It turns out that on both occasions I was in Munich's central square, the place was being used for a political protest.
The first occasion was pretty harmless:
it was students demonstrating against tuition fees. I asked a demonstrator who gave me a leaflet in German what was happening, and he told me, in very slow "english", "THEY WANT TO _SHARE_ EDUCATION".

The second one was a lot more sinister:
we were with another conference participant on the square, and suddendly the police surrounded us. I
mean, hundreds of armed (with batons) policemen startted building a large cordon of metal barriers pretty much around where we were. We asked whats going on, and
they told us in 45 minutes there would be a rally of the NPD, the neo-nazi party. THere would be counter demonstrators, possible violence, and we should basically
get the hell out of there.

Well, of course we stayed. :-/ I was curious to see what these neo-nazis looked like, how many counter-protesters and protesters there would be etc.
We had a coffee at a bar nearby, and got out when everything started.

Well, Im happy to say that as far as protests go, it was one of the lamest ones I ever saw. The protesters were a bunch of mostly shaved, really dull-looking 16 year
olds (or so), plus a couple of old women.
They had a large placard talking about the "terrorist bombing" of Dresden, and the "other terror bombings by America over the years, such as Vietnam, Belgrade and
Iraq".

But then the interesting thing happened: The counter-protesters, 100 or so appeared. (yes, thankfully they outnumbered the protesters, and both groups were heavily
outnumbered by police). Mostly anarchist kids, a lot wearing Keffyehs.
And suddendly these anarchist kids wearing Keffyehs, unfurled...
American, British, French and an Israeli flag (!), as well as a banned which said "thanks to the allies". They then proceeded to sing allied war-songs ("there were
10 German bombers in the sky...")

The neo-nazis stood silently with their banner. There was no violence (too many policemen), and on the street 150 meters away people were going about with their
early evening shopping completely unaware that this was happening. As I wrote, as protests go, this was lame.

The whole experience left me somewhat uneasy, and I am still thinking about it. Of course I am happy that there WAS a counter-protest, but I did not really like its
tone. I mean, that the Dresden bombing was,by today standards,basically a terrorist act (killing as many civilians as possible to demoralize the population), is
pretty much undisputed.
In general, kids (as a rule too young for their parents to have seen the war!) singing songs celebrating war IS disturbing. Some wars might be necessary, but those
who miss and celebrate them have issues, especially those who have not seen them in the first place.

I would have been a lot happier if the protesters would have basically said something along the lines of "You people accusing anyone of atrocities is a sick joke, so fuck off"

tuition fees. I asked a demonstrator who gave me a leaflet in German what was happening, and he told me, in very slow "english", "THEY WANT TO _SHARE_ EDUCATION".

The second one was a lot more sinister:
we were with another conference participant on the square, and suddendly the police surrounded us. I
mean, hundreds of armed (with batons) policemen startted building a large cordon of metal barriers pretty much around where we were. We asked whats going on, and
they told us in 45 minutes there would be a rally of the NPD, the neo-nazi party. THere would be counter demonstrators, possible violence, and we should basically
get the hell out of there.

Well, of course we stayed. :-/ I was curious to see what these neo-nazis looked like, how many counter-protesters and protesters there would be etc.
We had a coffee at a bar nearby, and got out when everything started.

Well, Im happy to say that as far as protests go, it was one of the lamest ones I ever saw. The protesters were a bunch of mostly shaved, really dull-looking 16 year
olds (or so), plus a couple of old women.
They had a large placard talking about the "terrorist bombing" of Dresden, and the "other terror bombings by America over the years, such as Vietnam, Belgrade and
Iraq".

But then the interesting thing happened: The counter-protesters, 100 or so appeared. (yes, thankfully they outnumbered the protesters, and both groups were heavily
outnumbered by police). Mostly anarchist kids, a lot wearing Keffyehs.
And suddendly these anarchist kids wearing Keffyehs, unfurled...
American, British, French and an Israeli flag (!), as well as a banned which said "thanks to the allies". They then proceeded to sing allied war-songs ("there were
10 German bombers in the sky...")

The neo-nazis stood silently with their banner. There was no violence (too many policemen), and on the street 150 meters away people were going about with their
early evening shopping completely unaware that this was happening. As I wrote, as protests go, this was lame.

The whole experience left me somewhat uneasy, and I am still thinking about it. Of course I am happy that there WAS a counter-protest, but I did not really like its
tone. I mean, that the Dresden bombing was,by today standards,basically a terrorist act (killing as many civilians as possible to demoralize the population), is
pretty much undisputed.
In general, kids (as a rule too young for their parents to have seen the war!) singing songs celebrating war IS disturbing. Some wars might be necessary, but those
who miss and celebrate them have issues, especially those who have not seen them in the first place.

I would have been a lot happier if the protesters would have basically said something along the lines of "You people accusing anyone of atrocities is a sick joke, so fuck off"

But it wasn't all work! Photos of us eating and drinking, including images of
healthy Bavarian vegetarian food and soft drinks
Includes the conference banquet

We also worked there, you know!

Various city photos

A visit to the museum of modern art, with the AvH