Why’s the Wiesn called Wiesn? And why Oktoberfest?
On October 17th 1810 the first Oktoberfest was opened with a big horse race. This was to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The venue was a meadow which at that time lay on the city outskirts – in honor of the bride it was renamed “Theresienwiese”. This long name became a bit of a mouthful for the Munich residents over time and so Theresienwiese turned into “d’Wiesn” – which incidentally does not come from “den Wiesn” in plural form, as it is singular, but from the Bavarian short form of “die Wiese”.
Although the Wiesn starts in September, it’s called “Oktoberfest” – the start date was moved forward in the course of time.