We look forward with great anticipation to September 20, 2025, when the 190th Oktoberfest begins on the Theresienwiese in Munich.
The Oktoberfest in the Bavarian capital, which is known all over the world, goes back to a horse race that was held to celebrate the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on October 17, 1810.
The festival site, which was still called Sendlinger Berg at the time, was chosen due to its natural suitability, it was located outside the city and also had a hill that could be used perfectly as a grandstand. It was renamed “Theresienwiese” in honor of the bride. Over the course of the 19th century, the “Wiesn” evolved from a horse race to a folk festival with climbing trees, bowling alleys and lottery booths. It was extended in time and brought forward to the last days of September, when it is usually nice and warm due to the Indian summer.
The beginnings of the procession are more of a practical nature. Somehow you have to get out to the festival meadow at the gates of the city, it was more comfortable in a convoy. In 1835, the first traditional costume parade was held in honor of the silver wedding anniversary of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese. It is now one of the highlights, especially for those of us who take part, and always takes place on the first Sunday of the Wiesn.
The sculptors Ludwig Schwanthaler and arch-caster Ferdinand von Miller worked on the Bavaria for a long time. After all, the 18.5 meter high, 1560 hundredweight (87.36 tons) bronze lady with the lion was to become none other than the patron saint of Bavaria. Since October 9, 1850, the people of Munich have been toasting her and are happy to explain to every American that this is not a copy of the Statue of Liberty. The Bavaria is older and wiser than the Statue of Liberty.
From 1880, small beer stalls and the first chicken roasting house catered for the guests. These developed within a few years and were replaced by larger beer halls. Everything the Wiesn visitor's heart desired was on offer and the “Wirtsbudenstraße” that we know today quickly developed.
Under Hitler, it was launched as the “Greater German Folk Festival”. The Jewish innkeepers and owmen were banned from the festival grounds and delegations from the SS and HJ accompanied the traditional costume parade.
Thomas Wimmer was the very first to say “O'zapft is” in 1950, back then he still needed 19 strokes for it, which has since been significantly reduced. The record is 2 strokes by former mayor Christian Ude.
September 26, 1980 was probably the saddest day in Oktoberfest history. A bomb exploded at 10:21pm at the main entrance to the Oktoberfest. 13 people died, including the suspected assassin, and a further 211 people were injured. To this day, the case has not been solved. Since December 11, 2014, the case has been reopened by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.
In its long tradition, the Oktoberfest has been canceled 26 times:
1813 Napoleonic war
1854 and 1873 Cholera
1866 Prussian - Austrian War
1870 German - French War
1914 - 1918 First World War
1923 Inflation
1939 - 1945 Second World War
2020 - 2021 Corona
Fun facts about the Wiesn:
- The tradition of singing along and swaying was introduced by a Franconian. Georg Lang, a landlord from Nuremberg, secured five beer stalls with the help of local straw men and built a festival hall on top of them.
- Experienced barmen only needed an average of one and a half seconds to “fill” a beer mug.
- Letters placed in the letterboxes set up at the Oktoberfest are stamped with a special postmark. They are coveted collector's items.
- An attraction not found at other folk festivals is the flea circus. It has been at the Wiesn since 1948 and a “team” of around 60 fleas especially delights the children.
- Albert Einstein was an unskilled worker in setting up the Wiesn. As a temporary worker in the family-owned electrical company Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, he turned on light bulbs in the Schottenhamel tent.
- Since 2009, the Theresienwiese has been cordoned off during the construction and dismantling of the festival. The city of Munich wants to avoid liability claims in the event that visitors have an accident at the construction site.
- From balloon vendors to rollercoasters, the sums insured by contractors range from a few tens of thousands of euros to tens of millions of euros.
- Depending on the source, “Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit” was written by Bernhard Dittrich from Chemnitz or the Bremen journalist Georg Kunoth.
If you look at today's Oktoberfest visitors, it's hard to imagine life without traditional costume! Almost every one of the 6 million visitors wears either a dirndl or lederhosen. This was not always the case, even though the traditional costume changed from a working garment to a festival garment as early as the 1930s. City dwellers went to the countryside for a summer retreat and had a dirndl tailored for them. The lady of the world wore a dress!
Today: traditional costume is fashion - just like a sense of tradition, a sense of belonging, lifestyle, but also simply a feeling! And at the Wiesn you can find it in all styles. You'll never be out of place in a timeless dirndl or traditional, genuine lederhosen.
Are you still looking for your personal traditional costume?
We will be happy to help you choose and look forward to your visit!