Schloss Nymphenburg

The D&O Diary concluded its extended European sojourn with a final stop in the Bavarian city of Munich. Our stop in Munich was brief, but we were very fortunate that the brilliant weather we enjoyed in our prior stops in Europe continued while we were in Germany.

The primary purpose of my Munich visit was to participate as a guest speaker at Munich Re’s Casualty Claims Days 2023 event. The event was held in Munich Re’s beautiful headquarters building on Königinstraße, near the main entrance of the Englischer Garten (English Garden). The conference was a Munich Re client event; the attendees were casualty claims executives from many of the leading global insurance companies. It was a pleasure to be a part of this event and to be able to address the distinguished audience. It was also a pleasure to meet so many people who read The D&O Diary. I would like to thank Hanxing Li, Ranier Hanselmann, Katie LeFevers, and Jenny Sophia Hoegen for inviting me to participate in the event. Honestly, it was great just being in Munich again.

A picture of the audience at the Munich Re event. It was an honor to be able to address this audience of distinguished guests.
With Kylie Tomas of Hamilton Re in Bermuda.
With Hanxin Li of Munich Re.
With Alexandra Furth of AIG; Katie LeFevers of Munich Re; and Mike Frantz of AIG.
With Ranier Hanselmann of Munich Re. Ranier is the Global Head of Casualty Claims for Munich Re.

Our time in Munich was brief. We arrived prior to the conference with plans to try to squeeze in a few worthy, uplifting cultural sites. However, the weather was so wonderful when we arrived that we abandoned all museum-oriented plans. Instead, we headed straight for the English Gardens to enjoy the blue skies and warm sunshine.

This is a view of the Kleinhesseloher See, a large lake filled with water fowl located toward the northern end of the Englischer Garten. The Garden is called English because it was designed in the informal English landscape park style as compared to the formal French or Italian style.
A bridge over the Eisbach, a man-made river and side-arm of the Isar River that flows through the English Garden.
The Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) beer gardens in the English Garden.
The beer garden has hundreds of tables set in the shade of enormous chestnut trees. A great place to enjoy the dappled sunlight on a warm early summer afternoon.

We took public transit to visit the Schloss Nymphenburg (depicted at the top of the post), the Baroque summer palace of Bavaria’s ruling family, the Wittelsbachs. I understand that the palace interior is quite impressive, but in light of the magnificent weather, and rather than touring the palace, we chose to explore the palace grounds and gardens instead. It was a wonderful way to spend a sunlit early summer day.

This is a view of the palace from the far end of the canal, in the gardens. The baroque palace was built in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The gardens cover nearly 500 acres; by way of comparison, the gardens at Versailles cover about 250 acres.
The palace gardens are full of water features.
A denkmal (monument) along one of the garden’s water features. It really was a beautiful day.
A grey heron in the Schloss gardens.

After our brief stop in Munich, we returned the U.S. We enjoyed quite a trip to Europe, involving visits to four countries, as well as three languages (well, four, if you count English), and three currencies – as well as planes and trains, subways, taxicabs, buses and even passenger ferries. We enjoyed extraordinarily nice weather throughout our trip. It was fantastic. By the end, though, we were ready to go home. East, west, home is best.