Off Football Pricing With No Football !
  Beergarten Aus- Schanken was closed, due to bad weather. The small area next to cafe was open as usual, but had been extended, partly railed off. They'd put a large projection screen outside, possibly so they could show something, maybe a film or something I thought, but it was off, no signs of any sort, no tickets, & they were serving beer outside as usual, & it was quiet, largely deserted on arrival, so OK. After beer arrived, we asked for menus, but only one ordered food, as too expensive & a bit weird for the price. I saw the waiter looking very carefully at backs of all menus when he collected them from us before selecting some for next table. Elke paid first, for a single Weiss Bier: 3.90 Euros! We complained, & refused to pay more than normal. Found that some but not all menus had football logos on back cover, with rip off prices inside. Cafe manageress was insistent she must rip us all off @ 3.90 Euros for beers instead of their normal 3.30, for non existent football we didn't see & didn't want. She rolled out the usual Munich excremental excuses: That it was owner's orders, & owner of course wasn't there, & so she had to rip us off, & we had no choice but to be ripped off ... & that if we didn't pay their enhanced rip off prices, it must come out of the waiter's pocket - the owner would rip him off instead. We refused to be ripped off: there was no football showing, & I added I hated watching football & would Not have been there if they were showing it. She said she'd turn it on (to retrospectively justify the prices, now we wanted to leave!). I warned her not to extend the attempted fraud, by falsifying evidence, & turning on football TV just before police arrived (if called). I didn't trust her at all. I demanded she show me my 3.40 change due from a 10 Euro note on 2 beers, before I'd even give it to her. I was certain she'd short change me & the rest after otherwise. She continued arguing with us. She rushed off briefly at one point, to harass the technicians to immediately put on football, any, even a recording, they refused, saying there was no point. The waiter accepted normal pricing, & I finally got my right change from him. Then others paid & left. After group had left, last organiser reported she was still telling technicians to turn on the large screen & show football - & they were saying no, none available!

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Address

Directions

• The beer garden is North of the City.
• South of of Mittlerer ring,
• In the park "Englischer Garten",
• On the edge of the lake "Klein- hesseloher See".
• Nearest U-Bahn: U 3/6, Muenchner Freiheit, then walk East along Feilitzschstr into park (Sun behind your right shoulder), Left=North briefly at T juntion, then Right=East toward park, past Osterwaldgarten (pub) on left, continue into park, Left=North round lake clockwise (North, then East, then South a bit. See- haus is on edge of lake.
• Or Bus 144 from Dietlindenstraße (U-Bahn Münchner Freiheit) to Osterwaldstraße.
• Or cycle along Isar.
• Or by car its South West of where Mittlerer Ring = John F Kennedy Bridge crosses river Isar, small car park.
• If you type "Gyssling Str 1" into stadtplandienst.de it shows the right place.

Description

• Nice view South over lake.
• If hot & crowded we sit further back toward cash tills.
• Within easy distance of many Schwabing locales
• If weather goes pear shaped we may retreat to Osterwaldgarten), Keferstra\xdfe 12, on edge of the park on way back to U bahn. Also useful for later, if cool after dark at beginning or end of season.
• An expensive restaurant there, that we never use, run by kuffler.de has a small picture.

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• Taxis Str 12, 80637 Muenchen
• No Dunkles Bier :-(
• Good Kids Play Area.
• Cooked Food & Can Bring own.
• Spacious - They were forced to reduce seating numbers some years back, after noise complaints from neighbouring residents.
• Concordia is nearby, but lesser known, smaller, quieter than Taxis.

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Clothes

Cycling To Tollwood.

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• "82049 Gross- Hesse- Lohe bei Muenchen": From WaWi own web (in a foolish graphic one can't mouse copy !)
• "Pullach Im Isar- tal": What http://stadtplandienst.de finds it with.
• "Gross-Hesselohe (Pullach Im Isar-tal)": What GPS TomTom 700 prompts after typing in "Grosshessel". & can find Georg- Kalb Str 3. But another GPS (manufacturer unknown, in a BMW could not find it, but I think person wrongly typed in Munich at one stage, don't know if tried Pullach.

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• Most beer gardens are announced at short notice on the email list, there is very rarely time to update this web page.
• Which Address To Subscribe ?
  • The organisers usually try to announce venues on Thursday afternoons, as it's convenient for those who only get email at home.
  • In spring & autumn it's hard to plan ahead, sometimes we delay announcements to Friday, while waiting on the weather, deciding if a more sheltered beer garden, or different inside fallback options are needed.
  • It's best, at least for spring & autumn, if not for summer too, to [also] subscribe your work address rather than [or as well as] your home address.
  • If you stick to just a winter home based subscription, you'll also miss spontaneous short notice mid week beer gardens
  • Change or add subscribed addresses here

Yes we have mobiles. No we don't want numbers listed here, ask us personally if you feel the need.

People who claim mobiles are essential for finding friends in a beer garden are out of their tree, mobiles are merely a convenience for the caller, but non-essential, & disturbing to table conversation of others adjacent to person called.

The GEA beer gardens started before people had mobile phones. When we didn't know where the group was, we simply walked methodically, slowly & sequentially up & down rows, looking at faces, this method works well even in the very biggest Munich beer gardens, (IE Hirschgarten, Chinesicher Turm, Augustiner, etc). You might also by chance meet others of your friends who may want to join us, or even people you hope may become friends ;-)

If you'r interested to find a gateway we could use to automatically (not just manually) gate email announcements to SMS announcements: Do realise, SMS's cost, so who pays ? there's more to this than just being an MS-Windows end user who knows/uses an SMS gate to send one-off SMSs. Most SMS gates will make money by forcing people to read adverts, so the entry format will change periodically to force you to read ads on line, so it'll be a thankless task to keep updating the robot interface. Also no doubt the Germans would make it illegal.

I have no free time to write & maintain the required scripts to interface to a gate, but if some other programmer wants to do the programming, I can provide the 24/7 Internet connected server base (FreeBSD Unix), with whatever Perl/Java etc type stuff is necessary.

If these quotes from a FreeBSD mail list give you incentive to do the work, contact me. PS If someone has a spare old Nokia, perhaps with a broken LCD screen so no use to you, we may be able to use it with the gnokii program, contact Julian if you are a Nokia hardware donor