The origin of both the artificial lake and the beer garden dates back to the early days of the English Garden. Just to the south of the Hirschau and not far from the cafГ©s and shopping streets of Schwabing, the Seehaus offers something that not too many beer gardens do: lakeside seating. Seehaus im Englischen Garten (Kleinhesselohe 3, 80802 Munich). The AumeisterвЂ™s Wirtshaus (inn) serves up fine fare should you need a break from all that Weisswurst and Obatzda. Beyond that, unlike the Chinesischer Turm beer garden to the south, Aumeister feels like youвЂ™ve walked in on an intimate gathering of local beer garden denizens. ThereвЂ™s something special about the quality of the interplay of shade and light at the Aumeister, an X-factor thatвЂ™s hard to pinpoint. You have several options: Take a long, leisurely stroll through the English Garden from the center of town to build up a thirst rent a bike and cycle through the park explore the shops and cafes in Schwabing en route to the English Garden or take the U3 or U6 subway line to Freimann or Studentenstadt and walk the short distance from there. Getting to the Aumeister is half the fun. Some of the HirschauвЂ™s meadows are mowed for hay, and a handful are even home to grazing sheep. In contrast to the southern part of the English Garden closer to the hustle and bustle of MunichвЂ™s city center, the woods and open expanses of the Hirschau feel more like the countryside. You wonвЂ™t be disappointed by this gem in the English GardenвЂ™s northern reaches where the air is fresh and the scenery bucolic. You might be thinking twice about the trek to the outskirts of the city just to relax in a beer garden.

ItвЂ™s late in the afternoon, youвЂ™re tired from seeing the sights and visiting a museum or two. This variegated landscape has left its mark on the beer gardens that dot the English Garden today.ДЄumeister (Sondermeisterstrasse 1, 80939 Munich). Ponds were transformed into small lakes, and the lands of the Hirschau to the north added further expanses of meadows and woodlands. The erstwhile agricultural uses of the park by peacetime military personal gave way to an even greater emphasis on the landscape. ThompsonвЂ™s successors expanded what had become known colloquially as the вЂњEnglischer GartenвЂќ into its current form over the next several decades. (If ThompsonвЂ™s name sounds about as German as high tea, itвЂ™s because he was born in Massachusetts and had served on the Loyalist side in the American Revolutionary War before relocating to Central Europe and taking up a post in the Prince-ElectorвЂ™s administration in 1784.) In the same year, he announced plans to open his hunting preserve to the public, calling upon his new chief military aide, Benjamin Thompson, to establish the new park in the English style of landscape garden popular at the time. In 1789, Prince-Elector Karl Theodor decreed that military gardens should be laid out in each garrison city so that soldiers could engage in farming during peacetime. Larger than New YorkвЂ™s Central Park and LondonвЂ™s Hyde Park, the English Garden was once a hunting ground for the Wittelsbach dynasty. * For more beer gardens to visit, check out вЂњ MunichвЂ™s Beer Gardens East and West of the Isar.вЂќ Alternatively, if youвЂ™re planning on visiting Weihenstephan, Kloster Andechs, or Aying, you can mix and match single-day passes for MunichвЂ™s вЂњInnenraumвЂќ and вЂњGesamtnetzвЂќ (which gets you further afield on S-Bahn and regional train lines).

*Pro tip: If youвЂ™re planning on visiting several breweries and beer gardens in Munich (who isnвЂ™t?), purchase a 3-day pass for MunichвЂ™s вЂњInnenraumвЂќ (в‚¬16.80). Today weвЂ™ll take a stroll through MunichвЂ™s Englischer Garten (English Garden). WeвЂ™ll start with MunichвЂ™s inner public transit zone and move out from there. By the time Oktoberfest rolls around, IвЂ™ll have posted about three or four articles introducing you to well-known beer gardens and hidden gems in and around Munich. If not, check back here over the course of the summer. Where to begin if youвЂ™re a visitor to Munich thirsting after a beer in the shade? If you have a friend who lives in Munich, itвЂ™s easy: just follow your friend. In a city with just shy of 1.5 million inhabitants, that makes for an awful lot of beer gardens dotting MunichвЂ™s neighbourhoods. ItвЂ™s been said that residents of Munich know only three beer gardens: the one around the corner from where they live, the one down the street from their best friend, and the one near where they work or study.

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