Louis and Thérèse
The whole history of Oktoberfest begins with a wedding. In 1810, in October of course, Munich celebrated the wedding of Therese and Louis. She's Saxon, he's Bavarian. She's Protestant, he's Catholic. She is the daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and he is the Crown Prince of Bavaria. On October 12, they are married in the chapel of Munich's Residenz. From the 13th onwards, a series of festivities - most of them public and free of charge - set the Bavarian capital abuzz with operas, plays, balls and much more. On October 17, a major horse race is held at the city gates. In honor of the young bride, the grounds are renamed Theresienwiese (literally "Therese Meadow"). A grandstand was set up for 40,000 spectators, and caterers were hired to provide food and drink. It's hard to imagine that beer was handed out for free in 1810 when you consider the price of a mug of beer today. The event was so successful that it was repeated the following year. Oktoberfest was born.
The irresistible rise of Oktoberfest
More than 200 years later, horse racing has disappeared. The princes are gone. Now, the customer is king. And Oktoberfest still starts in September, but there's no question of changing the name. In the 21st century, the festival is more popular than ever, attracting visitors from the four corners of the globe: while 72% are Bavarians, 9% come from the rest of Germany and 19% from abroad. In all, between 6 and 7 million people come to the Oktoberfest.
Today, 8,000 people are employed year-round to prepare the festival. To this must be added 4,000 temporary workers on Theresienwiese.
The intoxication of the party
The Oktoberfest is the world's biggest folk festival, a sort of gigantic funfair that's full of superlatives. Over an area of 31 hectares, some thirty tents are squeezed together, all fantastically fitted out by major Munich breweries, with all the necessary comforts: electricity, running water. The breweries compete inventively to make their tents as beautiful and welcoming as possible. The tents are erected six weeks before the start of the festivities, and take four weeks to dismantle! All in all, the Theresienwiese seats around 114,000 visitors. In addition to the various tents, there are also entertainment areas and thrill rides: merry-go-rounds, slides, skyfalls, loops and more. The big wheel (Riesenrad) is an integral part of the Oktoberfest image. With 80 of these sensational rides, Oktoberfest can rival the biggest amusement parks.
Oktoberfest is a financial manna. Revenues average one billion euros. A good half of this sum goes to the city of Munich, which levies a fee on the rental of pitches. Getting back to the superlatives, the price of a mug of beer reached a record €10.80 in 2019, and was as high as €11.80 in some tents.
Rituals
Oktoberfest is made up of rituals that perpetuate the festive spirit through the centuries.
The first Saturday of the Oktoberfest sees the triumphal entry of tavern-keepers and brewers onto the Theresienwiese grounds. At the head of the procession is a horse surmounted by a woman dressed in a large black and yellow cape, reminiscent of a monk's habit. She embodies the Münchner Kindl (Munich Child), and anyone familiar with the city's coat of arms will have recognized the reference. Also at the head of the parade, Munich's mayor enters the Theresienwiese in a horse-drawn carriage. Since the 1950s, the mayor of Munich has been responsible for opening the first keg of beer at midday. It takes several short hammer blows to bring out the first drops of beer. When this is done, the mayor declares "O'zapf is" (in standard German, "es ist angezapft": the barrel is tapped). This is always followed by thunderous applause. Traditionally, the first mug of beer goes to Bavaria's Minister-President. A toast and the Oktoberfest can begin.
The next day, the first Sunday of the Oktoberfest, is the traditional costume parade (the Trachten- und Schützenzug). At around 10 a.m., the procession departs from Maximilianstraße and makes its way through the city center to Theresienwiese. Many Munich residents crowd the streets to watch the procession of some 8,000 participants. In a way, it's the Bavarian counterpart to the great parade of Celtic nations at the Festival Interceltique in Lorient: there are musicians, flag bearers and everyone is dressed in traditional costumes.
Oktoberfest has its own national anthem: Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit is an emblematic song of the Oktoberfest, and many people know the words by heart. Music is absolutely inseparable from Oktoberfest: wind bands(Blasmusik) are everywhere, and music is omnipresent.
Tracht
What would the Oktoberfest be without the profusion of traditional costumes on Theresienwiese? While the bouncers at the entrance don't put off jeans-wearers, very few dare to wear them. The vast majority of men wear Lederhose, and the women wear Dirndl. In fact, the Lederhose and jeans have more in common than you might think. Both were created in the late 19th century by men from Bavaria. The Lederhose is said to have been created in 1883 in Bayrisch Zell. The jeans, patented in 1873, were invented by Levi Strauss, born in Buttenheim, Bavaria! The Lederhose is a hard-wearing skin pant. Many people think that it doesn't wash, that it's traditionally a work garment that should thicken and harden over the years, but after a few splashes of beer and tomato sauce, the Lederhose wearer sometimes feels the need for a little cleaning. Brush and scrub hard...
The Lederhose has a few accessories: you can wear leather suspenders and a Charivari : a small silver chain from which small coins or boar's teeth hang. Men wear the charivari on the belt of their Lederhose. Women wear it on the apron of their Dirndl. The nec plus ultra, when wearing a short Lederhose (which leaves the knees visible), is to wear Loferl. Loferl (or Stutzen) are made of wool, but they're not socks: they only cover the shin and calf, leaving the ankles visible. If you want to look your best, leave the sneakers at home and wear real shoes, the Haferlschuhe.
Women wear the Dirndl, an apron-like dress often worn with a blouse or wool-blend. The Dirndl's belt provides information on the wearer's marital status: if the buckle is on the left, Madame is single; if it's on the right, she's not. A loop in the back indicates a widow. And a curl worn front and center means "none of your business". Most of the most popular hairstyles are braided, which is equally suitable for short or long hair. There are several ways to wear your braid: you can wear it as a shoulder braid, or as a crown. Some add accessories or flowers.
Beer and blood on Netflix
What other festival can claim to inspire artists like Oktoberfest? As far back as 1932, German author Ödön von Horváth set his play Kasimir & Karoline in the Munich of the 1929 financial crisis, in the midst of the Oktoberfest. In 2020, Netflix puts the Oktoberfest in the spotlight in a 6-episode series entitled Oktoberfest 1900, known in English as Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood. The series plunges us into fin-de-siècle Munich, with its meticulously-crafted costumes and rather successful sets. While the series doesn't shine in terms of plot or direction (a few too many dispensable special effects), it captures the viewer with the atmosphere it manages to create. We discover crooked and cynical brewers, ready to do anything to get a tent on the famous Theresienwiese. The series has been criticized for tarnishing the image of Oktoberfest, but it would take a lot more than that to damage a festival that attracts millions of people every year.
