Oktoberfest History
Oktoberfest began when Bavarian Crown Prince Louis, later King Louis I of Bavaria, married Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen in 1810. The Bavarian royalty invited the citizens of Munich to attend the festivities, held on the fields in front of the city gates. These famous public fields were named Theresienwiese - “Therese's fields”, in honor of the crown princess; although locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wies'n." Horse races in the presence of the royal family concluded the event.
The decision to repeat the festivities and the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the annual Oktoberfest, which now begins in mid to late September and lasts until the first Sunday in October. The marriage took place on October 12th, the horse race on October 17th, therefore there are different dates named as being the first Oktoberfest. In 1819, the town fathers of Munich took over festival management. Later, it was lengthened and the date pushed forward. The reason being that the end of September in Bavaria often has very good weather. The high temperature in the first week of Oktoberfest nears 30 °C which stimulates the thirst of the visitors. However, today the last week of Oktoberfest is still in October.
By 1819, the race had been called off, replaced by beer carts and a carnival-like atmosphere. And though Oktoberfest originated as a one-day commemoration, it was thereby extended to 16 days of revelry and heavy drinking. More than 1 million gallons of beer are consumed annually at Oktoberfest.
Since then, the history of Oktoberfest has found itself interrupted only for war, cholera epidemics and the occasional financial hardship. The festival has slowly changed into what one sees today in Munich – the inclusion of traditional music and dress, the special Oktoberfest beer served in one-liter steins, the ceremonial tapping of the first keg – and has turned these 16 days in early autumn into one of Germany’s biggest tourist draws.
In the year 1813, the Oktoberfest was called off as Bavaria was involved in the Napoleonic war. In 1816, carnival booths appeared. The main prizes were silver, porcelain, and jewelry.
Since 1850 the statue of Bavaria has watched the Oktoberfest. The Bavaria statue is a bronze-cast statue of a female figure representing Bavaria 's secular patron saint, the Tellus Bavarica (goddess of the land of Bavaria), located at the border of the Theresienwiese in Munich. This Bavarian patron was first sketched by Leo von Klenze in a classic style and Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler romanticised and "Germanised" the draft. Since the Bavaria is one of the biggest bronze sculptures in the world, it had to be built out of four big parts and several smaller ones.
In 1854, 3,000 residents of Munich succumbed to an epidemic of cholera, so the festival was canceled. Also, in the year 1866, there was no Oktoberfest as Bavaria fought in the Austro-Prussian War. In 1870, the Franco-German war was the reason for cancellation of the festival. In 1873, the festival was once more canceled due to a Cholera epidemic. In the year 1880, the city government approved the sale of beer. The electric light illuminated over 400 booths and tents. In 1881, booths selling bratwursts opened. In 1892, beer was first served in glass mugs. At the end of the 1900's, a re-organization took place. Until then, there were games of skittles, large dance floors, and trees for climbing in the beer booths. They wanted more room for guests and musicians. The booths became beer halls.
In the year 1910, Oktoberfest celebrated its 100th birthday. 120,000 liters of beer were poured. In 1913, the Bräurosl was founded, which was the largest Oktoberfest beer tent of all time, with room for about 12,000 guests (today, the biggest tent is the Hofbräu-Festhalle which holds 10,000).
From 1914 through 1918, World War I prevented the celebration of Oktoberfest. In 1919 and 1920, the two years after the war, Munich celebrated only an "Autumn Fest." In 1923 and 1924, the Oktoberfest was not held due to inflation. In 1933, the Bavarian white and blue flag was replaced with the standard swastika flag.
From 1939 to 1945, due to World War II, no Oktoberfest took place. From 1946 to 1948, after the war, Munich once again celebrated only the "Autumn Fest." The sale of proper Oktoberfest beer was not permitted. The guests had to make do with beer that had an alcohol content under 2%. Since its beginnings the Oktoberfest has thus been canceled 24 times due to war, disease and other emergencies.
Since 1950, there has been a traditional festival opening: A twelve gun salute and the tapping of the first keg of Oktoberfest beer at 12:00 by the current Mayor of Munich with the cry "O'zapft is!" opens the Oktoberfest. The first mayor to tap the keg was Thomas Wimmer.
By 1960, the Oktoberfest had turned into an enormous world-famous festival. The first Japanese, Americans, and New Zealanders discovered the festival and stumbled with beer mugs alongside Bavarians. They spread the word of Munich worldwide. After this foreigners began to picture Germans as wearing the Sennerhut, Lederhosen, and the girls in Dirndl. Horse races ended in 1960.
Especially drunk patrons are often called "Bierleichen" (German for "beercorpses"). They are brought by staff to a medical tent where drunks as well as sick people are treated. To make the Oktoberfest, and especially the beer tents, once again friendly to older people and families, the concept of the "quiet Oktoberfest" was developed in 2005. Until 6:00 PM, the tents only play quiet music, for example traditional wind music. Only after that will Schlager and pop music be played, which has led to more violence in earlier years. The music played in the afternoon is limited to 85 decibels. With these measures, the organizers of the Oktoberfest hope to curb the over-the-top party mentality and preserve the traditional beer tent atmosphere.
The largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany is the Kitchener – Waterloo Oktoberfest in Ontario, Canada (700,000+ visitors). Other cities with large Oktoberfests outside of Germany include Blumenau, Brazil (600,000+ visitors) and Cincinnati, Ohio, (500,000+ visitors).
For California locations, please see our California News section!
Source: Wikipedia