How Oktoberfest got started in Germany
I remember my first trip to Bavaria to see the famous Oktoberfest celebration (ah 2018 was a simpler time). Of course I didn’t realize it at the time that this trip would change the course of my life and five years later I now live in Europe, but that’s a story for a different time.
Looking back, I knew very little about the origins of Oktoberfest and what made it so special, and I wanted to know how it evolved into the world’s largest beer festival that draws in over a billion Euros into the Munich economy.
A Brief History of Bavaria
The Coat of Arms of Bavaria
Well to understand, it’s important to know that the origins of Oktoberfest are Bavarian. In fact, a lot of the things that outsiders like me associate with Germany are actually Bavarian like Lederhosen, Dirndls and these cool alpine hats. Bavaria is Germany’s largest state, in the south of the country. It shares an Alpine border, along with some culture, with Austria. Bavarians have their own unique language, culture, food and traditions.
Locals in this region have been growing hops for over 1,000 years, or as long as Bavaria has been around. This helps explain why over half of all breweries in Germany are located here. In those early times, beer was even more popular than it is today. From the 11th century, Monks and Nuns began brewing beer in monasteries. In fact, Munich’s oldest independent brewery, Augustiner-Bräu, originated from the Augustianian Monastery located just outside the city walls in 1328.
Beer Purity Order
Duke of Bavaria Albert IV (Ruled 1467-1508)
Keep in mind that sanitation at breweries in the 1400s is not at all like what we have today. Brewers would adulterate their beer to mask off-flavors with things like wood chips and even poisonous ingredients that could end up making people very sick. Because of this, and a few other reasons that we will get into later, the Duke of Munich codified that Hops, Barley and Water were the only ingredients that could be used to make beer. By 1516 this had evolved into the Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Order, and was adopted across Bavaria.
The other part to this Order was to help limit the profits that breweries and taverns could charge for beer which also made it easier for the government to tax since the price was fixed. Another effect of the law is that it left more wheat available for bakers and helped to improve price stability.
The Fourth Ingredient
If you were counting closely, you may have noticed that the Order is missing one more ingredient required to make beer, yeast. People didn’t realize it at the time, but the yeast that was naturally on the grain was the mechanism for fermentation, turning the watery Barley cocktail into delicious beer. Contrary to what some might think, the Reinheitsgebot has been modified several times, adding other ingredients like yeast, wheat, caraway, juniper and salt to the list. These changes allowed brewers to produce other compliant beers like Hefeweizen and Gose.
Bavarian Beer Riots
By now you might be noticing that Bavarians take their beer pretty seriously, which is one of the reasons that when the King issued a decree in 1844 which increased the price of beer, people didn’t take it very well. It began five days of what became known as the Beer Riots in Munich. The unrest spread across the rest of Bavaria and caused damage to many shops, government offices and 33 breweries.
In order to quell the unrest and restore peace, the order was rescinded, bringing down the price of beer, but the damage was done. Mind you, it was only an 8% increase in the price of beer, but this poorly-timed tax along with other social issues at the time, boiled over into rioting and months of turmoil.
The First Oktoberfest
Royal Kronprinz Ludwig I of Bavaria
Even though the people were upset with the King, they do have him to thank for the original Oktoberfest. Thirty years earlier in 1810, a young Kronprinz Ludwig of Bavaria was to marry Princess Therese.
Ludwig’s father, King Maximilian wanted the celebration to be one of the history books, with festivities across Munich, from Marienplatz to Neuhauser Straße. To make sure there were enough drinks to go around, Prince Ludwig commissioned Joseph Pschorr and other brewers in Munich to make over 23,000 liters of beer.
The week of festivities peaked with a horse race which took place on the meadow outside the city gates. This land was donated by Herr Pschorr himself and was later renamed by King Max to Theresienwiese, or Teresa’s Meadow. Even though the celebration was over, the Bavarian Agricultural Association decided to hold another festival at the same time the following year and celebrate their farming achievements.
Evolution of the Festival
A few years later, in 1816, the first carnival rides began to appear at Oktoberfest, a tradition that continues to this day. The start of the festival was moved up to September to take advantage of better weather. Over the years, more improvements like adding electric lights in 1880 and moving to the now famous glass Maß beer mug being of note. Lederhosen and Dirndls were adopted as the official dress of Oktoberfest in the 1960s. Eventually the organizers stopped hosting the horse race at Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest Cancellations
| Cancellations | |
|---|---|
| 1813 | War with Napolean Empire |
| 1854 | Cholera Outbreak |
| 1866 | Austro-Prussian War |
| 1877 | Cholera Outbreak |
| 1914-1918 | World War I |
| 1923-1924 | Hyperinflation |
| 1939-1945 | World War II |
| 1946-1948 | "Autumn Festival" |
| 2020-2021 | COVID Pandemic |
Despite the marketing from organizers about the festival being over 200 years old, there haven’t actually been 200 Oktoberfests.
In fact it has been canceled many times, including just three years after it got started when war with the Napoleon Empire put a damper on the party.
It was canceled several times during the 1800s due to cholera and other outbreaks and various conflicts. During WWII, Oktoberfest was canceled, and it didn’t come back until 1946 as an ‘Autumn Festival’ that only served lower alcohol beer. Oktoberfest only came back in 1949 and wasn’t canceled again until 2020.
Breweries of Oktoberfest
Not just any brewery is allowed to be part of Oktoberfest. The regulations require that beer come from breweries located inside of Munich city limits. The beer served at Wiesn is from the Club of Munich Brewers which include the following beer makers.
As I mentioned earlier, Augustiener-bräu is Munich’s oldest, and still Independent, brewery. The Augustinian monks also brewed beer for the Bavarian Royal family until 1589, when they were replaced by Hofbräu, but more on them in a second. From my own experience, Augustiner seems to be the most popular of the Munich breweries with locals.
Löwenbräu
Löwenbräu or Lion’s Brew, is Munich’s second oldest brewery, getting their start in 1383. Their logo is a Lion, and they even have an animatronic Lion greeting guests outside their tent at Oktoberfest. If you are from the States you might be familiar with this brand as they licensed their brand name to be brewed in North America. They have been serving Beer at Oktoberfest ever since the first and they are now owned by AB InBev.
Spatenbräu
Spatenbräu is the next oldest surviving Munich brewery, which was started in 1397. Spaten means ‘spade’ and their logo is of a shovel used in the brewing process. They are credited with replacing the darker Märzen style beer with a lighter golden lager that we see at Oktoberfest today. They bought Löwenbräu in the 90s and are now owned by AB InBev.
Hacker-Pschorr
The Hacker brewery was started in 1417 and later merged with another brewery to become Hacker-Pschorr. As we learned earlier, Joseph Pschorr was involved in brewing beer for the very first Oktoberfest. This fact somehow makes it even more sad when you learn that they no longer have a brewery of their own. All beers with the Hacker-Pschorr label are now brewed by their parent company, Paulaner.
Hofbräu
Hofbräu was started in 1589 by the Duke of Bavaria. Hofbräu literally means Royal Brewery in English, hence why their logo features a crown. As I mentioned before, 1589 was also the last year that the royals got their beer from Augustiner-bräu. Hofbräu runs the most famous beer hall in Munich, visited by millions of beer drinkers every year. The beer hall was used as headquarters of the National Socialist Party in 1920s Germany. Today, Hofbräu is owned by the Bavarian State Government.
Paulaner
The last brewery we are going to talk about is Paulaner, which was started by Minim friars in 1634. They first started serving beer on the Wiesn in 1818, and by 1881, Paulaner was able to brew their beer year-round with the use of an early ice machine. Today it brews 13 different beers and is part-owned by Heineken.
Oktoberfest Festbier
All the beer made for Oktoberfest is pretty similar, but there are differences. For example, Hacker-Pschorr is the weakest at 5.8% ABV, and Hofbräu is the strongest at 6.3%. Augustiner is the only brewery still to serve beer from barrels, which when I saw this for the first time, was simply amazing.
The beer at Wiesn is all a Festbier style, which I haven’t found anything similar outside of Munich. If you’ve ever had an “Oktoberfest-Style” beer then just know that it is probably nothing like the real thing. The ones I have tried over the years are usually too dark, malty, and sometimes they aren’t even lagers.
Today’s Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest today has grown to become the most iconic beer festival in the world that attracts 6 million visitors to Munich each year and drives over a billion euros into the local economy.
Most of those visitors are from Bavaria, making up 70% of the guests, with another 10% from other German states. The remaining 20% are forgien visitors with the top countries represented being Italy, the USA, Austria, the UK and Ireland.
In the 1970s the first ‘Gay Days’ at Oktoberfest was organized by the Munich Lowenclub or ‘Lions Club’. It now takes place on the first Sunday of Oktoberfest and it is the second biggest annual gay event in Munich after Pride.
During Wiesn you will see a lot of traditional Bavarian clothing. Despite the origins of Lederhosen being used for work and hunting, these clothes have regained popularity and I’ve seen Germans wearing Lederhosen throughout the year.
The Dirndl is a traditional dress that women would wear on farms throughout Bavaria and Austria during the 19th century. While the dress is still popular at Wiesen, it’s also pretty common to see women wearing Lederhosen as well. I mean let’s be real, you can’t go wrong with Bavarian fashion.
Besides the beer tents, there are carnival rides and games for kids and adults, plenty of delicious food and different tents that cater to everyone. Oktoberfest is open to everyone and there are no tickets to enter the Wiesn, however the larger tents do take table reservations. If you can’t find a table inside, check the Biergartens outside the tents, I haven’t had an issue finding a spot, unless you come at peak times. Otherwise try to get there early or check out a smaller tent. Once you do make your way inside a tent, you will need to find a seat if you want to order a beer. Most of the hosts you see serving tables signed up to work at Oktoberfest months or years in advance. They have to lug around up to 40kg of beer to keep the party going and tips are very much appreciated.
Food at Oktoberfest
Being a vegetarian, I was worried I might not be able to find anything to eat. Happily that wasn’t the case. The tents offer a variety of hearty dishes with veggie and vegan options so everyone can enjoy some grub with their beer. You will also see servers walk through the Beer Hall selling smaller items including baked goods like Bavarian Pretzels should you want a snack. If you get to a tent earlier in the morning, they even serve Weißwurst or White Breakfast Sausage, which I am told is paired with a cloudy Weißbier.
If you can’t find what you want inside the tents, there are additional food and beverage booths on the main thoroughfares. But try to check out as many of the major tents if you can, because each has their own unique theme and atmosphere. One of my favorite parts of the tent are the live bands playing traditional Bavarian songs on instruments like accordions, tubas and trumpets. You will hear the band play some catchy old drinking songs, but don’t worry too much if you can’t understand the lyrics. I was struggling to figure out why I couldn’t make out the words, until I realized like everything here, they were in Bavarian, not German. Either way, it’s still a lot of fun to sing along with your table.
Later in the night, the bands will begin transitioning to more modern pop music, which sounds both bizarre and incredibly catchy at the same time. Some of the more party tents like Hacker Pschörr you will see lots of dancing, which is permitted in the halls as long as you don’t dance on the table, they do not like that.
If you plan on spending many hours at Wiesn but don’t want to get too drunk or as the locals say “Die Bierleichen” then you can order a Radler, which is half beer, half lemonade. Or if that’s too sweet for your taste, try at Saures Radler, which is half beer, half sparkling water. While that sounds pretty unappealing, I’ve had them before and I can report they were quite refreshing. Also if beer isn’t your thing, there are wine and liquor tents as well, but I’ve never been to them myself.
Other Oktoberfests
If you aren’t able to make it to Munich, there are similar style events all across the world. I remember a few years ago, before I ever went to Munich, I went to the Baden Baden Oktoberfest on a trip to Sao Paulo. This Brazilian Oktoberfest took place in the mountains in a town called Campos do Jordão. They had delicious beer served in custom ceramic mugs, Bavarian food and live music and dancing. To top it all off this town looked so much like an Alpine Village I had to do a double take. It was a lot of fun, but it was nothing like the one in Munich.
My First Oktoberfest
First of all, I was blown away by just how many people were on the Wiesn at 11:30 in the morning on a weekday. Of course this was before I learned just how much vacation Europeans get. No joke, I've heard people take two weeks off to go to Wiesn every day. I would say that’s an urban legend, but I’ve seen the drinking teams practicing at the Biergarten Viktualienmarkt in Munich. Anyway, we sit down at a table in the Löwenbräu tent and it feels like we are in the middle of a living thing. The music, singing and feeling you get from being surrounded by that much energy is unforgettable.
After our reservation was over, we went out to find a spot at the biergarten outside of the Augustiner tent. I remember meeting incredible people over the next two days which for me is really what makes Wiesen so special. It's a celebration that brings everyone together. It’s an experience that you get to share with your new friends from all over the world. It’s a special place that only exists for a few weeks each year and then it’s gone.
Don’t Miss It
Maybe if you are from Munich you are used to this, and you may not think that it is anything too special. But for outsiders, it’s a glimpse into a different world. A delicious world filled with cold beer and incredible people. If you’ve ever said that you want to make it to an Oktoberfest, I say don’t wait. Move it up to the top of your list. Just don’t be surprised if you fall in love with this place and never want to leave. I’m serious, you’ve been warned.
Let me know if I missed your favorite part of Oktoberfest or its history.