The Munich Oktoberfest celebrated a milestone birthday in 2010. The world's most famous festival was created 200 years ago.
The occasion was the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The idea for this festival came from Sergeant Franz Baumgartner and Commander Andreas von Dall'Armi, who organized a horse race on a meadow just outside Munich on 17 October 1810. The terms ‘Oktoberfest’ and ‘Theresienwiese’ go back to the location and the first name of the mistress.
Traditionally, the Oktoberfest is opened by the Lord Mayor of Munich in the ‘Schottenhammel’ festival tent with the tapping of the first barrel of beer, an ‘O'zapft is!’ and twelve gun salutes. A light, bottom-fermented festival beer is brewed especially for the Oktoberfest by Munich's traditional breweries. Compared to the normal ‘Helles’, it has a higher original extract and, at 6%, a higher alcohol content. Because of its lower carbonation, it is particularly pleasant to drink. The unit of measure is the ‘Maß’, which is one litre of beer.
The typical Oktoberfest costume includes the classic dirndl dress, lederhosen and a traditional hat decorated with tufts of chamois hair. 200 years ago, visitors wore the Oktoberfest costume to demonstrate their affiliation with the then-young kingdom, while today the traditional costume is associated more with home and tradition.
More than six million visitors from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the largest folk festival in the world every year. The festival tents can get quite hectic, loud and stuffy, especially in the evenings and on weekends. If you don't have a table reservation, you won't get in at all!
Our tip: visit the ‘Wiesn’ on weekdays between 10 and 11 am and stay until about 4 pm. At this time, good places are still available in the festival tents and the beer can be enjoyed unhurriedly with the pork roast or Wiesn chicken.
