Why is Munich So Different

I'll take a WAG that your impression of Munich being like an American city may be in part due to the huge US military presence in Bavaria. While that has existed since the end of WW II, there are over 40,000 US military in Bavaria according to recent figures. Add in family members and you might see how a place could be Americanized, for better or worse (your choice). If the threatened exit of troops actually occurs, perhaps things may change.

Otherwise, I would just say that most of the major European cities are each quite different from each other. London is different than Paris. Both are different from Rome. Or Prague etc etc. If they weren't different, why would anyone visit more than one place?

RJ, did you have been to Berlin, Hamburg or Cologne? If so, what is your impression of them compared to Munich?

The covered areas of Berlin and Hamburg are really huge because they both had a "greater ... act" in their history, means smaller surrounding communities and towns were included into the cities of Berlin and Hamburg.

In general the pace is faster or seems more stressful in the 5 major German cities, maybe 10 - in their centers much more than in their outskirts.

btw: "Americanized" is a funny word if you think further what this means for people from France. Is it Frenchised then?

Mark, Hamburg and Cologne, no. Nor Frankfurt (not yet despite Jo's entreaties). Berlin, yes, though it was probably eight years.

Regarding my secondary point, I can only say that on my visit nearly 50 years ago Munich reminded me more of the US than London, and that many American soldiers in 1945 commented on the different ways Germany seemed more familiar to them than England.

Regarding my principal observation, it may simply be size and pace, but there are noticeable differences--some good, some bad, many associated with the US--between Munich and all of the other cities I have visited on this trip.

And I never used the word "Americanized." If my comments are not clear, I will try to clarify.

We lived in Augsburg, Germany, 50 miles west of Munich, for four years when we worked for the US Army.
We have returned to Europe many times, including Germany. We have friends from Augsburg.

The changes we noticed from 1991 up to today:
1) Now we see graffiti on buildings, some quite old, it is sad. We never saw graffiti in Germany earlier. Also, we have seen much more graffiti in other European countries like France, Italy, Spain, etc. It is sad to see it on buildings in places like Venice.
2) The trains always ran on time 35 years ago, last Summer, last Summer all our trains were late, some by 30 minutes, two were cancelled and we almost missed our meeting for our River cruise.

3) Our German friends in Augsburg warned us to be careful walking around at night in some areas. When we lived there, that was not a problem.

I will say that overall, Germany was still a great place to visit. We enjoy our visit there as well as Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

I am very number-driven. Based on numbers I cannot second some individual experience statements.

Safety: just to be very clear, Germany has a very good safety status without regional or local exceptions, we do not have no-go areas. Tourists' highest risk are pickpockets in crowds - and also this on a low level on a daily base.

Especially Bavaria and its largest towns can be seen as safe above average: in the list of the 10 most secure towns 2024 in Germany Munich is ranked #1, Nuremberg #2 and Augsburg #5. Criteria is the number of reported crime cases per 100k inhabitants.

Punctuality of long-distance trains was around 85% beginning of the 90s, dropping to around 77% in the mid 90s due to a major change of timetables and frequency capacities. Sure, better than today with 64% for long-distance train punctuality and 70% for traveler punctuality in April 2026 but not the sometimes described "trains always ran on time 35 years ago". By the way: regional trains have a very much higher punctuality ratio than long-distance trains.

*Over the last 50 years is Munich safer or less safer? Cleaner or
dirtier? More American or less? More diverse or less diverse? Bigger
or smaller?
*
Over the past 50 years, Munich has transformed from a traditional
regional capital into a globalized metropolis. Generally, the city is
significantly safer, cleaner, more diverse, and larger than it was in
the mid-1970s

I asked a Q to google's ai and posted the answer. I am using the above as an illustration of how folks (like myself) often think things in the past were cleaner, safer, better, friendlier, whatever-- we romanticize it. While my first visit to Germany is less than 50 years ago, it was still quite a long time ago. I biked across some of it. Later, I worked in Germany for a stint-- long time ago. I speak a bit of German too

Anyway, I too remember it as an idealized better state decades earlier-- but statistically speaking, that is just not true. It's my old brain remembering my youth! Ah I could bike across the country then! Nowadays? Not so much. Anyway Munich is bigger, richer, cleaner, people live longer and it's more diverse. It's not the same place-- but it is also the same place! As for being more American, I don't even know how that would be manifested. But it could be true I suppose. Still I remember the place was great back in the day! (I still like it but my back aches a bit so, yeah, not the same!)

Happy travels

I have never felt afraid on any street in Germany, night or day. Whoever lives in Augsburg, is pulling your leg or just reading the Bild.

The populations of all of the cities has increased by a lot over the last 40 years. That will make a difference. Women finally got to enter the workforce without being called "raben mutter" and didn't stay home to scrub the sidewalks anymore.

Honestly Munich felt more like Europe than Berlin. And unfortunately Germans litter more than they did 20 years ago and there are now homeless on the streets. That said Munich is still extremely clean compare to Köln and Berlin. I was actually shocked at how dilapidated Berlin was with broken benches and tons of graffiti right in the city center. And the parks weren’t much better. However times change and nowhere is like it was decades before

Heather, it has been perhaps eight years since I last visited Berlin, so I can't comments on conditions there. But I did not see litter in Nuremburg, Dresden and Bamberg.

Is it possible that there had been a big event on when you were there, especially a political demonstration, which would explain security staff?

As for grafitti, i recall travelling from Bavaria to Hamburg in one day 9 or 10 years ago. Hannover and north thereof was terrible then thanks to the infamous Moses & Taps and their influence.

Possible? Yes. But I did not see any major demonstrations. And to be fair, the grocery with the security guard in the front was located next to the Ostbahnhof station (though that was where I was staying). But I saw litter throughout the city and more homeless in Munich than elsewhere. And the two taxi drivers I had issues with were not native Germans.

And the two taxi drivers I had issues with were not native Germans.

Did you use taxis in Prague - where the drivers are notorious for their creativity to inflate a fare?

I also wonder whether in places like Krakow and Budapest you didn't stray from the touristic centers? What would you have encountered if you had made your way into the more workaday areas of each city?

And 50 years ago was just 30 years after the war, so you may have experienced a newly rebuilt - and rebuilding - city.

Did I use taxis in Prague? No. And I will add that the two taxi drivers in Munich I dealt with were not native Germans.

Did I stray into the outskirts of Krakow, Budapest and other cities? No, other than Salzburg. However, my comments about Munich were based on what I saw in the middle of the city, not in the outskirts.