title: The Who

text: By 1974, work had begun in earnest on a "Tommy" film. Stigwood suggested Ken Russell as director, whose previous work Townshend had admired. The film featured a star-studded cast, including the band members. David Essex auditioned for the title role, but the band persuaded Daltrey to take it. The cast included Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John and Jack Nicholson. Townshend and Entwistle worked on the soundtrack for most of the year, handling the bulk of the instrumentation. Moon had moved to Los Angeles, so they used session drummers, including Kenney Jones (who would later join the Who). Elton John used his own band for "Pinball Wizard". Filming was from April until August. 1500 extras appeared in the "Pinball Wizard" sequence.


title: The Who

text: The film premiered on 18 March 1975 to a standing ovation. Townshend was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. "Tommy" was shown at the 1975 Cannes Film Festival, but not in the main competition. It won the award for Rock Movie of the Year in the First Annual Rock Music Awards and generated over $2 million in its first month. The soundtrack reached number two on the "Billboard" charts.


title: The Who

text: Work on "Tommy" took up most of 1974, and live performances by the Who were restricted to a show in May at the Valley, the home of Charlton Athletic, in front of 80,000 fans, and a few dates at Madison Square Garden in June. Towards the end of the year, the group released the out-takes album "Odds & Sods", which featured several songs from the aborted "Lifehouse" project.


title: The Who

text: In 1975, Daltrey and Townshend disagreed about the band's future and criticised each other via interviews in the music paper "New Musical Express". Daltrey was grateful that the Who had saved him from a career as a sheet-metal worker and was unhappy at Townshend not playing well; Townshend felt the commitment of the group prevented him from releasing solo material. The next album, "The Who by Numbers", had introspective songs from Townshend that dealt with disillusionment such as "However Much I Booze" and "How Many Friends"; they resembled his later solo work. Entwistle's "Success Story" gave a humorous look at the music industry, and "Squeeze Box" was a hit single. The group toured from October, playing little new material and few "Quadrophenia" numbers, and reintroducing several from "Tommy". The American leg of the tour began in Houston to a crowd of 18,000 at The Summit Arena, and was supported by Toots and the Maytals. On 6 December 1975, the Who set the record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome, attended by 78,000. On 31 May 1976, they played a second concert at the Valley which was listed in the "Guinness Book of Records" as the world's loudest concert at over 120 dB. Townshend had become fed up of touring but Entwistle considered live performance to be at a peak.


title: The Who

text: After the 1976 tour, Townshend took most of the following year off to spend time with his family. He discovered that former Beatles and Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein had bought a stake in his publishing company. A settlement was reached, but Townshend was upset and disillusioned that Klein had attempted to take ownership of his songs. Townshend went to the Speakeasy where he met the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook, fans of the Who. After leaving, he passed out in a doorway, where a policeman said he would not be arrested if he could stand and walk. The events inspired the title track of the next album, "Who Are You".


title: The Who

text: The group reconvened in September 1977, but Townshend announced there would be no live performances for the immediate future, a decision that Daltrey endorsed. By this point, Moon was so unhealthy that the Who conceded it would be difficult for him to cope with touring. The only gig that year was an informal show on 15 December at the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn, London, filmed for the documentary "The Kids Are Alright". The band had not played for 14 months, and their performance was so weak that the footage was unused. Moon's playing was particularly lacklustre and he had gained a lot of weight, though Daltrey later said, "even at his worst, Keith Moon was amazing."


title: The Who

text: Recording of "Who Are You" started in January 1978. Daltrey clashed with Johns over the production of his vocals, and Moon's drumming was so poor that Daltrey and Entwistle considered firing him. Moon's playing improved, but on one track, "Music Must Change", he was replaced as he could not play in 6/8 time. In May, the Who filmed another performance at Shepperton Sound Studios for "The Kids Are Alright". This performance was strong, and several tracks were used in the film. It was the last gig Moon performed with the Who.


title: The Who

text: The album was released on 18 August, and became their biggest and fastest seller to date, peaking at No. 6 in the UK and No. 2 in the US. Instead of touring, Daltrey, Townshend and Moon did a series of promotional television interviews, and Entwistle worked on the soundtrack for "The Kids Are Alright".


title: The Who

text: On 6 September, Moon attended a party held by Paul McCartney to celebrate Buddy Holly's birthday. Returning to his flat, Moon took 32 tablets of clomethiazole which had been prescribed to combat his alcohol withdrawal. He passed out the following morning and was discovered dead later that day.


title: The Who

text: The day after Moon's death, Townshend issued the statement: "We are more determined than ever to carry on, and we want the spirit of the group to which Keith contributed so much to go on, although no human being can ever take his place." Drummer Phil Collins, having a temporary break from Genesis after his first marriage had failed, was at a loose end and asked to replace Moon, but Townshend had already asked Kenney Jones, who had previously played with the Small Faces and Faces. Jones officially joined the band in November 1978. John "Rabbit" Bundrick joined the live band as an unofficial keyboardist. On 2 May 1979, the Who returned to the stage with a concert at the Rainbow Theatre, followed by the Cannes Film Festival in France and dates at Madison Square Garden in New York.


title: The Who

text: The "Quadrophenia" film was released that year. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature-directing début, and had straightforward acting rather than musical numbers as in "Tommy". John Lydon was considered for Jimmy, but the role went to Phil Daniels. Sting played Jimmy's friend and fellow mod, the Ace Face. The soundtrack was Jones' first appearance on a Who record, performing on newly written material not on the original album. The film was a critical and box office success in the UK and appealed to the growing mod revival movement. The Jam were influenced by the Who, and critics noticed a similarity between Townshend and the group's leader, Paul Weller.


title: The Who

text: "The Kids Are Alright" was also completed in 1979. It was a retrospective of the band's career, directed by Jeff Stein. The film included footage of the band at Monterey, Woodstock and Pontiac, and clips from the Smothers Brothers' show and "Russell Harty Plus". Moon had died one week after seeing the rough cut with Daltrey. The film contains the Shepperton concert, and an audio track of him playing over silent footage of himself was the last time he ever played the drums.


title: The Who

text: In December, the Who became the third band, after the Beatles and the Band, to appear on the cover of "Time". The article, by Jay Cocks, said the band had outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed all of their rock band contemporaries.


title: The Who

text: On 3 December 1979, a crowd crush at a Who gig at the Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati killed 11 fans. This was partly due to the festival seating, where the first to enter get the best positions. Some fans waiting outside mistook the band's soundcheck for the concert, and attempted to force their way inside. As only a few entrance doors were opened, a bottleneck situation ensued with thousands trying to gain entry, and the crush became deadly.


title: The Who

text: The Who were not told until after the show because civic authorities feared crowd problems if the concert were cancelled. The band were deeply shaken upon learning of it and requested that appropriate safety precautions be taken in the future. The following evening, in Buffalo, New York, Daltrey told the crowd that the band had "lost a lot of family last night and this show's for them".


title: The Who

text: Daltrey took a break in 1980 to work on the film "McVicar", in which he took the lead role of bank robber John McVicar. The soundtrack album is a Daltrey solo album, though all members of the Who are included in the supporting musicians, and was his most successful solo release.


title: The Who

text: The Who released two studio albums with Jones as drummer, "Face Dances" (1981) and "It's Hard" (1982). "Face Dances" produced a US top 20 and UK top ten hit with the single "You Better You Bet", whose video was one of the first shown on MTV. Both "Face Dances" and "It's Hard" sold well and the latter received a five-star review in "Rolling Stone". The single "Eminence Front" from "It's Hard" was a hit, and became a regular at live shows. By this time Townshend had fallen into depression, wondering if he was no longer a visionary. He was again at odds with Daltrey and Entwistle, who merely wanted to tour and play hits and thought Townshend had saved his best songs for his solo album, "Empty Glass" (1980). Jones' drumming style was very different from Moon's and this drew criticism within the band. Townshend briefly became addicted to heroin before cleaning up early in 1982 after treatment with Meg Patterson.


title: The Who

text: Townshend wanted the Who to stop touring and become a studio act; Entwistle threatened to quit, saying, "I don't intend to get off the road ... there's not much I can do about it except hope they change their minds." Townshend did not change his mind, and so the Who embarked on a farewell tour of the US and Canada with the Clash as support, ending in Toronto on 17 December 1982.


title: The Who

text: Townshend spent part of 1983 writing material for a Who studio album owed to Warner Bros. Records from a contract in 1980, but he found himself unable to generate music appropriate for the Who and at the end of 1983 paid for himself and Jones to be released from the contract. On 16 December 1983, Townshend announced at a press conference that he was leaving the Who, effectively ending the band.


title: The Who

text: After the Who break-up, Townshend focused on solo albums such as "" (1985), "" (1989, featuring Daltrey and Entwistle and two songs credited to the Who), and "Psychoderelict" (1993).


title: The Who

text: In July 1985, the Who performed at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, London. The BBC transmission truck blew a fuse during the set, temporarily interrupting the broadcast. At the 1988 Brit Awards, at the Royal Albert Hall, the band were given the British Phonographic Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award. The short set they played there was the last time Jones played with the Who until 2014.


title: The Who

text: In 1989, the band embarked on a 25th-anniversary "The Kids Are Alright" reunion tour with Simon Phillips on drums and Steve "Boltz" Bolton as a second guitarist. Townshend had announced in 1987 that he suffered from tinnitus and alternated acoustic, rhythm and lead guitar to preserve his hearing. Their two shows at Sullivan Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, sold 100,000 tickets in less than eight hours, beating previous records set there by U2 and David Bowie. The tour was briefly marred at a gig in Tacoma, Washington, where Townshend injured his hand on-stage. Some critics disliked the tour's over-produced and expanded line-up, calling it "The Who on Ice"; Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic said the tour "tarnished the reputation of the Who almost irreparably". The tour included most of "Tommy" and included such guests as Phil Collins, Billy Idol and Elton John. A 2-CD live album, "Join Together", was released in 1990.


title: The Who

text: In 1990, the Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group have a featured collection in the hall's museum, including one of Moon's velvet suits, a Warwick bass of Entwistle's, and a drumhead from 1968.


title: The Who

text: In 1991, the Who recorded a cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" for the tribute album "". It was the last studio recording to feature Entwistle. In 1994, Daltrey turned 50 and celebrated with two concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall. The shows included guest spots by Entwistle and Townshend. Although all three surviving original members of the Who attended, they appeared on stage together only during the finale, "Join Together", with the other guests. Daltrey toured that year with Entwistle, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend filling in for his brother as guitarist.


title: The Who

text: In 1996, Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey performed "Quadrophenia" with guests and Starkey on drums at Hyde Park. The performance was narrated by Daniels, who had played Jimmy in the 1979 film. This was the first live performance of Quadrophenia in its entirety. Despite technical difficulties the show led to a six-night residency at Madison Square Garden and a US and European tour through 1996 and 1997. Townshend played mostly acoustic guitar, but eventually was persuaded to play some electric. In 1998, VH1 ranked the Who ninth in their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of Rock 'n' Roll".


title: The Who

text: In late 1999, the Who performed as a five-piece for the first time since 1985, with Bundrick on keyboards and Starkey on drums. The first show in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was partially broadcast on TV and the Internet and released as the DVD "The Vegas Job". They then performed acoustic shows at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, followed by gigs at the House of Blues in Chicago and two Christmas charity shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. Critics were delighted to see a rejuvenated band with a basic line-up comparable to the tours of the 1960s and 1970s. Andy Greene in "Rolling Stone" called the 1999 tour better than the final one with Moon in 1976.


title: The Who

text: The band toured the US and UK from June to October 2000, to generally favourable reviews, culminating in a charity show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust with guest performances from Paul Weller, Eddie Vedder, Noel Gallagher, Bryan Adams and Nigel Kennedy. Stephen Tomas Erlewine described the gig as "an exceptional reunion concert". In October 2001 the band performed the Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden for families of firefighters and police who had lost their lives following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center; with "Forbes" describing their performance as a "catharsis" for the law enforcement in attendance. Earlier that year the band were honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.


title: The Who

text: The Who played concerts in the UK in early 2002 in preparation for a full US tour. On 27 June, the day before the first date, Entwistle, 57, was found dead of a heart attack at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Cocaine was a contributing factor.


title: The Who

text: Entwistle's son, Christopher, gave a statement supporting the Who's decision to carry on. The US tour began at the Hollywood Bowl with touring bassist Pino Palladino. Townshend dedicated the show to Entwistle, and ended with a montage of pictures of him. The tour lasted until September. The loss of a founding member of the Who caused Townshend to re-evaluate his relationship with Daltrey, which had been strained over the band's career. He decided their friendship was important, and this ultimately led to writing and recording new material.


title: The Who

text: To combat bootlegging, in 2002 the band began to release the Encore Series of official soundboard recordings via themusic.com. An official statement read: "to satisfy this demand they have agreed to release their own official recordings to benefit worthy causes". In 2004, the Who released "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy" (with Palladino and Greg Lake, respectively, on bass) on a singles anthology, "", and went on an 18-date tour of Japan, Australia, the UK and the US, including a return appearance at the Isle of Wight. Later that year, "Rolling Stone" ranked the Who No. 29 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.


title: The Who

text: The Who announced in 2005 that they were working on a new album. Townshend posted a novella called "The Boy Who Heard Music" on his blog, which developed into a mini-opera called "Wire & Glass", forming the basis for the album. "Endless Wire", released in 2006, was the first full studio album of new material since 1982's "It's Hard" and contained the band's first mini-opera since "Rael" in 1967. The album reached No. 7 in the US and No. 9 in the UK. Starkey was invited to join Oasis in April 2006 and the Who in November 2006, but he declined and split his time between the two.


title: The Who

text: In November 2007, the documentary "" was released, featuring unreleased footage of the 1970 Leeds appearance and a 1964 performance at the Railway Hotel when the group were The High Numbers. "Amazing Journey" was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award.


title: The Who

text: The Who toured in support of "Endless Wire", including the BBC Electric Proms at the Roundhouse in London in 2006, headlining the 2007 Glastonbury Festival, a half-time appearance at the Super Bowl XLIV in 2010 and being the final act at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. In November 2012, the Who released "Live at Hull", an album of the band's performance the night after the "Live at Leeds" gig.


title: The Who

text: In 2010, the Who performed "Quadrophenia" with parts played by Vedder and Tom Meighan at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust series of 10 gigs. A planned tour for early 2010 was jeopardised by the return of Townshend's tinnitus. He experimented with an in-ear monitoring system that was recommended by Neil Young and his audiologist.


title: The Who

text: The "Quadrophenia and More" tour started in November 2012 in Ottawa with keyboardists John Corey, Loren Gold and Frank Simes, the last of whom was also musical director. In February 2013, Starkey pulled a tendon and was replaced for a gig by Scott Devours, who performed with less than four hours' notice. The tour moved to Europe and the UK, and ended at the Wembley Arena in July 2013.


title: The Who

text: In October 2013, Townshend announced the Who would stage their final tour in 2015, performing in locations they have never played before. Daltrey clarified that the tour was unrelated to the band's 50th anniversary and indicated that he and Townshend were considering recording new material. Daltrey stated, "We can't go on touring forever ... it could be open-ended, but it will have a finality to it."


title: The Who

text: Jones reunited with the Who in June 2014 at a charity gig for Prostate Cancer UK his Hurtwood Polo Club, alongside Jeff Beck, Procol Harum and Mike Rutherford. Later that month, the Who announced plans for a world tour with a possible accompanying album. In September, the Who released the song "Be Lucky", which was included on the compilation "The Who Hits 50!" in October. That November, the group released a virtual reality app co-designed by Daltrey's son, Jamie, featuring events and images from the band's history.


title: The Who

text: The Who headlined 2015's Hyde Park Festival in June, and two days later, the Glastonbury Festival. Townshend suggested to "Mojo" that it could be the group's last UK gig. To coincide with The Who's 50th anniversary, all studio albums, including the new compilation, "The Who Hits 50!", were reissued on vinyl. In September 2015, all remaining US tour dates were cancelled after Daltrey contracted viral meningitis. Then Townshend promised the band would come back "stronger than ever".


title: The Who

text: The Who embarked on the Back to the Who Tour 51! in 2016, a continuation of the previous year's tour. This included a return visit to the Isle of Wight Festival (at the Seaclose Park in Newport) on 11 June opening date. After 13 concerts, it concluded with a performance at the Desert Trip festival at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on 16 October. In November, The Who announced that five UK dates the following April (previously scheduled for that August and September) would include a full live performance of "Tommy". The five-date tour was renamed "2017 Tommy & More" and included the largest selections from the album since 1989. Two preliminary concerts at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust on 30 March and 1 April featured "Tommy" in full.


title: The Who

text: In January 2019, the band announced the Moving On! Tour. The tour began on 7 May in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but was interrupted during a show in Houston, Texas on 26 September 2019 after Daltrey lost his voice. The COVID-19 pandemic put the remainder of the tour on hold.


title: The Who

text: On 6 December 2019, The Who released their first studio album in thirteen years, "Who", to critical acclaim.


title: The Who

text: In February 2022, the band announced they would embark on a new North American tour entitled "The Who Hits Back" beginning 22 April 2022 in Hollywood, Florida and concluding 5 November 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: The Who

text: The Who have been regarded primarily as a rock band, yet have taken influence from several other styles of music during their career. The original group played a mixture of trad jazz and contemporary pop hits as the Detours, and R&B in 1963. The group moved to a mod sound the following year, particularly after hearing the Small Faces fuse Motown with a harsher R&B sound. The group's early work was geared towards singles, though it was not straightforward pop. In 1967, Townshend coined the term "power pop" to describe the Who's style. Like their contemporaries, the group were influenced by the arrival of Hendrix, particularly after the Who and the Experience met at Monterey. This and lengthy touring strengthened the band's sound. In the studio, they began to develop softer pieces, particularly from "Tommy" onwards, and turned their attention towards albums more than singles.


title: The Who

text: From the early 1970s, the band's sound included synthesizers, particularly on "Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia". Although groups had used synthesizers before, the Who were one of the first to integrate the sound into a basic rock structure. In "By Numbers" the group's style had scaled back to more standard rock, but synthesisers regained prominence on "Face Dances".


title: The Who

text: Townshend and Entwistle were instrumental in making extreme volumes and distortion standard rock practices. The Who were early adopters of Marshall Amplification. Entwistle was the first member to get two 4×12 speaker cabinets, quickly followed by Townshend. The group used feedback as part of their guitar sound, both live and in the studio. In 1967, Townshend changed to using Sound City amplifiers, customised by Dave Reeves, then in 1970 to Hiwatt. The group were the first to use 1000-watt PA systems for live gigs, which led to competition from bands such as the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd.


title: The Who

text: Throughout their careers, the members of the Who have said their live sound has never been captured as they wished on record. Live gigs and the audience have always been important to the group. "Irish" Jack Lyons said, "The Who weren't a joke, they were fucking real, and so were we."


title: The Who

text: Daltrey initially based his style on Motown and rock and roll, but from "Tommy" onwards he tackled a wider range of styles. His trademark sound with the band, as noted in 1983, has been a characteristic scream, as heard at the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again".


title: The Who

text: Group backing vocals are prominent in the Who. After "I Can't Explain" used session men for backing vocals, Townshend and Entwistle resolved to do better themselves on subsequent releases, producing strong backing harmonies. Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle sang lead on various songs, and occasionally Moon joined in. "Who's Next" featured Daltrey and Townshend sharing the lead vocals on several songs, and biographer Dave Marsh considers the contrast between Daltrey's strong, guttural tone and Townshend's higher and gentler sound to be one of the album's highlights.


title: The Who

text: Daltrey's voice is negatively affected by marijuana smoke, to which he says he is allergic. On 20 May 2015, during a Who concert at Nassau Coliseum, he smelled a joint burning and told the smoker to put it out or "the show will be over". The fan obliged, without taking Pete Townshend's advice that "the quickest way" to extinguish a joint is "up your fucking arse".


title: The Who

text: Townshend considered himself less technical than guitarists such as Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck and wanted to stand out visually instead. His playing style evolved from the banjo, favouring down strokes and using a combination of the plectrum and fingerpicking. His rhythm playing frequently used seventh chords and suspended fourths, and he is associated with the power chord, an easy-to-finger chord built from the root and fifth that has since become a fundamental part of the rock guitar vocabulary. Townshend also produced noises by manipulating controls on his guitar and by allowing the instrument to feedback.


title: The Who

text: In the group's early career, Townshend favoured Rickenbacker guitars as they allowed him to fret rhythm guitar chords easily and move the neck back and forwards to create vibrato. From 1968 to 1973, he favoured a Gibson SG Special live, and later used customised Les Pauls in different tunings.


title: The Who

text: In the studio for "Who's Next" and thereafter, Townshend used a 1959 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins hollow-body guitar, a Fender Bandmaster amp and an Edwards volume pedal, all gifts from Joe Walsh. Townshend started his career with an acoustic guitar and has regularly recorded and written with a Gibson J-200.


title: The Who

text: A distinctive part of the original band's sound was Entwistle's lead bass playing, while Townshend concentrated on rhythm and chords. Entwistle's was the first popular use of Rotosound strings in 1966, trying to find a piano-like sound. His bassline on "Pinball Wizard" was described by Who biographer John Atkins as "a contribution of its own without diminishing the guitar lines"; he described his part on "The Real Me" from "Quadrophenia", recorded in one take, as "a bass solo with vocals". Entwistle's basses include a "Frankenstein" assembled from five Fender Precision and Jazz basses, and Warwick, Alembic, Gretsch and Guild basses.


title: The Who

text: Moon further strengthened the reversal of traditional rock instrumentation by playing lead parts on his drums. His style was at odds with British rock contemporaries such as The Kinks' Mick Avory and The Shadows' Brian Bennett who did not consider tom-toms necessary for rock music. Moon used Premier kits starting in 1966. He avoided the hi-hat, and concentrated on a mix of tom rolls and cymbals.


title: The Who

text: Jones' concise, supportive drumming style was in sharp contrast to Moon's. The Who were initially enthusiastic about working with a completely different drummer. Townshend later stated, "we've never really been able to replace Keith" and Daltrey ultimately believed Jones was not right for the band, while still speaking highly of him as a friend and drummer. Starkey knew Moon from childhood and Moon gave him his first drum kit. Starkey has been praised for his playing style which echoes Moon's without being a copy.


title: The Who

text: Townshend focused on writing meaningful lyrics inspired by Bob Dylan, whose words dealt with subjects other than boy–girl relationships that were common in rock music; in contrast to Dylan's intellectualism, Townshend believed his lyrics should be about things kids could relate to. Early material focused on the frustration and anxiety shared by mod audiences, which Townshend said was a result of "searching for niche". By "The Who Sell Out", he began to work narrative and characters into songs, which he fully developed by "Tommy", including spiritual themes influenced by Baba. From the mid-1970s onwards, his songs tended to be more personal, which influenced his decision to go solo.


title: The Who

text: Entwistle's songs, by contrast, typically feature black humour and darker themes. His two contributions to "Tommy" ("Cousin Kevin" and "Fiddle About") appeared because Townshend did not believe he could write songs as "nasty" as Entwistle's.


title: The Who

text: The Who are perceived as having had a poor working relationship. In the original band, Sandom had been the peacemaker and settled disputes. Moon, by contrast, was as volatile as Daltrey and Townshend. Entwistle was too passive to become involved in arguments. The group established their live reputation and stage show in part out of insecurity and aggression amongst its members, and Townshend recalled that all decisions had to be made democratically "because we always disagreed".


title: The Who

text: The only genuine friendship in the Who during the 1960s was between Entwistle and Moon. The pair enjoyed each other's sense of humour and shared a fondness for clubbing. Journalist Richard Green noted a "chemistry of playfullness that would go beyond playfullness". Their relationship diminished somewhat when Entwistle got married in 1967, though they still socialised on tour. When Moon was destroying toilets in hotels, Entwistle confessed he "was standing behind him with the matches".


title: The Who

text: The group regularly argued in the press, though Townshend said disputes were amplified in print and the group simply found it difficult to agree on things. "Tommy" mutually benefitted Townshend and Daltrey's standing in the band because of the former's songwriting and the latter's stage presence, yet even this did not make them close friends. The pair quarrelled, particularly in the mid-1970s, over the group's direction. During his time with the band, Jones was subject to intermittent criticism from Daltrey.


title: The Who

text: Entwistle's death came as a shock to both Townshend and Daltrey, and caused them to re-evaluate their relationship. Townshend has said that he and Daltrey have since become close friends. In 2015, Townshend confirmed their friendship was still strong, adding their acceptance of each other's differences "brought us to a really genuine and compassionate relationship, which can only be described as love."


title: The Who

text: The Who are one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century. Their appearances at Monterey and Woodstock helped give them a reputation as one of the greatest live rock acts and they have been credited with originating the "rock opera". The band has sold over 100 million records worldwide.


title: The Who

text: The group's contributions to rock include the power chord, windmill strum and the use of non-musical instrument noise such as feedback. The band influenced fashion from their earliest days with their embrace of pop art and the use of the Union Jack for clothing. The guitar-smashing incident at the Railway Hotel in 1964 is one of "Rolling Stone" magazine's "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll".


title: The Who

text: Pink Floyd began to use feedback from their early shows in 1966, inspired by the Who, whom they considered a formative influence. Shortly after arriving in London in 1966, Jimi Hendrix visited Marshall's music shop demanding an amp setup like Townshend's and manipulated electronic noises in ways that Townshend had pioneered. The Beatles were fans and socialised with Moon in particular during the mid-1960s. In 1965, Paul McCartney said the Who "are the most exciting thing around" and was inspired to write "Helter Skelter" in the group's "heavy" style; John Lennon borrowed the acoustic guitar style in "Pinball Wizard" for "Polythene Pam".


title: The Who

text: The loud volume of the band's live show influenced the approach of hard rock and heavy metal. Proto-punk and punk rock bands such as the MC5, the Stooges, the Ramones the Sex Pistols, the Clash and Green Day cite the Who as an influence. An early influence on Queen, guitarist Brian May referred to the Who as being "among our favourite groups". The Who inspired mod revival bands, particularly the Jam, which helped other groups influenced by the Who become popular. The Who influenced hard rock bands such as Guns N' Roses. In the mid-1990s, Britpop bands such as Blur and Oasis were influenced by the Who. The Who have also influenced pop punk band Panic! at the Disco.


title: The Who

text: The Who have inspired many tribute bands; Daltrey has endorsed the Whodlums, who raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Many bands have covered Who songs; Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" reached No. 7 in the UK.


title: The Who

text: During the Who's hiatuses in the 1980s and 90s, Townshend developed his skills as a music publisher to be financially successful from the Who without recording or touring. He countered criticism of "selling out" by saying that licensing the songs to other media allows a wider exposure and widens the group's appeal.


title: The Who

text: The American forensic drama "CSI" ("", "", "", "" and "") feature Who songs as theme music, "Who Are You", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley" and "I Can See for Miles" respectively. The group's songs have featured in other popular TV series such as "The Simpsons", and "Top Gear", which had an episode where the presenters were tasked with being roadies for the band.


title: The Who

text: Rock-oriented films such as "Almost Famous", "School of Rock" and "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny" refer to the band and feature their songs, and other films have used the band's material in their soundtracks, including "Apollo 13" (which used "I Can See For Miles") and "" (which used a take of "My Generation" recorded for the BBC). Several of the band's tracks have appeared in the video game "Rock Band" and its sequels.


title: The Who

text: "The New York Times Magazine" has listed The Who among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.


title: The Who

text: The Who have received many awards and accolades from the music industry for their recordings and their influence. They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001.


title: The Who

text: The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 where their display describes them as "prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band", and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005.


title: The Who

text: In 2003, "Rolling Stone"s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list included "Who's Next" at number 28, "Tommy" at number 96, "The Who Sell Out" at number 113, "Live at Leeds" at number 170, "My Generation" at number 236, "Quadrophenia" at number 266, and "A Quick One" at number 383. And in 2004, on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, "Rolling Stone" included "My Generation" at number 11, "Won't Get Fooled Again" at number 133, "I Can See for Miles" at number 258, "Baba O'Riley" at number 340, and "I Can't Explain" at number 371. They are ranked the 29th greatest artist of all time by "Rolling Stone" magazine, and the same magazine ranked Pete Townshend among the greatest songwriters.


title: The Who

text: The single "My Generation" and the albums "Tommy" and "Who's Next" have each been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2008, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey received Kennedy Center Honors as members of the Who. In 2009, "My Generation" was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry.


title: Munich

text: Munich ( ; ; ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, and thus the largest which does not constitute its own state, as well as the 11th-largest city in the European Union. The city's metropolitan region is home to 6 million people. Straddling the banks of the River Isar (a tributary of the Danube) north of the Bavarian Alps, Munich is the seat of the Bavarian administrative region of Upper Bavaria, while being the most densely populated municipality in Germany (4,500 people per km). Munich is the second-largest city in the Bavarian dialect area, after the Austrian capital of Vienna.


title: Munich

text: The city was first mentioned in 1158. Catholic Munich strongly resisted the Reformation and was a political point of divergence during the resulting Thirty Years' War, but remained physically untouched despite an occupation by the Protestant Swedes. Once Bavaria was established as a sovereign kingdom in 1806, Munich became a major European centre of arts, architecture, culture and science. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the ruling house of Wittelsbach, which had governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich and a short-lived socialist republic was declared. In the 1920s, Munich became home to several political factions, among them the NSDAP. After the Nazis' rise to power, Munich was declared their "Capital of the Movement". The city was heavily bombed during World War II, but has restored most of its traditional cityscape. After the end of postwar American occupation in 1949, there was a great increase in population and economic power during the years of "Wirtschaftswunder", or "economic miracle". The city hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics and was one of the host cities of the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cups.


title: Munich

text: Today, Munich is a global centre of art, science, technology, finance, publishing, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism and enjoys a very high standard and quality of living, reaching first in Germany and third worldwide according to the 2018 Mercer survey, and being rated the world's most liveable city by the Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2018. Munich is consistently ranked as one of the most expensive cities in Germany in terms of real estate prices and rental costs. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute, Munich is considered an alpha-world city, . It is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany. The city is home to more than 530,000 people of foreign background, making up 37.7% of its population.


title: Munich

text: Munich's economy is based on high tech, automobiles, the service sector and creative industries, as well as IT, biotechnology, engineering and electronics among many other sectors. It has one of the strongest economies of any German city and the lowest unemployment rate of all cities in Germany with more than 1 million inhabitants. Munich is also one of the most attractive business locations in Germany. The city houses many multinational companies, such as BMW, Siemens, MAN, Allianz and MunichRE. In addition, Munich is home to two research universities, a multitude of scientific institutions, and world-renowned technology and science museums like the Deutsches Museum and BMW Museum. Munich's numerous architectural and cultural attractions, sports events, exhibitions and its annual Oktoberfest, the world's largest Volksfest, attract considerable tourism.


title: Munich

text: The name of the city is usually interpreted as deriving from the Old/Middle High German form "Munichen", meaning "by the monks". A monk is also depicted on the city's coat of arms.


title: Munich

text: The town is first mentioned as "forum apud Munichen" in the of 14 June 1158 by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I.


title: Munich

text: The name in modern German is , but this has been variously translated in different languages: in English, French, Spanish and various other languages as "Munich", in Italian as "Monaco di Baviera", in Portuguese as "Munique".


title: Munich

text: Archeological finds in Munich, such as in Freiham/Aubing, indicate early settlements and graves dating back to the Bronze Age (7th–6th century BC).


title: Munich

text: The ancient Roman road Via Julia, which connected Augsburg and Salzburg, crossed over the Isar River south of modern-day Munich, at the towns of Baierbrunn and Gauting.


title: Munich

text: A Roman settlement north-east of downtown Munich was excavated in the neighborhood of Denning/Bogenhausen.


title: Munich

text: In the 6th Century and beyond, various ethnic groups, such as the Baiuvarii, populated the area around what is now modern Munich, such as in Johanneskirchen, Feldmoching, Bogenhausen and Pasing.


title: Munich

text: The origin of the modern city of Munich is the result of a power struggle between a military warlord and an influential Catholic bishop.


title: Munich

text: Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria (d. 1195) was one of the most powerful German princes of his time. He ruled over vast territories in the German Holy Roman Empire from the North and Baltic Sea to the Alps. Henry wanted to expand his power in Bavaria by gaining control of the lucrative salt trade, which the Catholic Church in Freising had under its control.


title: Munich

text: Bishop Otto von Freising (d. 1158) was a scholar, historian and bishop of a large section of Bavaria that was part of his diocese of Freising.


title: Munich

text: Years earlier (the exact time is unclear, but may have been in the early 10th century), Benedictine monks helped build a toll bridge and a customs house over the Isar River (most likely in the modern town of Oberföhring) to control the salt trade between Augsburg and Salzburg (which had existed since Roman times).


title: Munich

text: Henry wanted to control the toll bridge and its income for himself, so he destroyed the bridge and customs house in 1156. He then built a new toll bridge, customs house and a coin market closer to his home somewhat upstream (at a settlement around the area of modern oldtown Munich: Marienplatz, Marienhof and the St. Peter's Church). This new toll bridge most likely crossed the Isar where the Museuminsel and the modern Ludwigsbrücke is now located.


title: Munich

text: Bishop Otto protested to his nephew, Emperor Frederick Barbarosa (d. 1190). However, on 14 June 1158, in Augsburg, the conflict was settled in favor of Duke Henry. The mentions the name of the location in dispute as "forum apud Munichen". Although Bishop Otto had lost his bridge, the arbiters ordered Duke Henry to pay a third of his income to the Bishop in Freising as compensation.


title: Munich

text: 14 June 1158, is considered the official 'founding day' of the city of Munich, not the date when it was first settled.


title: Munich

text: Archaeological excavations at Marienhof Square (near Marienplatz) in advance of the expansion of the S-Bahn (subway) in 2012 discovered shards of vessels from the 11th century, which prove again that the settlement of Munich must be older than the Augsburg Arbitration of 1158. The old St. Peter's Church near Marienplatz is also believed to predate the founding date of the town.


title: Munich

text: In 1175, Munich received city status and fortification. In 1180, after Henry the Lion's fall from grace with Emperor Frederick Barbarosa, including his trial and exile, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria, and Munich was handed to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, when the Duchy of Bavaria was split in two, Munich became the ducal residence of Upper Bavaria.


title: Munich

text: Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the city's position by granting it the salt monopoly, thus assuring it of additional income.


title: Munich

text: On 13 February 1327, a large fire broke out in Munich that lasted two days and destroyed about a third of the town.


title: Munich

text: In the 15th century, Munich underwent a revival of Gothic arts: the Old Town Hall was enlarged, and Munich's largest Gothic church – the Frauenkirche – now a cathedral, was constructed in only 20 years, starting in 1468.


title: Munich

text: When Bavaria was reunited in 1506 after a brief war against the Duchy of Landshut, Munich became its capital. The arts and politics became increasingly influenced by the court (see Orlando di Lasso and Heinrich Schütz). During the 16th century, Munich was a centre of the German counter reformation, and also of renaissance arts. Duke Wilhelm V commissioned the Jesuit Michaelskirche, which became a centre for the counter-reformation, and also installed the Hofbräuhaus for brewing brown beer in 1589. The Catholic League was founded in Munich in 1609.


title: Munich

text: In 1623, during the Thirty Years' War, Munich became an electoral residence when Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria was invested with the electoral dignity, but in 1632 the city was occupied by Gustav II Adolph of Sweden. When the bubonic plague broke out in 1634 and 1635, about one-third of the population died. Under the regency of the Bavarian electors, Munich was an important centre of Baroque life, but also had to suffer under Habsburg occupations in 1704 and 1742.


title: Munich

text: After making an alliance with Napoleonic France, the city became the capital of the new Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806 with Elector Maximillian Joseph becoming its first King. The state parliament (the "Landtag") and the new archdiocese of Munich and Freising were also located in the city.


title: Munich

text: During the early to mid-19th century, the old fortified city walls of Munich were largely demolished due to population expansion.


title: Munich

text: Munich's annual Beer Festival, Oktoberfest, has its origins from a royal wedding in October 1810. The fields are now part of the 'Theresienwiese' near downtown.


title: Munich

text: In 1826, Landshut University was moved to Munich. Many of the city's finest buildings belong to this period and were built under the first three Bavarian kings. Especially Ludwig I rendered outstanding services to Munich's status as a centre of the arts, attracting numerous artists and enhancing the city's architectural substance with grand boulevards and buildings.


title: Munich

text: The first Munich railway station was built in 1839, with a line going to Augsburg in the west. By 1849 a newer Munich Central Train Station (München Hauptbahnhof) was completed, with a line going to Landshut and Regensburg in the north.


title: Munich

text: By the time Ludwig II became king in 1864, he remained mostly aloof from his capital and focused more on his fanciful castles in the Bavarian countryside, which is why he is known the world over as the 'fairytale king'. Nevertheless, his patronage of Richard Wagner secured his posthumous reputation, as do his castles, which still generate significant tourist income for Bavaria. Later, Prince Regent Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Munich, enhancing its status as a cultural force of global importance (see Franz von Stuck and Der Blaue Reiter).


title: Munich

text: Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, life in Munich became very difficult, as the Allied blockade of Germany led to food and fuel shortages. During French air raids in 1916, three bombs fell on Munich.


title: Munich

text: In March 1916, three separate aircraft-engine and automobile companies joined to form 'Bayerische Motoren Werke' (BMW) in Munich.


title: Munich

text: After World War I, the city was at the centre of substantial political unrest. In November 1918, on the eve of the German revolution, Ludwig III and his family fled the city. After the murder of the first republican premier of Bavaria Kurt Eisner in February 1919 by Anton Graf von Arco auf Valley, the Bavarian Soviet Republic was proclaimed. When Communists took power, Lenin, who had lived in Munich some years before, sent a congratulatory telegram, but the Soviet Republic was ended on 3 May 1919 by the Freikorps. While the republican government had been restored, Munich became a hotbed of extremist politics, among which Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists soon rose to prominence.


title: Munich

text: In 1923, Adolf Hitler and his supporters, who were concentrated in Munich, staged the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and seize power. The revolt failed, resulting in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). The city again became important to the Nazis when they took power in Germany in 1933. The party created its first concentration camp at Dachau, north-west of the city. Because of its importance to the rise of National Socialism, Munich was referred to as the "Hauptstadt der Bewegung" ("Capital of the Movement"). The NSDAP headquarters were in Munich and many "Führerbauten" (""Führer" buildings") were built around the Königsplatz, some of which still survive.


title: Munich

text: In March 1924, Munich broadcast its first radio program. The station became 'Bayerischer Rundfunk' in 1931.


title: Munich

text: The city was the site where the 1938 Munich Agreement signed between Britain and France with Germany as part of the Franco-British policy of appeasement. The British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain assented to the German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland region in the hopes of satisfying Hitler's territorial expansion.


title: Munich

text: The first airport in Munich was completed in October 1939, in the area of Riem. The airport would remain there until it was moved closer to Freising in 1992.


title: Munich

text: On November 8, 1939, shortly after the Second World War had begun, a bomb was planted in the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich in an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler during a political party speech. Hitler, however, had left the building minutes before the bomb went off. On its site today stands the GEMA Building, the Gasteig Cultural Centre and the Munich City Hilton Hotel.


title: Munich

text: Munich was the base of the White Rose, a student resistance movement from June 1942 to February 1943. The core members were arrested and executed following a distribution of leaflets in Munich University by Hans and Sophie Scholl.


title: Munich

text: The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during World War II, with 71 air raids over five years. US troops liberated Munich on April 30, 1945.


title: Munich

text: After US occupation in 1945, Munich was completely rebuilt following a meticulous plan, which preserved its pre-war street grid, bar a few exceptions owing to then modern traffic concepts. In 1957, Munich's population surpassed one million. The city continued to play a highly significant role in the German economy, politics and culture, giving rise to its nickname "Heimliche Hauptstadt" ("secret capital") in the decades after World War II.


title: Munich

text: Munich also became known on the political level due to the strong influence of Bavarian politician Franz Josef Strauss from the 1960s to the 1980s. The Munich Airport (built in 1992) was named in his honor.


title: Munich

text: Munich was the site of the 1972 Summer Olympics, during which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich massacre, when gunmen from the Palestinian "Black September" group took hostage members of the Israeli Olympic team. Mass murders also occurred in Munich in 1980 and 2016.


title: Munich

text: Munich is also home of the famous Nockherberg Strong Beer Festival during the Lenten fasting period (usually in March). Its origins go back to the 17th/18th century, but has become popular when the festivities were first televised in the 1980s. The fest includes comical speeches and a mini-musical in which numerous German politicians are parodied by look-alike actors.


title: Munich

text: Munich was one of the host cities for the UEFA European 2020 football championship, (which was delayed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany).


title: Munich

text: Munich lies on the elevated plains of Upper Bavaria, about north of the northern edge of the Alps, at an altitude of about ASL. The local rivers are the Isar and the Würm.


title: Munich

text: Munich is situated in the Northern Alpine Foreland. The northern part of this sandy plateau includes a highly fertile flint area which is no longer affected by the folding processes found in the Alps, while the southern part is covered with morainic hills. Between these are fields of fluvio-glacial out-wash, such as around Munich. Wherever these deposits get thinner, the ground water can permeate the gravel surface and flood the area, leading to marshes as in the north of Munich.


title: Munich

text: By Köppen classification templates and updated data the climate is oceanic ("Cfb"), independent of the isotherm but with some humid continental ("Dfb") features like warm to hot summers and cold winters, but without permanent snow cover. The proximity to the Alps brings higher volumes of rainfall and consequently greater susceptibility to flood problems. Studies of adaptation to climate change and extreme events are carried out, one of them is the Isar Plan of the EU Adaptation Climate.


title: Munich

text: The city centre lies between both climates, while the airport of Munich has a humid continental climate. The warmest month, on average, is July. The coolest is January.


title: Munich

text: Showers and thunderstorms bring the highest average monthly precipitation in late spring and throughout the summer. The most precipitation occurs in July, on average. Winter tends to have less precipitation, the least in February.


title: Munich

text: The higher elevation and proximity to the Alps cause the city to have more rain and snow than many other parts of Germany. The Alps affect the city's climate in other ways too; for example, the warm downhill wind from the Alps (föhn wind), which can raise temperatures sharply within a few hours even in the winter.


title: Munich

text: Being at the centre of Europe, Munich is subject to many climatic influences, so that weather conditions there are more variable than in other European cities, especially those further west and south of the Alps.


title: Munich

text: At Munich's official weather stations, the highest and lowest temperatures ever measured are , on 27 July 1983 in Trudering-Riem, and , on 12 February 1929 in Botanic Garden of the city.


title: Munich

text: In Munich, the general trend of global warming with a rise of medium yearly temperatures of about 1 °C in Germany over the last 120 years can be observed as well. In November 2016 the city council concluded officially that a further rise in medium temperature, a higher number of heat extremes, a rise in the number of hot days and nights with temperatures higher than 20 °C (tropical nights), a change in precipitation patterns, as well as a rise in the number of local instances of heavy rain, is to be expected as part of the ongoing climate change. The city administration decided to support a joint study from its own Referat für Gesundheit und Umwelt (department for health and environmental issues) and the German Meteorological Service that will gather data on local weather. The data is supposed to be used to create a plan for action for adapting the city to better deal with climate change as well as an integrated action program for climate protection in Munich. With the help of those programs issues regarding spatial planning and settlement density, the development of buildings and green spaces as well as plans for functioning ventilation in a cityscape can be monitored and managed.


title: Munich

text: From only 24,000 inhabitants in 1700, the city population doubled about every 30 years. It was 100,000 in 1852, 250,000 in 1883 and 500,000 in 1901. Since then, Munich has become Germany's third-largest city. In 1933, 840,901 inhabitants were counted, and in 1957 over 1 million.


title: Munich

text: In July 2017, Munich had 1.42 million inhabitants; 421,832 foreign nationals resided in the city as of 31 December 2017 with 50.7% of these residents being citizens of EU member states, and 25.2% citizens in European states not in the EU (including Russia and Turkey). The largest groups of foreign nationals were Turks (39,204), Croats (33,177), Italians (27,340), Greeks (27,117), Poles (27,945), Austrians (21,944), and Romanians (18,085).


title: Munich

text: About 45% of Munich's residents are not affiliated with any religious group; this ratio represents the fastest growing segment of the population. As in the rest of Germany, the Catholic and Protestant churches have experienced a continuous decline in membership. As of 31 December 2017, 31.8% of the city's inhabitants were Catholic, 11.4% Protestant, 0.3% Jewish, and 3.6% were members of an Orthodox Church (Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox). About 1% adhere to other Christian denominations. There is also a small Old Catholic parish and an English-speaking parish of the Episcopal Church in the city. According to Munich Statistical Office, in 2013 about 8.6% of Munich's population was Muslim.


title: Munich

text: As the capital of Bavaria, Munich is an important political centre for both the state and country as a whole. It is the seat of the Landtag of Bavaria, the State Chancellery, and all state departments. Several national and international authorities are located in Munich, including the Federal Finance Court of Germany, the German Patent Office and the European Patent Office.


title: Munich

text: The current mayor of Munich is Dieter Reiter of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020. Munich has a much stronger left-wing tradition than the rest of the state, which has been dominated by the conservative Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) on a federal, state, and local level since the establishment of the Federal Republic in 1949. Munich, by contrast, has been governed by the SPD for all but six years since 1948. As of the 2020 local elections, green and centre-left parties also hold a majority in the city council ("Stadtrat").


title: Munich

text: The most recent mayoral election was held on 15 March 2020, with a runoff held on 29 March, and the results were as follows:


title: Munich

text: The Munich city council ("Stadtrat") governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 15 March 2020, and the results were as follows:


title: Munich

text: In the Landtag of Bavaria, Munich is divided between nine constituencies. After the 2018 Bavarian state election, the composition and representation of each was as follows:


title: Munich

text: In the Bundestag, Munich is divided between four constituencies. In the 20th Bundestag, the composition and representation of each was as follows:


title: Munich

text: Munich is twinned with the following cities (date of agreement shown in parentheses): Edinburgh, Scotland, Verona, Italy , Bordeaux, France , Sapporo, Japan , Cincinnati, Ohio, United States , Kyiv, Ukraine , Harare, Zimbabwe and Beersheba, Israel .


title: Munich

text: Since the administrative reform in 1992, Munich is divided into 25 boroughs or "Stadtbezirke", which themselves consist of smaller quarters.


title: Munich

text: Allach-Untermenzing (23), Altstadt-Lehel (1), Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied (22), Au-Haidhausen (5), Berg am Laim (14), Bogenhausen (13), Feldmoching-Hasenbergl (24), Hadern (20), Laim (25), Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt (2), Maxvorstadt (3), Milbertshofen-Am Hart (11), Moosach (10), Neuhausen-Nymphenburg (9), Obergiesing (17), Pasing-Obermenzing (21), Ramersdorf-Perlach (16), Schwabing-Freimann (12), Schwabing-West (4), Schwanthalerhöhe (8), Sendling (6), Sendling-Westpark (7), Thalkirchen-Obersendling-Forstenried-Fürstenried-Solln (19), Trudering-Riem (15) and Untergiesing-Harlaching (18).


title: Munich

text: The city has an eclectic mix of historic and modern architecture because historic buildings destroyed in World War II were reconstructed, and new landmarks were built. A survey by the Society's Centre for Sustainable Destinations for the National Geographic Traveller chose over 100 historic destinations around the world and ranked Munich 30th.


title: Munich

text: At the centre of the city is the Marienplatz – a large open square named after the Mariensäule, a Marian column in its centre – with the Old and the New Town Hall. Its tower contains the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Three gates of the demolished medieval fortification survive – the Isartor in the east, the Sendlinger Tor in the south and the Karlstor in the west of the inner city. The Karlstor leads up to the Stachus, a square dominated by the Justizpalast (Palace of Justice) and a fountain.


title: Munich

text: The Peterskirche close to Marienplatz is the oldest church of the inner city. It was first built during the Romanesque period, and was the focus of the early monastic settlement in Munich before the city's official foundation in 1158. Nearby St. Peter the Gothic hall-church Heiliggeistkirche (The Church of the Holy Spirit) was converted to baroque style from 1724 onwards and looks down upon the Viktualienmarkt.


title: Munich

text: The Frauenkirche serves as the cathedral for the Catholic Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The nearby Michaelskirche is the largest renaissance church north of the Alps, while the Theatinerkirche is a basilica in Italianate high baroque, which had a major influence on Southern German baroque architecture. Its dome dominates the Odeonsplatz. Other baroque churches in the inner city include the Bürgersaalkirche, the Trinity Church and the St. Anna Damenstiftskirche. The Asamkirche was endowed and built by the Brothers Asam, pioneering artists of the rococo period.


title: Munich

text: The large Residenz palace complex (begun in 1385) on the edge of Munich's Old Town, Germany's largest urban palace, ranks among Europe's most significant museums of interior decoration. Having undergone several extensions, it contains also the treasury and the splendid rococo Cuvilliés Theatre. Next door to the Residenz the neo-classical opera, the National Theatre was erected. Among the baroque and neoclassical mansions which still exist in Munich are the Palais Porcia, the Palais Preysing, the Palais Holnstein and the Prinz-Carl-Palais. All mansions are situated close to the Residenz, same as the Alte Hof, a medieval castle and first residence of the Wittelsbach dukes in Munich.


title: Munich

text: Lehel, a middle-class quarter east of the Altstadt, is characterised by numerous well-preserved townhouses. The St. Anna im Lehel is the first rococo church in Bavaria. St. Lukas is the largest Protestant Church in Munich.


title: Munich

text: Four grand royal avenues of the 19th century with official buildings connect Munich's inner city with its then-suburbs:


title: Munich

text: The neoclassical Brienner Straße, starting at Odeonsplatz on the northern fringe of the Old Town close to the Residenz, runs from east to west and opens into the Königsplatz, designed with the "Doric" Propyläen, the "Ionic" Glyptothek and the "Corinthian" State Museum of Classical Art, behind it St. Boniface's Abbey was erected. The area around Königsplatz is home to the Kunstareal, Munich's gallery and museum quarter (as described below).


title: Munich

text: Ludwigstraße also begins at Odeonsplatz and runs from south to north, skirting the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, the St. Louis church, the Bavarian State Library and numerous state ministries and palaces. The southern part of the avenue was constructed in Italian renaissance style, while the north is strongly influenced by Italian Romanesque architecture. The


title: Munich

text: Siegestor (gate of victory) sits at the northern end of Ludwigstraße, where the latter passes over into Leopoldstraße and the district of Schwabing begins.


title: Munich

text: The neo-Gothic Maximilianstraße starts at Max-Joseph-Platz, where the Residenz and the National Theatre are situated, and runs from west to east. The avenue is framed by elaborately structured neo-Gothic buildings which house, among others, the Schauspielhaus, the Building of the district government of Upper Bavaria and the Museum of Ethnology. After crossing the river Isar, the avenue circles the Maximilianeum, which houses the state parliament. The western portion of Maximilianstraße is known for its designer shops, luxury boutiques, jewellery stores, and one of Munich's foremost five-star hotels, the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.


title: Munich

text: Prinzregentenstraße runs parallel to Maximilianstraße and begins at Prinz-Carl-Palais. Many museums are on the avenue, such as the Haus der Kunst, the Bavarian National Museum and the Schackgalerie. The avenue crosses the Isar and circles the Friedensengel monument, then passing the Villa Stuck and Hitler's old apartment. The Prinzregententheater is at Prinzregentenplatz further to the east.


title: Munich

text: In Schwabing and Maxvorstadt, many beautiful streets with continuous rows of Gründerzeit buildings can be found. Rows of elegant town houses and spectacular urban palais in many colours, often elaborately decorated with ornamental details on their façades, make up large parts of the areas west of Leopoldstraße (Schwabing's main shopping street), while in the eastern areas between Leopoldstraße and Englischer Garten similar buildings alternate with almost rural-looking houses and whimsical mini-castles, often decorated with small towers. Numerous tiny alleys and shady lanes connect the larger streets and little plazas of the area, conveying the legendary artist's quarter's flair and atmosphere convincingly like it was at the turn of the 20th century. The wealthy district of Bogenhausen in the east of Munich is another little-known area (at least among tourists) rich in extravagant architecture, especially around Prinzregentenstraße. One of Bogenhausen's most beautiful buildings is Villa Stuck, famed residence of painter Franz von Stuck.


title: Munich

text: Two large Baroque palaces in Nymphenburg and Oberschleissheim are reminders of Bavaria's royal past. Schloss Nymphenburg (Nymphenburg Palace), some north west of the city centre, is surrounded by an park and is considered to be one of Europe's most beautiful royal residences. northwest of Nymphenburg Palace is Schloss Blutenburg (Blutenburg Castle), an old ducal country seat with a late-Gothic palace church. Schloss Fürstenried (Fürstenried Palace), a baroque palace of similar structure to Nymphenburg but of much smaller size, was erected around the same time in the south west of Munich.


title: Munich

text: The second large Baroque residence is Schloss Schleissheim (Schleissheim Palace), located in the suburb of Oberschleissheim, a palace complex encompassing three separate residences: Altes Schloss Schleissheim (the old palace), Neues Schloss Schleissheim (the new palace) and Schloss Lustheim (Lustheim Palace). Most parts of the palace complex serve as museums and art galleries. Deutsches Museum's Flugwerft Schleissheim flight exhibition centre is located nearby, on the Schleissheim Special Landing Field. The Bavaria statue before the neo-classical Ruhmeshalle is a monumental, bronze sand-cast 19th-century statue at Theresienwiese. The Grünwald castle is the only medieval castle in the Munich area which still exists.


title: Munich

text: St Michael in Berg am Laim is a church in the suburbs. Another church of Johann Michael Fischer is St George in Bogenhausen. Most of the boroughs have parish churches that originate from the Middle Ages, such as the church of pilgrimage St Mary in Ramersdorf. The oldest church within the city borders is Heilig Kreuz in Fröttmaning next to the Allianz Arena, known for its Romanesque fresco. Moosach features one of the oldest churches, Alt-St. Martin, but a larger one was built in 1925.


title: Munich

text: Especially in its suburbs, Munich features a wide and diverse array of modern architecture, although strict culturally sensitive height limitations for buildings have limited the construction of skyscrapers to avoid a loss of views to the distant Bavarian Alps. Most high-rise buildings are clustered at the northern edge of Munich in the skyline, like the Hypo-Haus, the Arabella High-Rise Building, the Highlight Towers, Uptown Munich, Münchner Tor and the BMW Headquarters next to the Olympic Park. Several other high-rise buildings are located near the city centre and on the Siemens campus in southern Munich. A landmark of modern Munich is also the architecture of the sport stadiums (as described below).


title: Munich

text: Munich is a densely-built city but has numerous public parks. In 1789, the Englischer Garten was created just north of Munich's old city center. Covering an area of , it is larger than Central Park in New York City, and it is one of the world's largest urban public parks. It contains a naturist (nudist) area, numerous bicycle and jogging tracks as well as bridle-paths. It was designed and laid out by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, both for pleasure and as a work area for the city's vagrants and homeless. Nowadays it is entirely a park, its southern half being dominated by wide-open areas, hills, monuments and beach-like stretches (along the streams Eisbach and Schwabinger Bach). In contrast, its less-frequented northern part is much quieter, with many old trees and thick undergrowth. Multiple beer gardens can be found in both parts of the Englischer Garten, the most well-known being located at the Chinese Pagoda.


title: Munich

text: Other large green spaces are the modern Olympiapark, the Westpark, and the parks of Nymphenburg Palace (with the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg to the north), and Schleissheim Palace. The city's oldest park is the Hofgarten, near the Residenz, dating back to the 16th century. The site of the largest beer garden in town, the former royal Hirschgarten was founded in 1780 for deer, which still live there.


title: Munich

text: The city's zoo is the Tierpark Hellabrunn near the Flaucher Island in the Isar in the south of the city. Another notable park is Ostpark located in the Ramersdorf-Perlach borough which also houses the Michaelibad, the largest water park in Munich.


title: Munich

text: Munich is home to several professional football teams including Bayern Munich, Germany's most successful club and a multiple UEFA Champions League winner. Other notable clubs include 1860 Munich, who were long time their rivals on a somewhat equal footing, but currently play in the 3rd Division 3. Liga, and former Bundesliga club SpVgg Unterhaching, who currently play in the Regionalliga Bayern, in Germany's 4th division.


title: Munich

text: FC Bayern Munich Basketball is currently playing in the Beko Basket Bundesliga. The city hosted the final stages of the FIBA EuroBasket 1993, where the German national basketball team won the gold medal.


title: Munich

text: The city's ice hockey club is EHC Red Bull München who play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The team has won three DEL Championships, in 2016, 2017 and 2018.


title: Munich

text: Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics; the Munich Massacre took place in the Olympic village. It was one of the host cities for the 2006 Football World Cup, which was not held in Munich's Olympic Stadium, but in a new football specific stadium, the Allianz Arena. Munich bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, but lost to Pyeongchang. In September 2011 the DOSB President Thomas Bach confirmed that Munich would bid again for the Winter Olympics in the future. These plans were abandoned some time later.


title: Munich

text: Regular annual road running events in Munich are the Munich Marathon in October, the Stadtlauf end of June, the company run B2Run in July, the New Year's Run on 31 December, the Spartan Race Sprint, the Olympia Alm Crosslauf and the Bestzeitenmarathon.


title: Munich

text: Public sporting facilities in Munich include ten indoor swimming pools and eight outdoor swimming pools, which are operated by the Munich City Utilities (SWM) communal company. Popular indoor swimming pools include the Olympia Schwimmhalle of the 1972 Summer Olympics, the wave pool Cosimawellenbad, as well as the Müllersches Volksbad which was built in 1901. Further, swimming within Munich's city limits is also possible in several artificial lakes such as for example the Riemer See or the Langwieder lake district.


title: Munich

text: Munich has a reputation as a surfing hotspot, offering the world's best known river surfing spot, the Eisbach wave, which is located at the southern edge of the Englischer Garten park and used by surfers day and night and throughout the year. Half a kilometre down the river, there is a second, easier wave for beginners, the so-called Kleine Eisbachwelle. Two further surf spots within the city are located along the river Isar, the wave in the Floßlände channel and a wave downstream of the Wittelsbacherbrücke bridge.


title: Munich

text: Starting in 2023, Munich will have a team enter into the European League of Football, a professional American football league with teams throughout Europe.


title: Munich

text: The Bavarian dialects are spoken in and around Munich, with its variety West Middle Bavarian or Old Bavarian ("Westmittelbairisch" / "Altbairisch"). Austro-Bavarian has no official status by the Bavarian authorities or local government, yet is recognised by the SIL and has its own ISO-639 code.


title: Munich

text: The Deutsches Museum or German Museum, located on an island in the River Isar, is the largest and one of the oldest science museums in the world. Three redundant exhibition buildings that are under a protection order were converted to house the Verkehrsmuseum, which houses the land transport collections of the Deutsches Museum. Deutsches Museum's Flugwerft Schleissheim flight exhibition centre is located nearby, on the Schleissheim Special Landing Field. Several non-centralised museums (many of those are public collections at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität) show the expanded state collections of palaeontology, geology, mineralogy, zoology, botany and anthropology.


title: Munich

text: The city has several important art galleries, most of which can be found in the Kunstareal, including the Alte Pinakothek, the Neue Pinakothek, the Pinakothek der Moderne and the Museum Brandhorst. The Alte Pinakothek contains a treasure trove of the works of European masters between the 14th and 18th centuries. The collection reflects the eclectic tastes of the Wittelsbachs over four centuries and is sorted by schools over two floors. Major displays include Albrecht Dürer's Christ-like "Self-Portrait" (1500), his "Four Apostles", Raphael's paintings "The Canigiani Holy Family" and "Madonna Tempi" as well as Peter Paul Rubens large "Judgment Day". The gallery houses one of the world's most comprehensive Rubens collections. The Lenbachhaus houses works by the group of Munich-based modernist artists known as Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider).


title: Munich

text: An important collection of Greek and Roman art is held in the Glyptothek and the Staatliche Antikensammlung (State Antiquities Collection). King Ludwig I managed to acquire such pieces as the Medusa Rondanini, the Barberini Faun and figures from the Temple of Aphaea on Aegina for the Glyptothek. Another important museum in the Kunstareal is the Egyptian Museum.


title: Munich

text: The gothic Morris dancers of Erasmus Grasser are exhibited in the Munich City Museum in the old gothic arsenal building in the inner city.


title: Munich

text: Another area for the arts next to the Kunstareal is the Lehel quarter between the old town and the river Isar: the Museum Five Continents in Maximilianstraße is the second largest collection in Germany of artefacts and objects from outside Europe, while the Bavarian National Museum and the adjoining Bavarian State Archaeological Collection in Prinzregentenstraße rank among Europe's major art and cultural history museums. The nearby Schackgalerie is an important gallery of German 19th-century paintings.


title: Munich

text: Munich is a major international cultural centre and has played host to many prominent composers including Orlando di Lasso, W.A. Mozart, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Max Reger and Carl Orff. With the Munich Biennale founded by Hans Werner Henze, and the "A*DEvantgarde" festival, the city still contributes to modern music theatre. Some of classical music's best-known pieces have been created in and around Munich by composers born in the area, for example, Richard Strauss's tone poem "Also sprach Zarathustra" or Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana".


title: Munich

text: At the Nationaltheater several of Richard Wagner's operas were premiered under the patronage of Ludwig II of Bavaria. It is the home of the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra. Next door, the modern Residenz Theatre was erected in the building that had housed the Cuvilliés Theatre before World War II. Many operas were staged there, including the premiere of Mozart's "Idomeneo" in 1781. The Gärtnerplatz Theatre is a ballet and musical state theatre while another opera house, the Prinzregententheater, has become the home of the Bavarian Theatre Academy and the Munich Chamber Orchestra.


title: Munich

text: The modern Gasteig centre houses the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The third orchestra in Munich with international importance is the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Its primary concert venue is the Herkulessaal in the former city royal residence, the Munich Residenz. Many important conductors have been attracted by the city's orchestras, including Felix Weingartner, Hans Pfitzner, Hans Rosbaud, Hans Knappertsbusch, Sergiu Celibidache, James Levine, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Rafael Kubelík, Eugen Jochum, Sir Colin Davis, Mariss Jansons, Bruno Walter, Georg Solti, Zubin Mehta and Kent Nagano. A stage for shows, big events and musicals is the Deutsche Theater. It is Germany's largest theatre for guest performances.


title: Munich

text: Munich's contributions to modern popular music are often overlooked in favour of its strong association with classical music, but they are numerous: the city has had a strong music scene in the 1960s and 1970s, with many internationally renowned bands and musicians frequently performing in its clubs.


title: Munich

text: Furthermore, Munich was the centre of Krautrock in southern Germany, with many important bands such as Amon Düül II, Embryo or Popol Vuh hailing from the city. In the 1970s, the Musicland Studios developed into one of the most prominent recording studios in the world, with bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Queen recording albums there. Munich also played a significant role in the development of electronic music, with genre pioneer Giorgio Moroder, who invented synth disco and electronic dance music, and Donna Summer, one of disco music's most important performers, both living and working in the city. In the late 1990s, Electroclash was substantially co-invented if not even invented in Munich, when DJ Hell introduced and assembled international pioneers of this musical genre through his International DeeJay Gigolo Records label here.


title: Munich

text: Other notable musicians and bands from Munich include Konstantin Wecker, , Spider Murphy Gang, Münchener Freiheit, Lou Bega, Megaherz, FSK, Colour Haze and Sportfreunde Stiller.


title: Munich

text: Music is so important in the Bavarian capital that the city hall gives permissions every day to ten musicians for performing in the streets around Marienplatz. This is how performers such as Olga Kholodnaya and Alex Jacobowitz are entertaining the locals and the tourists every day.


title: Munich

text: Next to the Bavarian Staatsschauspiel in the Residenz Theatre (Residenztheater), the Munich Kammerspiele in the Schauspielhaus is one of the most important German-language theatres in the world. Since Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's premieres in 1775 many important writers have staged their plays in Munich such as Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Henrik Ibsen and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.


title: Munich

text: The city is known as the second-largest publishing centre in the world (around 250 publishing houses have offices in the city), and many national and international publications are published in Munich, such as Arts in Munich, LAXMag and Prinz.


title: Munich

text: At the turn of the 20th century, Munich, and especially its suburb of Schwabing, was the preeminent cultural metropolis of Germany. Its importance as a centre for both literature and the fine arts was second to none in Europe, with numerous German and non-German artists moving there. For example, Wassily Kandinsky chose Munich over Paris to study at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, and, along with many other painters and writers living in Schwabing at that time, had a profound influence on modern art.


title: Munich

text: Prominent literary figures worked in Munich especially during the final decades of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the so-called "Prinzregentenzeit" (literally "prince regent's time") under the reign of Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, a period often described as a cultural Golden Age for both Munich and Bavaria as a whole. Some of the most notable were Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Paul Heyse, Rainer Maria Rilke, Ludwig Thoma, Fanny zu Reventlow, Oskar Panizza, Gustav Meyrink, Max Halbe, Erich Mühsam and Frank Wedekind.


title: Munich

text: For a short while, Vladimir Lenin lived in Schwabing, where he wrote and published his most important work, "What Is to Be Done?" Central to Schwabing's bohemian scene (although they were actually often located in the nearby Maxvorstadt quarter) were "Künstlerlokale" (artist's cafés) like Café Stefanie or Kabarett Simpl, whose liberal ways differed fundamentally from Munich's more traditional localities. The Simpl, which survives to this day (although with little relevance to the city's contemporary art scene), was named after Munich's anti-authoritarian satirical magazine "Simplicissimus", founded in 1896 by Albert Langen and Thomas Theodor Heine, which quickly became an important organ of the "Schwabinger Bohème". Its caricatures and biting satirical attacks on Wilhelmine German society were the result of countless of collaborative efforts by many of the best visual artists and writers from Munich and elsewhere.


title: Munich

text: The period immediately before World War I saw continued economic and cultural prominence for the city. Thomas Mann wrote in his novella "Gladius Dei" about this period: "München leuchtete" (literally "Munich shone"). Munich remained a centre of cultural life during the Weimar period, with figures such as Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertolt Brecht, Peter Paul Althaus, Stefan George, Ricarda Huch, Joachim Ringelnatz, Oskar Maria Graf, Annette Kolb, Ernst Toller, Hugo Ball and Klaus Mann adding to the already established big names. Karl Valentin was Germany's most important cabaret performer and comedian and is to this day well-remembered and beloved as a cultural icon of his hometown. Between 1910 and 1940, he wrote and performed in many absurdist sketches and short films that were highly influential, earning him the nickname of "Charlie Chaplin of Germany". Many of Valentin's works wouldn't be imaginable without his congenial female partner Liesl Karlstadt, who often played male characters to hilarious effect in their sketches. After World War II, Munich soon again became a focal point of the German literary scene and remains so to this day, with writers as diverse as Wolfgang Koeppen, Erich Kästner, Eugen Roth, Alfred Andersch, Elfriede Jelinek, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Michael Ende, Franz Xaver Kroetz, Gerhard Polt and Patrick Süskind calling the city their home.


title: Munich

text: From the Gothic to the Baroque era, the fine arts were represented in Munich by artists like Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Johann Baptist Straub, Ignaz Günther, Hans Krumpper, Ludwig von Schwanthaler, Cosmas Damian Asam, Egid Quirin Asam, Johann Baptist Zimmermann, Johann Michael Fischer and François de Cuvilliés. Munich had already become an important place for painters like Carl Rottmann, Lovis Corinth, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, Carl Spitzweg, Franz von Lenbach, Franz von Stuck, Karl Piloty and Wilhelm Leibl when Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider), a group of expressionist artists, was established in Munich in 1911. The city was home to the Blue Rider's painters Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Gabriele Münter, Franz Marc, August Macke and Alfred Kubin. Kandinsky's first abstract painting was created in Schwabing.


title: Munich

text: Munich was (and in some cases, still is) home to many of the most important authors of the New German Cinema movement, including Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Edgar Reitz and Herbert Achternbusch. In 1971, the Filmverlag der Autoren was founded, cementing the city's role in the movement's history. Munich served as the location for many of Fassbinder's films, among them "". The Hotel Deutsche Eiche near Gärtnerplatz was somewhat like a centre of operations for Fassbinder and his "clan" of actors. New German Cinema is considered by far the most important artistic movement in German cinema history since the era of German Expressionism in the 1920s.


title: Munich

text: In 1919, the Bavaria Film Studios were founded, which developed into one of Europe's largest film studios. Directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles, John Huston, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Claude Chabrol, Fritz Umgelter, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Wolfgang Petersen and Wim Wenders made films there. Among the internationally well-known films produced at the studios are "The Pleasure Garden" (1925) by Alfred Hitchcock, "The Great Escape" (1963) by John Sturges, "Paths of Glory" (1957) by Stanley Kubrick, "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (1971) by Mel Stuart and both "Das Boot" (1981) and "The Neverending Story" (1984) by Wolfgang Petersen. Munich remains one of the centres of the German film and entertainment industry.


title: Munich

text: March and April, city-wide: Starkbierfest is held for three weeks during Lent, between Carnival and Easter, celebrating Munich's “strong beer”. Starkbier was created in 1651 by the local Paulaner monks who drank this 'Flüssiges Brot', or ‘liquid bread’ to survive the fasting of Lent. It became a public festival in 1751 and is now the second largest beer festival in Munich. Starkbierfest is also known as the “fifth season”, and is celebrated in beer halls and restaurants around the city.


title: Munich

text: Held for two weeks from the end of April to the beginning of May, Frühlingsfest celebrates spring and the new local spring beers, and is commonly referred to as the "little sister of Oktoberfest". There are two beer tents, Hippodrom and Festhalle Bayernland, as well as one roofed beer garden, Münchner Weißbiergarten. There are also roller coasters, fun houses, slides, and a Ferris wheel. Other attractions of the festival include a flea market on the festival's first Saturday, a “Beer Queen” contest, a vintage car show on the first Sunday, fireworks every Friday night, and a "Day of Traditions" on the final day.


title: Munich

text: May, August, and October, Mariahilfplatz: Auer Dult is Europe's largest jumble sale, with fairs of its kind dating back to the 14th century. The Auer Dult is a traditional market with 300 stalls selling handmade crafts, household goods, and local foods, and offers carnival rides for children. It has taken place over nine days each, three times a year. since 1905.


title: Munich

text: Traditionally a ball for Munich's domestic servants, cooks, nannies, and other household staff, Kocherlball, or ‘cook’s ball’ was a chance for the lower classes to take the morning off and dance together before the families of their households woke up. It now runs between 6 and 10 am the third Sunday in July at the Chinese Tower in Munich's English Garden.


title: Munich

text: July and December, Olympia Park: For three weeks in July, and then three weeks in December, Tollwood showcases fine and performing arts with live music, circus acts, and several lanes of booths selling handmade crafts, as well as organic international cuisine. According to the festival's website, Tollwood's goal is to promote culture and the environment, with the main themes of "tolerance, internationality, and openness". To promote these ideals, 70% of all Tollwood events and attractions are free.


title: Munich

text: September and October, Theresienwiese: The largest beer festival in the world, Munich's Oktoberfest runs for 16–18 days from the end of September through early October. Oktoberfest is a celebration of the wedding of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen which took place on 12 October 1810. In the last 200 years the festival has grown to span 85 acres and now welcomes over 6 million visitors every year. There are 14 beer tents which together can seat 119,000 attendees at a time, and serve beer from the six major breweries of Munich: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, Spaten and Staatliches Hofbräuhaus. Over 7 million liters of beer are consumed at each Oktoberfest. There are also over 100 rides ranging from bumper cars to full-sized roller coasters, as well as the more traditional Ferris wheels and swings. Food can be bought in each tent, as well as at various stalls throughout the fairgrounds. Oktoberfest hosts 144 caterers and employees 13,000 people.


title: Munich

text: November and December, city-wide: Munich's Christmas Markets, or Christkindlmärkte, are held throughout the city from late November until Christmas Eve, the largest spanning the Marienplatz and surrounding streets. There are hundreds of stalls selling handmade goods, Christmas ornaments and decorations, and Bavarian Christmas foods including pastries, roasted nuts, and gluwein.


title: Munich

text: Late-July to mid-August, city-wide: Mini-Munich provides kids ages 7–15 with the opportunity to participate in a "Spielstadt", the German term for a miniature city composed almost entirely of children. Funded by Kultur & Spielraum, this play city is run by young Germans performing the same duties as adults, including voting in city council, paying taxes, and building businesses. The experimental game was invented in Munich in the 1970s and has since spread to other countries like Egypt and China.


title: Munich

text: The Coopers' Dance () is a guild dance of coopers originally started in Munich. Since early 1800s the custom spread via journeymen in it is now a common tradition over the Old Bavaria region. The dance was supposed to be held every 7 years.


title: Munich

text: Since 2001, historically interesting places in Munich can be explored via the cultural history trails ("KulturGeschichtsPfade"). Sign-posted cycle routes are the Outer "Äußere Radlring" (outer cycle route) and the "RadlRing München".


title: Munich

text: The Munich cuisine contributes to the Bavarian cuisine. Munich Weisswurst ("white sausage", "German: Münchner Weißwurst") was invented here in 1857. It is a Munich speciality. Traditionally eaten only before noon – a tradition dating to a time before refrigerators – these morsels are often served with sweet mustard and freshly baked pretzels.


title: Munich

text: Munich offers 11 restaurants that have been awarded one or more Michelin stars in the Michelin Guide of 2021.


title: Munich

text: Munich is known for its breweries and the "Weissbier" (or "Weißbier" / "Weizenbier", wheat beer) is a speciality from Bavaria. Helles, a pale lager with a translucent gold colour is the most popular Munich beer today, although it's not old (only introduced in 1895) and is the result of a change in beer tastes. Helles has largely replaced Munich's dark beer, Dunkles, which gets its colour from roasted malt. It was the typical beer in Munich in the 19th century, but it is now more of a speciality. Starkbier is the strongest Munich beer, with 6%–9% alcohol content. It is dark amber in colour and has a heavy malty taste. It is available and is sold particularly during the Lenten "Starkbierzeit" (strong beer season), which begins on or before St. Joseph's Day (19 March). The beer served at Oktoberfest is a special type of Märzen beer with a higher alcohol content than regular Helles.


title: Munich

text: There are countless "Wirtshäuser" (traditional Bavarian ale houses/restaurants) all over the city area, many of which also have small outside areas. "Biergärten" (beer gardens) are popular fixtures of Munich's gastronomic landscape. They are central to the city's culture and serve as a kind of melting pot for members of all walks of life, for locals, expatriates and tourists alike. It is allowed to bring one's own food to a beer garden, however, it is forbidden to bring one's own drinks. There are many smaller beer gardens and around twenty major ones, providing at least a thousand seats, with four of the largest in the Englischer Garten: Chinesischer Turm (Munich's second-largest beer garden with 7,000 seats), Seehaus, Hirschau and Aumeister. Nockherberg, Hofbräukeller (not to be confused with the Hofbräuhaus) and Löwenbräukeller are other beer gardens. Hirschgarten is the largest beer garden in the world, with 8,000 seats.


title: Munich

text: There are six main breweries in Munich: Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner and Spaten-Franziskaner-Bräu (separate brands Spaten and Franziskaner, the latter of which mainly for Weissbier).


title: Munich

text: Also much consumed, though not from Munich and thus without the right to have a tent at the Oktoberfest, are Tegernseer and Schneider Weisse, the latter of which has a major beer hall in Munich. Smaller breweries are becoming more prevalent in Munich, such as Giesinger Bräu. However, these breweries do not have tents at Oktoberfest.


title: Munich

text: The Circus Krone based in Munich is one of the largest circuses in Europe. It was the first and still is one of only a few in Western Europe to also occupy a building of its own.


title: Munich

text: Nightlife in Munich is located mostly in the city centre (Altstadt-Lehel) and the boroughs Maxvorstadt, Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt, Au-Haidhausen and Schwabing. Between Sendlinger Tor and Maximiliansplatz lies the so-called Feierbanane (party banana), a roughly banana-shaped unofficial party zone spanning along Sonnenstraße, characterised by a high concentration of clubs, bars and restaurants. The Feierbanane has become the mainstream focus of Munich's nightlife and tends to become crowded, especially at weekends. It has also been the subject of some debate among city officials because of alcohol-related security issues and the party zone's general impact on local residents as well as day-time businesses.


title: Munich

text: Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt's two main quarters, Gärtnerplatzviertel and Glockenbachviertel, are both considered decidedly less mainstream than most other nightlife hotspots in the city and are renowned for their many hip and laid back bars and clubs as well as for being Munich's main centres of gay culture. On warm spring or summer nights, hundreds of young people gather at Gärtnerplatz to relax, talk with friends and drink beer.


title: Munich

text: Maxvorstadt has many smaller bars that are especially popular with university students, whereas Schwabing, once Munich's first and foremost party district with legendary clubs such as "Big Apple", "PN hit-house", "Domicile", "Hot Club", "Piper Club", "Tiffany", Germany's first large-scale disco Blow Up and the underwater nightclub Yellow Submarine, as well as many bars such as Schwabinger 7 or "Schwabinger Podium", has lost much of its nightlife activity in the last decades, mainly due to gentrification and the resulting high rents. It has become the city's most coveted and expensive residential district, attracting affluent citizens with little interest in partying.


title: Munich

text: Since the mid-1990s, the "Kunstpark Ost" and its successor "Kultfabrik", a former industrial complex that was converted to a large party area near München Ostbahnhof in Berg am Laim, hosted more than 30 clubs and was especially popular among younger people from the metropolitan area surrounding Munich and tourists. The Kultfabrik was closed at the end of the year 2015 to convert the area into a residential and office area. Apart from the Kultfarbik and the smaller "Optimolwerke", there is a wide variety of establishments in the urban parts of nearby Haidhausen. Before the Kunstpark Ost, there had already been an accumulation of internationally known nightclubs in the remains of the abandoned former Munich-Riem Airport.


title: Munich

text: Munich nightlife tends to change dramatically and quickly. Establishments open and close every year, and due to gentrification and the overheated housing market many survive only a few years, while others last longer. Beyond the already mentioned venues of the 1960s and 1970s, nightclubs with international recognition in recent history included "Tanzlokal Größenwahn", "Atomic Cafe" and the techno clubs Babalu Club, Ultraschall, , , , "Die Registratur" and "Bob Beaman". From 1995 to 2001, Munich was also home to the Union Move, one of the largest technoparades in Germany.


title: Munich

text: Munich has two directly connected gay quarters, which basically can be seen as one: Gärtnerplatzviertel and Glockenbachviertel, both part of the Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt district. From 1979 to 1985 Freddie Mercury lived near the Gärtnerplatz and is known for his role in Munich's gay nightlife of the 1980s, including his 39th birthday party at the club "Old Mrs. Henderson". Transsexual icon Romy Haag had a club in the city centre for many years.


title: Munich

text: Munich has the highest density of music venues of any German city, followed by Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin. Within the city's limits are more than 100 nightclubs and thousands of bars and restaurants.