Munich - Municipality System
Although central Munich (Landkreis München) is theoretically divided into municipalities, most people will refer to where they live and where they work by the name of the nearest U-Bahn or S-Bahn station instead of the municipality. The Munchners' dislike of referring to municipalities also extends to official documents such as the telephone book, which only includes the street name and number in the address details, not the name of the municipality. (This can make finding a supermarket/hairdresser/gym/school near you quite a difficult task, as you have to cross-reference all the addresses you find in the phone book with a detailed street map, rather than a large city overview of the suburbs' names.)
Within central Munich, the city is divided into 25 separate municipalities. These are numbered similarly to Paris, starting at 1 in the centre and spiraling out anticlockwise:
1 Altstadt - Lehel
2 Ludwigvorstadt - Isarvorstadt
3 Maxvorstadt
4 Schwabing - West
5 Au - Haidhausen
6 Sendling
7 Sendling - Westpark
8 Schwanthalerhöhe
9 Neuhausen - Nymphenburg
10 Moosach
11 Milbertshofen - Am Hart
12 Schwabing - Freimann
13 Bogenhausen
14 Berg am Laim
15 Trudering - Riem
16 Ramersdorf - Perlach
17 Obergiesing
18 Untergiesing - Harlaching
19 Thalkirchen - Obersendling - Forstenried - Fürstenried - Solln
20 Hadern
21 Pasing - Obermenzing
22 Aubing - Lochhausen - Langwied
23 Allach - Untermenzing
24 Feldmoching - Hasenbergl
25 Laim
If you live further out on the S-Bahn line, your municipality may very well be named after the station name. Double-check the road signs as you enter your town to see what Landkreis (municipality) you belong to.
Because they all fall under the City of Munich umbrella, public services are the same. Although the postcodes differ (and are NOT the numbers shown above), you always write "München", rather than the suburb name, when addressing letters. There are no regional restrictions on the choice of school you send your children to.
All administration including obtaining a residence permit, registering with the police, registering your car, etc will be done at your local municipal centre, rather than in the city centre.
