Munich

Think of Munich as the New Orleans of Germany. The comparison has some holes, but it gets you started on the way to understanding the Bavarian capital. Stuck off in the Alps, in the south of West Germany, Bavaria is more frivolous than the rest of this sometimes-intimidating nation, the apt home of mad King Ludwig's fantastic Neuschwanstein Castle, 60 miles from Munich. The Bavarian accent is distinctive, and Munich, with more Roman Catholics and holidays than anywhere else in Germany, also has its famous annual debaucheries: Oktoberfest, originally an engagement party for mad Ludwig's dad, and Fasching, held at the same time - and basically for the same purpose - as Mardi Gras.

If furniture and other home decorations turn you on, don't miss the Art Nouveau in Munich show that opens Sunday at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This stuff is wild! And surprising. And fun. This is a first-ever-anywhere exhibition of the beginnings of what is now known as modern furniture and abstract art. It seems that at the turn of the century, Munich was an influential center of design (not to mention the home of playwright Henrik Ibsen and writer Thomas Mann). But somehow, its enormous contribution to 20th-century decor has been pretty much overlooked in the United States - possibly because for much of the century, given World Wars I and II, we haven't felt all that friendly to Germany.

At times a warm wind from the Mediterranean whips over the Alps and into Bavaria, pushing pillowy white clouds swiftly across a bright sky. The air becomes so clear that snowcapped mountains 50 miles away appear to be just beyond the nearest field. It was that kind of day when we arrived in Munich. The views were spectacular, the air was sparkling clear and bright flowers adorned the public gardens, fountain plazas, open-air stalls and apartment window boxes. Each pleasant spring morning, the cafe owners unchained stacks of white metal tables and moved their businesses into the open air. Soon, throngs crowded the stalls of the outdoor Victualienmarkt to shop for fruit and flowers and to lunch on hot sausage sandwiches and beer.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana arrived in Munich yesterday, where they thrilled a cheering crowd of more than 10,000 when they left their limousine in a city square and shook hands with people behind police barriers. Diana, in a long black dress and black hat, greeted the folks on one side of the square, while Charles, in a gray suit, hobnobbed with people on the other side. The prince, speaking in German at a reception, kidded the local gentry on their claims to the British throne.

Erez Ofer, a 29-year-old Israeli and one of two concertmasters of the Bavarian State Radio Orchestra in Munich, is the new concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He accepted music director Wolfgang Sawallisch's offer to sit in Philadelphia's first violin chair, thus ending the orchestra's two-year search for a concertmaster. Ofer will assume the title of first concertmaster. He will have the primary responsibilities for leading the orchestral string section and taking solos with the section this year, orchestra spokeswoman Mary Loiselle confirmed yesterday morning.

Until the bombing of Libya by American planes, I had thought that the doctrine of moral equivalency was to be applied by the Left only to the Soviet Union, whose foreign policies, it is asserted, differ from our own in minute ways. Now, Sen. Mark Hatfield, R-Ore., appears to be broadening the equation to include Moammar Khadafy's Libya. In a letter to the New York Times (which, to the surprise of many, has been remarkably supportive of the military strike against Libya), Hatfield says the Reagan administration's military response to terrorism has "nothing to do with justice, but instead define(s)

The Barnes Foundation yesterday temporarily withdrew its request to extend the tour of its paintings to two more cities. Foundation president Richard H. Glanton said "it's still remotely possible" that the paintings can be exibited in Munich and Rome, but, "I'm not sure it can happen. " The Foundation had asked Orphans Court in Montgomery County to allow "From Cezanne to Matisse: Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation" to be shown in the two cities. The court, which oversees the will of founder Albert Barnes, must approve any exibition of the foundation's paintings outside its museum in Lower Merion.

ROLLING DOWN Maximillianstrasse in downtown Munich last week aboard a tram stocked with cases of Paulaner Hefe-weizen , a buffet of fatty Bavarian delicacies, an accordion player and a quartet of women in cleavage-enhancing dirndl dresses, my beer-drinking pal, Mark, nudged me and marveled: "Imagine this in Philly. " Dream on. Philadelphia makes a great case as America's best beer-drinking city, but it could be even better. After a weekend at Oktoberfest as a guest of the Paulaner brewery, I'm back with a bunch of ideas lifted from the pros in Munich.

The opening of the 1996 Olympic Games is just 11 days away. As the torch inches closer to the site of the competition in Atlanta, excitement is building by the hour. But not for everybody. For some, like me, who have never really recovered from the awful anguish of the '72 games, tension is increasing faster than athletic anticipation. Each time the Olympics rolls around, my memory goes back to the madness in Munich when nine Israeli athletes and two coaches perished at the hands of Arab guerrillas who used the Olympics to proclaim their malice.

A bomb exploded in a crowded Atlanta park and Swiss Olympian Christine Stueckelberger, along with millions of others, remembered Munich. "This brought memories I've tried very hard not to think about," said Stueckelberger, an equestrian competitor at both these Games and at Munich in 1972. "I saw the acts of terrorism committed against the Israelis. I still can't bring myself to speak about it. " Suddenly, after nearly 24 years, terrorism again threatened to overwhelm an Olympics.

Bayern Munich beat Real Madrid, 3-1, on penalties Wednesday in Madrid to secure its place against Chelsea in the Champions League final. Bayern became the first team to play the final at its home ground after Bastian Schweinsteiger beat goalkeeper Iker Casillas with the final spot kick to reach its second final in three seasons. In the shootout, Manuel Neuer saved from Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to put Bayern on course before counterpart Casillas denied Toni Kroos and Philipp Lahm to drag Madrid back into it. But after Xabi Alonso scored Madrid's first, Sergio Ramos sent his shot high over the bar, and Schweinsteiger sent his shot straight down the middle for the win. Madrid's players left the field with their heads hanging low and some in tears.

Kevin Durant and Chauncey Billups powered the American team into the basketball world championship quarterfinals Monday with a 121-66 victory over Angola in Istanbul, Turkey. With Billups scoring 16 of his 19 points and Durant all of his 17 in the first half, the Americans saved their most impressive performance in Istanbul for the elimination stage, overwhelming the Angolans from the start after a couple of lackluster performances to close the group stage. The U.S. team forced turnovers that led to easy baskets in transition, and when forced into the halfcourt, shot 18 of 38 from three-point range, one off the team record for threes in a world championship game.

Airport needs more frequent trains Re: "Airport needs face-lift," Tuesday: The expansion plan by the Federal Aviation Administration and Philadelphia International Airport is a good one. But rather then expand the number of economy parking spaces, I think it would be "greener" to focus on improving the frequency of SEPTA's R1 rail line. Today, the R1 is a tremendous resource that operates 18 hours a day every half-hour, every day. When you compare frequency of service at many other airports here in the United States and abroad, you will find that we don't match up. The standard worldwide is to run a train every 15 minutes or less.

One might think that it would be hard to love a soccer team that will not take the field until March. A team that has, in fact, not one player signed. But Peter Nowak's affection and pride for Philadelphia's nascent entry into Major League Soccer is unmistakable as the head coach pounds his right fist on the navy blue and gold badge emblazoned on his polo shirt. "That's us," he says, "Philadelphia Union. " Nowak, 45, who also serves as general manager, was lured here precisely by this challenge - to build a team from scratch.

ROLLING DOWN Maximillianstrasse in downtown Munich last week aboard a tram stocked with cases of Paulaner Hefe-weizen , a buffet of fatty Bavarian delicacies, an accordion player and a quartet of women in cleavage-enhancing dirndl dresses, my beer-drinking pal, Mark, nudged me and marveled: "Imagine this in Philly. " Dream on. Philadelphia makes a great case as America's best beer-drinking city, but it could be even better. After a weekend at Oktoberfest as a guest of the Paulaner brewery, I'm back with a bunch of ideas lifted from the pros in Munich.

" The cafes and beer gardens were crowded to suffocation, the theaters put forth their most attractive performances, music and dancing echoed every night from a thousand halls. " - The New York Times, Dec. 7, 1859, describing one of Munich, Germany's, early Oktoberfests THERE IS NOTHING else on the planet like Munich's Oktoberfest. We're talking about 6 million people massed on a 100-acre field over 16 days, for the sole purpose of drinking beer. The party, which begins tomorrow and stretches till Oct. 5, dwarfs anything we have in America - NASCAR, the Kentucky Derby, the parking lot at the Linc an hour before kick-off.

While the rest of the crowd at Villanova's Pavilion mostly focused on the younger men on the basketball court, Hank Nichols sat at the edge of the student section, seven rows up, offering no-nonsense commentary as he kept his eyes on the referees. Great call! He grabbed the rim. It affected the shot. There was nothing subtle about that one. It was a ride job. That was a walk! He moved both feet before he took off. He's so fast, though. Easily missed. The officials working last weekend's Big East men's basketball game between Villanova and Pittsburgh know all about the man critiquing their calls.

There are many high-quality documentaries, feature films and network shows that examine all that has happened in the Middle East. One of the latest, Steven Spielberg's Oscar-nominated Munich, takes us back to the '72 Olympic Games, where 11 Israeli athletes were killed by Palestinian terrorists. He looks at Israel's response to that tragedy. While Munich is a fantastic movie, Universal played a bit of a shell game with the film's DVD release. There are two DVD packages: One has just the movie and a short intro by Spielberg, while the two-disc "limited edition" version has all the goodies.

THE HARDEST thing I ever did was to quit smoking 12 years ago. I'm from the generation where we were not told of any health hazard until we were hooked on the powerful nicotine and tar combination. When faced with quitting smoking or finding less strenuous work, I finally got the message that my body ran better on clean air, just like my car. I can sympathize with those who continue to smoke in spite of all the knowledge we have of the toxic effects. They cough, stink and invite cancer and heart and lung disease.

As a Hebrew-school teacher, I try to make use of popular culture to illuminate issues of Jewish concern, and I try to use current events to launch into explorations of history, both recent and ancient. Steven Spielberg's Munich offers such a "teaching opportunity. " When Time magazine put Spielberg on its cover in advance of the movie's opening, I brought the cover into my 10th-grade classes, mentioning the controversy that was brewing, and elicited class discussion about the 1972 massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Olympics in Munich.