jonathantuc, Sep 2026
David “Taff” Simon is an exceptional guide!
My wife and I came to Munich with a particular interest in the rise of National Socialism, the events that unfolded in the city during the 1920s and 1930s, and the people who eventually found the courage to resist it. I had done a fair amount of reading beforehand and was looking for considerably more than a conventional sightseeing tour. Taff delivered exactly that.What distinguishes him is the combination of an extraordinary command of the history with an ability to make the geography of Munich itself part of the story. We stood where Hitler and his followers gathered before the Beer Hall Putsch, traced their route through the city, visited places associated with the early Nazi movement, and saw locations connected with the SA, Röhm, Kristallnacht and, ultimately, the resistance that emerged against the regime.Taff continually drew our attention to details we would otherwise have walked straight past—a plaque, an old photograph, the former use of a building, the significance of a particular street corner—and then placed each of them within the much larger historical narrative. Munich ceased to be simply a beautiful reconstructed European city. Layer by layer, the city of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s began to emerge underneath it.Just as importantly, Taff does not simply recite dates and facts. He explains context: the aftermath of the First World War, political instability, hyperinflation, antisemitism, the attraction of extremist movements, and the incremental process by which something once on the political margins became enormously destructive. He is an engaging storyteller, but never at the expense of historical substance.There was also no sense that we were being hurried through a prepared script. Questions led naturally into other subjects, and Taff was perfectly willing to stop, explore them and adjust the tour to our interests. It felt much more like spending several hours walking Munich with an extremely knowledgeable historian who genuinely enjoys sharing what he knows.Perhaps the best measure of the tour is what happened afterwards. Instead of feeling that I had now “done” Nazi-era Munich, I found myself wanting to read more, see more and understand more. Taff had given me a framework into which everything else I was seeing could fit.And somewhere along the way, something else happened: I feel as though I gained a friend.Taff is warm, generous with his knowledge, endlessly interesting and simply great company. By the end of our time together, I wasn't thinking about whether I would take another tour with him. I was thinking about where I could follow him next.I definitely intend to return. There are other places, other stories and other layers of this history that I now want to explore, and I can think of no one I would rather learn them from. Taff possesses a vast store of knowledge, but more importantly, he has the rare ability to make you want to keep learning alongside him.If you have a serious interest in twentieth-century history and want to understand not merely what happened in Munich, but how and where it happened, spend some time with David “Taff” Simon.First rate. And, I hope, until next time.
