Giesing is a Stadtteil in the south-east of Munich, which used to be known as the ‘broken glass district’, i.e. a working-class neighbourhood. Nowadays, more and more Munich residents from all income brackets and many families are moving here, as rents are relatively affordable despite the proximity to the city centre.
Giesing is divided into two districts
Giesing was first mentioned in a document in the year 790. As in the Au or to Haidhausen mainly day labourers and craftsmen moved here too. In 1854, Giesing became Munich was incorporated. More and more people wanted to live in this neighbourhood and the former village church became too small. In 1866, construction began on the neo-Gothic Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, which still towers high above the city on the Giesinger Berg. In 1892, the Stadelheim prison was built, where executions were carried out until 1945. Since 1992, the district of Giesing has been divided into the two boroughs of Obergiesing-Fasangarten and Untergiesing-Harlaching.
Since 1937, Obergiesing has also included the Fasangarten, which used to be a hunting ground for pheasants and is now a residential neighbourhood with many detached houses. Until the 1990s, American soldiers who were stationed in the Bavarian capital after the Second World War lived in the settlement on Perlacher Forst, also known as the American settlement. The street names, such as Cincinnatistraße, are a reminder of this.
Kaiser Franz was a Giesinger
The two Munich football clubs 1860 München and FC Bayern are based in Giesing. They have their headquarters and training grounds on Grünwalder Strasse and Säbener Strasse respectively. The most famous Giesinger is Franz Beckenbauer, who was born here and grew up at Zugspitzstraße 6.
The neighbourhood even has its own small brewery. The Giesinger Bräu brews different types of beer and labels its bottles with a motif of the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche church. In the adjoining Bräustüberl, you can eat Bavarian specialities and look into the brewhouse at the same time. The Munich Tierpark Hellabrunnwhich has existed since 1911, is also part of Giesing
What you should not miss in Giesing
In Untergiesing, you have to see Munich's Little Venice, with its two-storey houses bordering the Auer Mühlbach stream. And the idyllic rose garden, which is tucked away on the Isar near the Schyrenbad, is also worth a visit. You can eat well at the Hohenwart pub in Gietlstraße in Obergiesing. Here you can enjoy typical Bavarian food in a cosy atmosphere.
