We are looking forward with great anticipation to September 19, 2026, when the 191st Oktoberfest begins on the Theresienwiese in Munich.
The Oktoberfest in the Bavarian capital, known to every corner of the world, traces back to a horse race held on the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese on October 17, 1810.
The festival grounds, which back then were still called Sendlinger Berg, were chosen due to their natural suitability: they were located outside the city and also featured 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" continuously evolved from a horse race into a public festival featuring climbing trees, bowling alleys, and lottery booths. It was extended in duration and moved forward to the mostly pleasant and warm final days of September before October, thanks to the Indian summer.
The beginnings of the parade are rather practical in nature. Somehow you had to get out to the festival grounds outside the city gates, and going in a convoy was more comfortable. In 1835, there was a traditional costume parade for the first time, held in honor of the silver wedding anniversary of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese.
It has now become one of the highlights, especially for us who participate in it, and always takes place on the first Sunday of the Wiesn. Sculptors Ludwig Schwanthaler and bronze caster Ferdinand von Miller worked on the Bavaria for a long time. After all, the 18.5-meter-high, 1,560-centner (87.36-tonne) bronze lady with the lion is meant to be none other than the patron saint of Bavaria.
Since October 9, 1850, the people of Munich have been toasting to her and happily explaining 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 onwards, guests were provided with food and drink through small beer stalls and the first roast chicken rotisserie. Within a few years, these evolved and were replaced by larger beer halls. Everything that the heart of a Wiesn visitor desired was offered for sale, and the Wirtsbudenstraße as we know it quickly developed.
Under Hitler, it was elevated to the "Greater German Folk Festival." Jewish innkeepers and showmen were banned from the festival grounds, and delegations of the SS and the Hitler Youth accompanied the costume parade. With Thomas Wimmer, the cry "O'zapft is" was heard for the very first time in 1950; back then, he still needed 19 blows for it, which has since decreased significantly.
The record is held by former mayor Christian Ude with 2 blows.
On September 26, 1980, probably the saddest day in the history of the Wiesn occurred. During the Oktoberfest bombing, a bomb exploded at the main entrance at 10:21 PM. 13 people died, including the suspected bomber, and another 211 people were injured. To this day, this case has not been fully resolved. Since December 11, 2014, the case has been reopened by the Federal Prosecutor General.
In its long tradition, Oktoberfest was canceled 26 times:
1813 Napoleonic War
1854 und 1873 Cholera
1866 Austro-Prussian War
1870 Franco-Prussian War
1914 - 1918 First World War
1923 Inflation
1939 - 1945 Second World War
2020, 2021 Corona
Funny facts about the Wiesn include:
The tradition of singing along and swaying was introduced by a Franconian. Georg Lang, a festival tent owner from Nuremberg, secured five beer booth spaces using local front men and erected a festival hall there.
Experienced waitstaff need on average only one and a half seconds to "fill" a one-liter beer mug (Maßkrug).
Letters dropped into the mailboxes set up at Oktoberfest are stamped with a special postal cancellation mark. They are coveted collector's items.
An attraction that cannot be found at other folk festivals is the flea circus. It has been at the Wiesn since 1948, and a "crew" of about 60 fleas delights children above all.
A laborer during the setup of the Wiesn was Albert Einstein. As a temporary helper in his family's electrical company, Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie, he screwed in light bulbs in the Schottenhamel festival tent.
Since 2009, the Theresienwiese has been fenced off during the setup and teardown of the festival. The city of Munich wants to avoid liability claims in the event that visitors have accidents at the construction site.
From balloon vendors to roller coasters, business owners' insurance sums range from a few tens of thousands of euros to ten million euros.
"Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit" originates—depending on the source—from the pen of a man from Chemnitz named Bernhard Dittrich or the Bremen journalist Georg Kunoth.
If you look at today's Wiesn visitors, traditional attire has become an absolute must! Nearly every single one of the 6 million visitors wears either a Dirndl or Lederhosen. That wasn't always the case, even though traditional wear already transformed from working attire into festive wear back in the 1930s. This happened because women from the city visiting the countryside for their summer retreat would have a Dirndl tailored for themselves—anyone who was anyone did so. A woman of the world wore a dress!
Today, the rule is: Traditional fashion is style—just as much as a sense of tradition, a feeling of belonging, a lifestyle, but also simply an emotion! And at the Wiesn, you can find it in all styles. With a timeless Dirndl or a hearty, authentic pair of Lederhosen, you can never go wrong.
Are you still looking for your personal traditional outfit?
We are happy to help you with your selection and look forward to your visit!