Munich, Germany
Late September 2019
It is no secret that Amy and I adore Germany, so going to Oktoberfest has been high on our list for some time. The fact that it lined up with my 29th birthday just made it all the better.
Oktoberfest originally began as a wedding party for King Ludwig and Maria Therese of Bavaria. The party proved so lavish and so popular that it was demanded again each year by the populace. The King obliged and the tradition of Oktoberfest, or Wiesn (a contraction of Theresewiesen – the meadow it is held in), began. Several hundred years later it is still going strong with a reported 7 million people attending it during the 3 weeks it runs during late September and early October.
At one point during our day, I expressed to Amy that Oktoberfest was one of the rare events that both fully met and exceeded my expectations. It is absolutely what you think it will be like. Raucous tents filled with giant beers and thousands upon thousands of people; loud, brash and joyful brass bands; enormous servings of chicken, ox, pork and sauerkraut; mobs of people singing along to Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond.
It was everything I hoped for and more.
There are many tents you can go to, but the 6 main tents relate to the 6 main breweries of Munich – the only breweries that are allowed to supply beer to Oktoberfest: Hofbrau, Augustiner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Paulaner and Lowenbrau. We managed to get three festzelts done this time: Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, and Lowenbrau.
The party atmosphere begins as soon as you leave your hotel. Every second person seems to be wearing the traditional Bavarian outfits – Lederhosen for the guys and Dirndl for the ladies – although there are an increasing number of women opting for the short-cut lederhosen too.
Stepping off the train to Theresenwiesen, you join countless other groups all converging on the same place – excitement positively fills the air. Upon reaching the Oktoberfest gates, you are met with a carnival atmosphere and simply walk in – it’s completely free.
The festivities begin at noon, when the mayor of Munich taps the first keg with a cry of “O’Zapft Ist!” – which basically means "the keg is tapped!" After this point, beer begins being poured and is swiftly distributed by the invariably busty and stern waitresses.
One bit of trivia is that you don’t call them steins – which everyone seems to. Stein quite literally means stone, and solely refers to a stone mug – which are still available in the Oide Weisn tent. The correct name is a Maß - the end letter than looks like a B is actually a German sharp ss sound. So if you want to fit in, ask for the following: Ein mass bitte?
So, how does one do Oktoberfest?
Step one: pick a tent. Pick the one that looks the fanciest, or the one with the beer you like the most, or the one that’s been recommended. A hot tip is to use the Oktoberfest website which in typical German fashion has a live capacity tracker, so you can see which tents you actually stand a chance of getting a seat in.
Step two: find a table. You can chance it yourself, or what we found worked best was to simply ask a waitress – they know exactly what’s going on in their section so will invariably sort you out. If you’re feeling brave, go up to a spot and ask Ist hir nocht frei? A bit of German goes a long way.
Now it’s time to spend some money – and spend money you will.
Having found a seat; order yourself a beer - promptly pay cash to the waitress, sit back, drink, and talk to whoever is sat around you.
Buy a pretzel, which in the Munich dialect is called a bretz’n. Order a giant plate of perfectly roasted chicken (Hendl), golden potatoes, and well-cooked red cabbage. Sing and dance along, even jump up on the bench if you like – down a Maß in one if you want the entire tent to applaud you. Just don’t stand on the table, lest you get yourself kicked out.
Order another round and wonder where your money went.
There’s no way around the fact the Oktoberfest can cost you a lot. The rough math for the above is as follows:
1x Maß - 10 Euro
1x Hendl - 15 Euro
1x Bretz’n – 5 Euro
Admittedly you get a lot for your money, one Maß is a litre after all, but if you think about the fact you’ll spend 6-12 hours here, and the prices above are just for one person, it becomes pretty obvious that you’ll be spending up a storm – even if you don't consider food later in the day, souvenirs, playing arcade games, transport, water, etc.
Do yourself a favour and just bring cash. Probably 150-200 euros per person – it’s quicker to pay in cash, you’ll probably spend it anyway, and you’ll save on the 5-10 euro fees at the ATM’s on site.
You’ve come all this way to have a one of a kind experience (unless you go again next year…), so don’t cheap out on it.
Oh and make sure you spend a few euros to get a Glupperl which is an Oktoberfest tradition in and of itself. Basically it is a simply decorated wooden peg, with your name burnt in to it. Sounds kind of lame, but everyone has one, so you should too. If you’re so inclined, you can also get a Lebkuchenherzen which are the giant gingerbread love hearts you see most of the girls with.
Anyway. Back to the order of the day.
Our first stop was Augustiner Festzelt, which we entered about 12pm. As it was somewhat early in the day, things were only beginning to pick up, so the tent had a subdued vibe – much to our surprise. We enjoyed a pint of beer and had a good chat to a bunch of Scots that ended up sitting next to us, but to be honest the day started in a rather dull fashion. Feeling restless, we decided to shift tents in search of a better atmosphere.
Moving on, we then upgraded our experience in every way by going to Hacker Festzelt. Much bigger, much grander, and all together more rowdy, this was the place to be. We were kindly welcomed on to a table by a group of young of Germans who we relished the opportunity to speak to auf Deutsch for a few hours, beers in hand. They were altogether confused as to why two Australians spoke German, but they were very complimentary about our attempts and were happy to explain the finer points of Oktoberfest to us. It was fab.
With our adopted Germans leaving some time later, we were then joined by a group of North Americans who were in town on business. This group was rather bewildered by everything so it now fell to us to be the welcoming group and guiding hands. One drink became 3 and all of a sudden everyone was friends – not just our table, but the whole room. People danced on benches together, hugged, sang, and cheered one another. The mood was filled with unfettered joy and excitement.
For lunch we turned to a few Oktoberfest classics: half a roasted chicken, red cabbage, and German macaroni and cheese – Hendl, Blaukraut, and Kaesespaetzle. Ultimate beer food.
I was surprised that we didn’t come across a single Australian the whole day. Perhaps this was because we didn’t head to the Hofbrau tent, which I understand to be an Aussie favourite.
With our tables being reserved for the evening, we had to move on in the late afternoon, so we stumbled over to Lowenbrau to sit in their beer garden. A few more bretz’n and a couple more beers and the afternoon quickly became night. We ended up between a group of North Carolinians and Austrians – so it was a rather quirky table. But good chats were had.
Feeling well and truly greased by this point we wandered about the show grounds. We walked past the Lady of the Meadow, hit the shooting galleries, purchased a whole bunch of roasted almonds, and tried unsuccessfully to sneak in to another tent – which was at 100% capacity.
To be fair though, we had both had it by this point, so happily wandered home after that.
Safe to say I had a rough sleep and a worse morning.
Obviously, I couldn’t recommend Oktoberfest more. It’s grand, it’s fun, it’s joyous and it’s unique.
Why wouldn’t you go? It’d be rude not to.
Plan ahead, bring cash, book a table if you can, try to use some basic German to get by – it goes a long way. Please just remember: always tip your waitress.
JC
"Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit!
OANS! ZWOA! DREI! G'SUFFA!"
Comentários