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Hangenham is a small village. North of Munich and east of Freising. We loved living there! It is a beautiful place, and we were all enchanted by it. The village has been a village for a very long time (at least by American standards). There is a small sign next to the main road which commemorates Hangenham's 1,200th year anniversary in 1979. There are probably about 50 families living there now, although I haven't got any official numbers. As is usually the case in Germany, most of the houses are multi-family dwellings which makes it hard to guess the population based on the number of addresses. There are also a few working farms, a cattle handling operation and some sort of a builing materials storage yard. Hangenham has a simple, pleasant guest house called the Schranner. The food is tasty and there's a great back porch that looks out over the ridge. It has a beautiful view of the Isar River down below and the large flat plain that stretches toward Munich in the south. On clear days, when the weather is right (a condition called Föhn locally), the snow capped peaks of the Alps can be easily seen along the horizon.

There is also a small and unique church. The little hill that the church sits atop is the highest spot in the village. Services are still held here occassionally and the ancient fresco above the altar is fascinating. There's a small cemetery in the church yard. Anika and I like to read the family names and look for the oldest dates. In the late winter there's often a thick frost in the morning. The top of the church steps is a favorite spot for looking out over the crystal coated treetops. But, actually, even Frau Filser's clothes line is pretty interesting when the frost is really thick.

The largest city near Hangenham is Freising. That's good luck for us because Freising is a very enjoyable little city. The downtown is lined with small shops and petite houses, and looking over the lot are the landmark twin towers of the Freising cathedral. The University of Weihenstephan is located not far from the city center. Maybe it is all those Landscape Architecture and Brewery Science students that give Freising its special flare.		Freisng has a fair share of Breweries as well. Two venerable old institutions are the Hofbräuhaus Freising and the Weihenstephan Brewery. Which is older and which is better can be the source of long discussions. We've also found a micro-brewery that is not unlike one that we used to frequent in Columbus (although the menu is considerably different). Far more numerous than breweries are bakeries. Great bakeries are everywhere. I've read that Germans have the highest bread consumption per capita in Europe. Small wonder when you are constantly tempted by the smell of fresh baked rolls wafting out of bakery doors...
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