We stranded in Haidhausen, a district of the city of Munich (also referred to as the French quarter) by pure incident. Six years ago pretty much to the day, Oliver returned from the States, where he had studied and worked for several years. At the time I had quit my job in Regensburg and we were a little dewy-eyed about quickly finding a new place to call HOME in Munich. While the job situation in 2000 was at an all-time high, the availability of reasonably priced living space was at an all-time low. At the time realtors looked upon themselves as divine creatures at whose mercy you either got an apartment or didn’t, regardless of whether or not you accepted to pay for their exorbitant, likely unlawful charges.

One of our worst memories along those lines would be the day when we met a real estate agent to see an apartment on Rosenheimer Strasse. I was expecting a 1:1 date and found myself waiting with what I guessed must have been between 60 and 80 people forming a line from the building’s entrance all the way to the apartment on the second floor… I think I had reoccurring nightmares about this experience for weeks! After about 3 months of frustration, we couldn’t believe our luck when we finally received a call from another agent who gave us a positive answer about an apartment in a lovely old building right in the heart of Haidhausen – the one in which we still live.

As much as we love this house for its kind and helpful neighbors and of course our house parties (hey we just had one yesterday…), Haidhausen as such is a wonderful place to live in Munich – if not the best ;)

Haidhausen features very beautiful architecture, with many old (original) buildings fully intact, built before the turn of the 19th century. Characteristic are high ceilings (around 3 to 4 meters, ~10-13 feet), wooden floors/parquet and stucco.

You don’t need a car. Public transportation is great (underground, trams, busses); 25 minutes to the airport, 5 minutes to Marienplatz, can’t beat that! But for the most part everything is close by anyway, all in comfortable walking distance.

Food. Haidhausen is called the French quarter, hence the broad range of French restaurants. ‘Care for Bavarian, Oriental, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Turkish, Greek, Mexican, Indian food? We got it, too, in countless variations as well as small cafes and bars, specialty shops and traditional bakeries.

Broad variety of ma and pa shops, especially art wares. It sometimes makes you feel like living in a really small town, you know your neighbors, the women behind the counter at the bakery and they know you.

Walking distance to the southern part of the Englische Garten and the Isar-Auen – perfect for running and the occasional sun-bath.

Despite all the nifty aspects, there are certainly not so great sides to Haidhausen (finding parking space can become a Herculean task), but for now, we are pretty happy here!

Especially around Wiener Platz you will find a handful of pretty shops surrounding a tiny market place. Among the old-established stores, a new shop that we discovered a few weeks back absolutely stands out: *Livingroom*. In a beautifully designed environment one can do two things: enjoy a cup of well brewed espresso with a snack and shop for wonderful antiques and one-off pieces (all at the same time).

It took Julia Prislin and her husband roughly a full year to realize a concept that was born during one of their many travels especially to Cape Town where they pursued their actual profession – both are in the fashion industry (model stylist and photography).

The idea to combine food & antiques was based on a business concept one of their favorite coffee places in Cape Town had incorporated and one that -to me- makes total sense. Taking it a step further, all items in the shop are not only for sale, they are an integral part of the shop – well, until sold. So don’t be surprised that the chair you sit on in fact has a price tag.

The two travel quite a bit still, so while one of them holds the fort, the other one is off on a photo shot. What’s next on the agenda, a spin off in New York perhaps?!

And before I forget, on Mondays they are closed, due to repair/restoration work on the many antique gems that they either just have acquired or that have been waiting to get a brush up.

Livingroom
Wiener Platz 2
81667 München
Tel. 089 – 44141991

Opening hours:
Tuesday to Friday 10am to 7pm
Saturday 10am to 4pm