Munich World War II Tours

Munich is one of the most important cities in Germany and is full of places that are representative of the culture of its people, as well as having many legends that take us on a journey through ancient and more recent history. But one of the things to see and do in Munich is undoubtedly to remember what happened during the Second World War, the era of National Socialism, which left its mark on the city and its inhabitants.

The city wants you to learn about its history in order to purge itself of the past and prevent it from being forgotten. Tours and excursions abound in Munich and many of these provide an insight into these spaces that takes you back in time. I recommend a few excursions and you can choose the one that suits you best, to combine them with walking around the beautiful city of Munich.

As well as being one of the city's main universities, the University of Munich is a place where you can start your guided tour to learn about World War II. Access to the university is completely free and you can reach it on the Munich underground with the Universität station on lines U3 and U6. This fantastic tour will show you the university resistance movements and you only need to hire the guide who will tell you the story.

On this tour you can learn about the peaceful White Rose movement, a group of German students at the University of Munich who denounced the policies of the Nazis; among them were the siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were denounced and later executed in 1943. Your guide will try to tell you the stories that this proud institution keeps from this difficult historical moment.

Although there is no organised tour by the institution to visit the university buildings , there are private tours that can guide you through its facilities, which are free to enter and you have the possibility of visiting them at your own pace, to also enjoy the architecture of the site. This is a place to experience history, where the chronology of the brothers and their passage through the political struggle until they were executed is narrated.

Details of interest

• Price: around 50 €.

• Duration: 2 to 3 hours

• Transport: the tour is done on foot - Advantages of this option: it is located in the city centre - Disadvantages of this option: the university will be in academic activity so it may not always be the most comfortable space for a tour.

Munich was not only the epicentre of National Socialism, it was also, along with Bavaria, Hitler's favourite place to stay before and during the war. Get to know the Führer's residence and learn the most personal and everyday aspects of this controversial historical figure in a tour that lasts about two hours and is quite entertaining because the guide will tell you the story from a biographical approach about the leader of the Third Reich. The tour can cost around €20.

From the central station you will meet your guide who will take you from here to all of Hitler's residences. You will start this tour at the first flat where he lived before the outbreak of the first war at 34 Schleissheimerstrasse. In this narrow building, Hitler lived on the third floor in a room together with Rudolf Häusler, an old friend from his youth who became one of the few eyewitnesses in the historiography about Hitler.

To see Hitler's second home in Munich, you have to walk through the historic centre, near the Isar River at 41 Thierschstrasse. This is where Hitler lived from 1920 to 1929, during which time he staged the Munich Putsch, the notorious coup attempt he led.

Prinzregenten Platz 16 is Hitler's last residence and is one of the most important historical sites in Munich on the tour. He lived here during his time in office, on the first floor which now serves as a police station. One of the curiosities of this house is that in 1931 the Chancellor's niece, who was also his mistress, committed suicide here.

Interesting details

• Price: around 30 €.

• Duration: 2 to 3 hours - Means of transport: walking - Advantages of this option: located in the city centre - Disadvantages of this option: not all residences can be entered

An encounter with the history of the Jewish people, which touches your soul and rescues all the value of their culture in the face of the atrocities of World War II, as referenced in the streets of Munich. On this tour you will have the opportunity to visit the Jewish Centre, a project developed by the city that includes the new main synagogue of the Jewish community, the Jewish Museum of Munich and a community centre.

The Jewish Museum of Munich will immerse you in reflection. It is one of the best things to do with children in the city for learning. It was built with the purpose of conveying Jewish history, culture and art. With its 900 m2, it is a modern construction that evokes the Wailing Wall. On its three floors there are permanent and temporary exhibitions to immerse you in the culture of the Jewish people in Munich.

When you leave the museum you will find the Ohel Jakob Synagogue on the same pavement. This is Munich' s new main synagogue, built between 2004 and 2006. The day it opened its doors it was commemorating the 68th anniversary of Kristallnacht, a tragic episode for the Jewish people in a context where the old synagogue was burned and destroyed.

The synagogue has a capacity for 550 worshippers and you can see inside. You will marvel at the cubic design of the building made of concrete covered with travertine stone underneath. The most impressive feature is the glass roof which, by its shape, is reminiscent of and symbolises an ohel, a tent characteristic of the nomadic Hebrew desert groups symbolising Moses' 40-year journey through the desert with the Jewish people.

Finally, you can enter the community centre which is intended as a space for public gatherings and cultural links and has different levels that house youth and cultural centres. It is a place where you can connect with Jewish hope, tolerance and hospitality. And if you want to eat, across the square is the Einstein restaurant, a restaurant with kosher specialties that will lead you to taste the specialties of Jewish cuisine at the end of the tour.

Interesting details

• Price: for the museum tickets cost €6 (adults), €3 (students), free (under 18). All other sites are free of charge

• Duration: 3 hours - Means of transport: walking between the three sites - Advantages of this option: centrally located, it is close to other important attractions of the city - Disadvantages of this option: the permanent part of the museum exhibitions is very small. The synagogue may be at an event for the faithful and therefore not available.

Wondering where the soul of Munich lies? Visit Marienplatz to get to know the heart and centre of the city. From this square your guide will tell you about the emblematic rallies of the Third Reich and the terrible bombings that took place in the centre of Munich towards the end of World War II. On this tour you will learn about the sites of the founding of the Nazi movement and the subsequent bombings.

The square went through a period of reconstruction of some of its attractions as a result of the destruction caused by the fighting during World War II, as happened with the Fischbrunnen, the main fountain of the square which was bombed in 1944 and restored 10 years later with the parts of the original figure that remained. Today it is one of the most notorious meeting points in the city and should not be missed on your tour.

Next to the square you will see the old town hall. From here, before the war, the Nazis planned and executed the tragic events on the night of 9 November that led to the event known as Kristallnacht. The site became an administrative entity during the war, only to be reduced almost to ashes by bombing. Today its use is completely different: you can visit the Toy Museum.

The new neo-Gothic town hall, on the other hand, is still the seat of the municipal government. This unique palace was destroyed in 1944 and rebuilt from the original design. If you walk 3 minutes to Munich's most famous brewery, the Hofbräuhaupor on Platzl 9, you can learn the story of how the Führer attempted a coup against the Weimar Republic and how this site was key to the founding of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

If you walk one street south from the entrance, you will come to the people's market. If you have some time, take the opportunity to visit the Viktualienmarkt in Munich, a site that has been established since the 19th century and survived the war. You can make the most of your visit to the square and start your gastronomic tour of Munich with a hot bretzel and a cold beer to refresh your mouth after the tour.

Interesting details

• Price: about 50 €, although if you are going to enter the Toy Museum the entrance fee is between 4 and 6 €.

• Duration: 2 to 3 hours

• Means of transport: Underground, bus and S-Bahn to get there, walking as you go.

• Advantages of this option: some of Munich's most emblematic monuments are concentrated in the same space.

• Disadvantages of this option: it is a more contemplative tour that will require an expert guide.

Along with Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Dachau concentration camp is one of the most distinctive of the genocide committed by the Nazis during the World War II years. The tour of the concentration camp will allow you to get to know in detail the spaces and the stories that took place there, remembering the more than 200,000 prisoners who were there. The tour lasts approximately two and a half hours and children under the age of 13 are not allowed.

If you are wondering how to visit the Dachau concentration camps, you should know that this site is located 13 km outside the city of Munich, so you will need to take a train to Dachau and then a bus to Saubachsiedlung. However, there are tours with a direct transfer. Admission to the sites is free and the tour costs around €22-28.

Once at the concentration camp you can visit the museum, the interpretation centre, the barracks and the crematoria. The best way to visit the site is accompanied by a specialised guide, who will narrate and put into context the events that took place in each area during the 12 years it was in operation.

Dachau was the first concentration camp and served as a model for those that were built later. In the 12 years of the camp's operation, 200,000 people were imprisoned and 41,500 prisoners were killed. On this tour you will learn about the tragic history of this death factory and how on 29 April 1945 American troops arrived to liberate the survivors.

Interesting details

• Price: between 3 and 5 €, but the tour can be between 22 and 28 €.

• Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours - Means of transport: Suburban train to Dachau on line S2. Afterwards you can take bus 726 in the direction of Saubachsiedlung - Advantages of this option: you get to know the Jewish history of Munich at first hand - Disadvantages of this option: you will have to travel to the outskirts of the city.

On the occasion of his 50th birthday, the National Socialist Party gave Adolf Hitler The Eagle's Nest, an alpine chalet in the heart of the Kehlstein Mountains with spectacular views of the mountains and valleys in the Bavarian Alps, very close to the German-Austrian border, on the outskirts of Munich. Today you can visit this residence by booking a tour to Obersalzberg, where the tour begins. The entrance fee to the residence can be up to 60 €, but children under 4 years old can enter for free.

To enter the residence you can use a lift that rises to reach the last 124 metres and crosses the rock inside. Once you have reached the top, you will be at an altitude of 1834 metres and you can enjoy the panoramic view from the chalet's outdoor viewing points. You can also see the exhibition inside of original possessions that passed through Hitler's hands during World War II.

Also on this site is the Eagle's Nest Documentation Centre, a museum on the history of the Third Reich. Because of the proximity, you can take advantage of this tour and escape to Salzburg on tours departing from Munich and return to the city at the end of the day.

Interesting details

• Price: for adults it can cost up to 60 €, children under 4 years old can enter for free.

• Duration: 5 to 8 hours

• Means of transport: bus.

• Advantages of this option: you can get to know a part of the Bavarian Alps on a historical tour.

• Disadvantages of this option: the site is very popular with tourists so you may have to wait.

If you are going on WWII tours in Munich, I recommend you wear comfortable clothes and shoes, sunscreen, a hat to protect you from the sun and plenty of water, as the tours involve walking for several hours and several of them outdoors.

Meals are not usually included in the tours, so I recommend you bring money or nuts so you have a source of calories in your backpack. In addition, you can organise and locate possible places to stop for lunch according to your travel group's or your personal preferences.

Since most of the sites have historical and architectural relevance and are excellently preserved, I recommend that you bring your camera to immortalise your visit to each of the sites on the Munich city tour.

Munich is a city with multiple buildings and representative spaces to get to know the city of the birth of the Third Reich in the historical sense, from the concentration camps to the Nazi architecture of the government buildings and public meetings. In addition, Munich can be a central point from where you can move to places you never imagined to visit, such as a visit to Rothenburg from Munich or the beautiful village of Berchtesgaden.

On the other hand, in Munich you have a sample of an older Germany, of the architecture and its Gothic, neo-Gothic and even medieval decorations that you can see by visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle. The churches are spaces that guard treasures in the form of monuments and priceless works, such as those found in Marienplatz and around the city centre of Munich.

It is a city fully open to tourism, so you can choose from a wide variety of excellent tours that depart from here, with the comforts and routes that best suit what you are looking to see. It would be convenient if you decide to use one of the best tourist buses to get an overview of the city. If you want to get closer to the history of Munich, you'll find a little piece of the city, its people and its culture in every corner.