Viktualienmarkt

This guide to Munich's Viktualienmarkt centers on the strange fountain of a bronze man balanced on a globe inside a giant metal question mark, a monument to cabaret comedian Karl Valentin. It follows his rise through 1920s Munich cabaret, his nonsense sketches, and his influence on a young Bertolt Brecht. You'll hear about his stage partner Liesl Karlstadt, who has her own fountain nearby, and the sculptor who cast Valentin's likeness from a bronze lion destroyed in the war. Look closely at the masks on the question mark for his most famous characters.