A journey through the history of the Wiesn
It’s the world’s largest folk festival — and the most popular. Every year, Oktoberfest attracts millions of visitors. Once an Oktoberfest goer, always an Oktoberfest goer. But yet very few of us know how it all began or even who we have to thank for Oktoberfest as it is known today. It’s time to change that.
The first Oktoberfest: horse racing for a royal wedding
In the beer tents at the Oktoberfest, the principle still applies today: the customer is king. Nevertheless, it is thanks to a middle-class officer that around six million visitors come together so comfortably every year. Andreas Michael Dall'Armi, a member of the Bavarian National Guard, had the idea of celebrating the wedding of Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria, later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in a different way: with a big horse race. The banker and cavalry major submitted his proposal to King Max I Joseph of Bavaria, who was immediately impressed.
The wedding took place on October 12, 1810 and the official festivities lasted five days. The celebrations in the city center, which were already referred to as a "folk festival" at the time, ended on October 17 with a horse race on a meadow outside the gates of Munich. Children dressed in Bavarian folk costumes paid homage to the royal family with poems, flowers and fruits of the land. The festival meadow was christened "Theresens-Wiese" in honor of the bride. This is still the name of the Oktoberfest site today: "Theresienwiese" - or "the Wiesn" for short in Munich parlance.
Even though there were no beer tents or fairground rides on the Wiesn at the time, this was the birth of the Oktoberfest. Andreas Michael Dall'Armi received the city of Munich's first gold citizens' medal for the "invention" of the Oktoberfest in 1824. His grave can be found in the Old Southern Cemetery and a street in the Neuhausen-Nymphenburg district was named after him.
1819: Oktoberfest becomes a municipal event
In 1810, a year after the wedding celebrations, everyone was in agreement: We want more! Without the royal wedding, the festival naturally needed a new organizer and that became the ‘Landwirtschaftlicher Verein in Bayern’ [Bavarian agricultural association]. The newfound festivities created the perfect opportunity for the association to shine a spotlight on their own wares. As was notorious at the time, one big historical event followed after the other, which is why by 1813 the newly established Oktoberfest already had to be cancelled for the first time on account of the Napoleonic wars. After the war, Oktoberfest was financed privately until the city’s forefathers made the event a top priority in 1819. Even in the uppermost circles, the news had arrived that the Oktoberfest was guaranteed to draw a crowd, and that it would generate a wealth of revenue and should therefore be celebrated annually.
Historical photos of the Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest in the 19th century: Bavaria, milestones, and difficult years
In 1850, there was finally something to celebrate again: the guardian of Oktoberfest and symbolic figure of Bavaria, the Bavaria statue, was unveiled and part of the Hall of Fame was inaugurated. This highlight was immediately followed by another difficult period. Wars and cholera caused many problems, but not a festive atmosphere.
It would take several decades before the hour of a modern-day institution struck, one that, with the best will in the world, is now an integral part of Oktoberfest: in 1881, the "first Hendlbraterei" (chicken rotisserie opened) and the now traditional “Wiesnhendl” was sold to hungry visitors. In the late 19th century, Oktoberfest increasingly developed into the festival we know today.
The Oktoberfest becomes a beer festival
In 1825, the municipal authorities issued a decree limiting the number of Munich beer vendors to 18. At that time, the festival grounds were characterized by the circular arrangement of the 18 wooden beer stalls: the Wirtsbudenring. Starting in 1895, the large breweries began to erect temporary beer halls for around 1,500 visitors. In 1898, Nuremberg festival host (Wiesnwirt) Georg Lang (1866-1904) had the first large beer tent erected on the Theresienwiese. With the help of straw workers, he succeeded in opening his "1. Bayerische Riesenhalle" (“1st Bavarian Giant Hall”) instead of five individual booths outside the Wirtsbudenring. In 1907, the many small stalls in the Wirtsbudenring were replaced by six festival halls belonging to Munich's major breweries. The division of the festival grounds into the current Wirtsbudenstraße and Schaustellerstraße in their present form was first introduced in 1930 as part of the reorganization of the festival by the Munich city administration. The beer halls have since become the symbol of the Wiesn.
Showmen have been at the Wiesn since 1818
The other part of the festival grounds continues to be dominated by the showmen's businesses. In 1818, the first carousel and two swings were set up – a modest offering of general entertainment during the first decades. The 1880s saw the heyday of the German fairground industry and the carousel industry. This laid another foundation stone for the Wiesn as we know it today: a wide range of rides, amusements, show booths, and much more delight young and old alike.
Oktoberfest in the 20th century: ups and downs
It took a while for the historic Oktoberfest to evolve into the festival we know today. On its 100th anniversary in 1910, 12,000 hectoliters of beer were served in the Pschorr-Bräurosl, which was the largest festival tent at the time with 12,000 seats. Every year, new and increasingly exciting rides were added to the Wiesn.
In the first half of the 20th century, the Oktoberfest was canceled several times due to the two world wars and economic crises, or had to be held as a smaller autumn festival. After World War II, the once obligatory horse race only took place again in the anniversary years 1960 and most recently in 2010.
In 1950, Munich's mayor Thomas Wimmer tapped the first beer barrel at Schottenhamel for the first time. In doing so, he set a not very flattering eternal record: with 17 strokes, it was not only the first, but also the “worst” tapping in the history of tapping. Since then, it has been a tradition for the mayor himself to do the tapping. The famous words “Ozapft is” have since achieved cult status. Since 1980, the incumbent Bavarian Minister-President has been presented with the first mug of beer by the mayor.
The assassination attempt of September 26, 1980
On September 26, 1980, a bomb exploded at the main entrance, killing 13 people and injuring over 200 visitors. Among the victims was the assassin himself, Gundolf Köhler. The Oktoberfest bombing is considered one of the worst attacks in German history. The investigation into the case was reopened between 2014 and 2020 and concluded that it was an act of right-wing extremist terrorism aimed at decisively influencing the 1980 federal election.
Ozapft is, brass band music, Oide Wiesn: This is how we celebrate today
Today, Oktoberfest is the largest folk festival in the world, attracting around six million visitors annually. To make the world's largest folk festival even more attractive for families, the “quiet Wiesn” was introduced in 2005. Since then, festival hosts have been required to play party music only after 6 p.m. and to stick to Bavarian brass band music before that time.
The history of the Wiesn has also been revived in a very beautiful way. For the 200th anniversary in 2010, a historical Wiesn was held in the southern part of the Theresienwiese in addition to the “regular” Oktoberfest, to commemorate the history of this festival. In addition to a family-friendly program, there was plenty of culture and even the horse race that started it all. The “Oide Wiesn” was such a success that it has been held every year since then — the locals in particular immediately fell in love with their “Oide.” Only when the Bavarian Central Agricultural Fair takes place every four years does it have to take a break for a year.
