Munich, Schickeria
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
One of the favourite pasttimes of our medieval ancestors has been, as everybody knows, laying siege to each others castle over the most petty of reasons. Munich is one of the few places in the world where this old custom has survived and is still practiced every weekend in front of discos and clubs. The local scene of people who enjoy this game is called the "Schickeria". The local scene of people who don't enjoy it consist almost only of people who lack the looks, style or the Porsche to stand a chance in it.
The usual way to spend a friday evening in Munich is to start at maybe 20.00h for a mexican bar like "Sausalitos" or "Enchiladas", just to find out that you should have reserved 2 months in advance, or at least arrived 3 hours earlier. After you spent the next few hours standing at the bar, drinking your pitcher of frozen Maguerita or Whisky (a tumbler filled to the rim, the only way to keep the barkeeper from filling it up with ice is to throw horrendous threats at him) , you may feel ready for the next stage, which is driving to one of the classic "Schickeria"-Clubs. Recommended are the P1, Atomic Cafe, Parkcafe or Sugar Shack.
Each of them is located in a stout, impregnable building somewhere in Munich, announced only by a small sign over the easily defended doors and a huge mass of people, queueing more or less politely (from a british point of view *definitly* less). In front of the door (sometimes inside) stands a man with shoulders like an ox (which usually is not the only resemblance), a piercing, disapproving look and the ability to pronounce "no" in over 20 different languages. If you happen to add yourself to the end of the queue at about midnight, do not expect to reach the front earlier than by half past one...for some obscure reason it takes the man about five minutes from one "no" to the next one, apparently to recover from this exhaustive piece of work. Here is where you tell the experienced player from the amateur, for the latter quite often tries to start an argument which he has no chance of winning, hereby delaying the processing of the queue even more. Just shrug it off, and go to the next Club!
But do not be surprised of what you will find if you really got looked at and finally let in by this ox (with a sighing grunt that shows the feeling of deep regret and utter failiure in his job).
Be sure to expect loud music, huge rooms, no real decoration and maybe a handful bored people in each corner, staring into the air without any clue what to do now that they are inside. Most of the time, winning isn't part of the game - it is the end of it. This profound lack of customers has a desaterous impact on the prices at the bar...don't think you will find any cocktails under 30,- DM or a glass of water under 10,- DM.
When you are, at last, fed up with all this you may start your quest for an open McDonalds or Burger King restaurant at 3 in the night, which is still another story...
The usual way to spend a friday evening in Munich is to start at maybe 20.00h for a mexican bar like "Sausalitos" or "Enchiladas", just to find out that you should have reserved 2 months in advance, or at least arrived 3 hours earlier. After you spent the next few hours standing at the bar, drinking your pitcher of frozen Maguerita or Whisky (a tumbler filled to the rim, the only way to keep the barkeeper from filling it up with ice is to throw horrendous threats at him) , you may feel ready for the next stage, which is driving to one of the classic "Schickeria"-Clubs. Recommended are the P1, Atomic Cafe, Parkcafe or Sugar Shack.
Each of them is located in a stout, impregnable building somewhere in Munich, announced only by a small sign over the easily defended doors and a huge mass of people, queueing more or less politely (from a british point of view *definitly* less). In front of the door (sometimes inside) stands a man with shoulders like an ox (which usually is not the only resemblance), a piercing, disapproving look and the ability to pronounce "no" in over 20 different languages. If you happen to add yourself to the end of the queue at about midnight, do not expect to reach the front earlier than by half past one...for some obscure reason it takes the man about five minutes from one "no" to the next one, apparently to recover from this exhaustive piece of work. Here is where you tell the experienced player from the amateur, for the latter quite often tries to start an argument which he has no chance of winning, hereby delaying the processing of the queue even more. Just shrug it off, and go to the next Club!
But do not be surprised of what you will find if you really got looked at and finally let in by this ox (with a sighing grunt that shows the feeling of deep regret and utter failiure in his job).
Be sure to expect loud music, huge rooms, no real decoration and maybe a handful bored people in each corner, staring into the air without any clue what to do now that they are inside. Most of the time, winning isn't part of the game - it is the end of it. This profound lack of customers has a desaterous impact on the prices at the bar...don't think you will find any cocktails under 30,- DM or a glass of water under 10,- DM.
When you are, at last, fed up with all this you may start your quest for an open McDonalds or Burger King restaurant at 3 in the night, which is still another story...
