O’zapft is! The 183rd Oktoberfest will take place on the Munich “Theresienwiese” from September 17 until October 3. As an original girl from Munich, I never get tired of telling stories about the biggest folk festival in the world. Here are 10 fun facts about the Oktoberfest or how we call it: „Wiesn“.
Did you know, that…
1. …the bronzed statue of the Bavarian patron Bavaria, situated at the edge of the Oktoberfest outshines Munich‘s girls with its height of 18 meters, its weight of 87 tons and its cup size ZZZZ?
2. …people drank 7.5 million liters of beer last year? That’s equivalent to 53.571 common household bathtubs.
3. …the Lost & Found office of the Oktoberfest collects around 4.000 items every year? They consistently find funny and weird stuff, like a set of teeth almost every year.
4. …the Oktoberfest has its very own, pop-up post office? Here visitors can send postcards and gifts across the globe.
5. …the most played song of the Oktoberfest „Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit“ is not Bavarian but originate from Chemnitz, Saxony?
6. …a Bavarian „Maß“ comprised exactly 1.069 milliliters until the launch of the metric system? From that time on a „Maß“ contains one liter of beer.
7. …the traditional stone mugs were replaced by glass mugs in 1955 to better control the poured amount of beer?
8. …if somebody needs medical attendance, he takes the so called „Wiesn-Taxi“, translated „Oktoberfest cab“? They call it that way, because of the yellow canvas cover, which is pulled over the patient to avoid gaper.
9. …since 2010, the so called „Oide Wiesn“ takes place next to the Oktoberfest? The first „Oide Wiesn“, translated „the old Oktoberfest“, took place on the occasion of the 200th anniversary and is now a popular part of the folk festival, especially for locals. People can dance and celebrate like back then in a cozy atmosphere surrounded by ancient fun rides and traditional beer tents. The nostalgia is replaced by an agricultural festival every four years – like this year.
10. …the oldest showman, the vaudeville theatre „Auf geht’s beim Schichtl“ is part of the Oktoberfest since 1869? In addition to all kinds of oddities the main attraction still is decapitation with the guillotine.
STAY