National Socialism in Munich – a thematic history trail

The City of Munich is aware of its special obligation to keep alive the memory of the Nazi era and its crimes and to inform citizens and visitors about it. After all, it was here in Munich that the rise of the National Socialist movement began after the First World War. Munich was also the scene of the attempted putsch of 1923 and of Hitler’s subsequent trial. Here Hitler found influential patrons who gave him entry to bourgeois circles. And it was here in 1938 that Goebbels called for the nation-wide pogrom against the Jewish population. After the Nazis seized power in 1933, Munich was chosen by Hitler as the place to celebrate the cult of Nazism and given the titles ‘Capital of German Art’ and ‘Capital of the Movement’.

On this account, the thematic history trail, ThemenGeschichtsPfad, is part of a series of cultural history trails (KulturGeschichtsPfade), published by the City of Munich. Covering several districts, this route takes the reader on a tour of historically significant locations on the theme of “National Socialism in Munich” – a subject of central importance in the city’s history. This brochure, combined with the walking tour, an enlarged audio version and the web presentation, is intended to provide you with a comprehensive introduction to this period of the city’s history and to encourage you, whether you are a citizen or a tourist, to find out more about National Socialism.