Luminous canisters, benches made from euro pallets, old carpets and dried out vegetation on the container walls. In general, the remodeled freight containers: It exudes almost post-capitalist flair with a touch of end times à la Mad Max – and that in posh Munich. On the roof of the “Transit Rooftop & Bar” Mad Max would have to drink basil spritz or sip a highball instead of beer. Only Hofbräu Hell is available here, 0.33 for four euros. In addition, Radler and Heineken, both of which do not count as is well known. But the menu offers a lot of spritz: Cosmo, Granato and of course Aperol. The wine list is the longest – the house wine “Transit Wine Weiss” is available for 25 euros a bottle. Or you can grab the bubbly for 120 euros. In case the end time feeling gets out of hand.
On the menu: many spritz variations and other drinks.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
“Rooftop & Bar” here means a container roof with a self-service bar, means sitting between little trees and lots of plants – not all of them are real – on stools and cushions with a view of the Ostbahnhof or the colorful Werksviertel. A major construction site is hammering next door, and they are pulling up an office building there. Space for the next tech start-up, because it’s the Werksviertel, probably Munich’s most innovative construction project on a former industrial site.
The Container Collective in Atelierstrasse plays with industrial charm anyway, and the “Transit” bar is very prominent at the entrance, right behind the “Werksviertel Mitte” logo. She is only three months old, and before that her “rooftop” was part of the “Bar of Bel Air”. You can also recognize it by its “Landmark” – a distinctive, erect container with tiger graffiti and lights flowing along the edges. In general, the amazingly sprayed or taped-up container steel on which the stairs lead up to the bar catches the eye. There it is again, the end times feeling.
A suitable environment for (first) dates
Upstairs everything is less wild, except for the music, but about that in a moment. The guests tend to be in their late twenties or early thirties, often in a casual business look. Looks like a nightcap with colleagues. The second group: couples. Because the bar’s indecisive swaying between the alternative we-plant-trees-on-industrial container touch, cozy cocktail evening and party mood with colored lights creates a suitable environment for (first) dates. Because it doesn’t feel ordinary. Only the prices are quite common in Munich. With an aperitif or wine it jazzes and souls out of the boxes, at least initially. Run from 10 a.m. Seeed then unexpectedly pop with “Ding”, followed by “The Way I Are” by Timbaland and “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado. But it could also be an exception, as friends of the bartender hijack the system that evening.
Located at the entrance to the Container Collective in the Werksviertel behind the Ostbahnhof, the “Transit Rooftop & Bar” has only been around for a few months.
(Photo: Catherina Hess)
Oh yes, always important: the toilets. Of course, housed in a container and with scribbled booths, they look like festival toilets – and they smell like that too. Again more Mad Max. Otherwise there is no inside, “Transit Rooftop & Bar” only has one outside. A roof over the roof protects against rain, nothing protects against the cold, at least not yet. The bar wants to hang up radiant heaters for the coming months, the barman reports. In addition, there should be a club with a DJ desk in the container underneath, so you can really dance. In order to keep the careful listing in the name, it would have to read: “Transit Rooftop & Bar & Club”.