Taking place in the second half of September and early Oktober, the Oktoberfest is world famous for thousands upon thousands of people getting legless in huge beertents. The "fest" has been going on for well over 150 years and lasts for 2 and a half weeks, whereupon about 5 million litres of bier are drunk and it ain't half potent stuff!
My trip there was in September 99 and is an experience that I'll never forget. We arrived on the last Thursday and met up with an old work colleague. The place was buzzing even if the weather wasn't the best. After trying and failing to get served at 2 tents, we ended up in the Lowenbrau tent, whereupon we managed to sit with a load of Germans who'd reserved a table and from then on getting served was no problem.
Important Point 1: You have to order beer from a table, the frauleins won't serve you if you are stood in an aisle, and buying beer from the bar is strictly verboten.
So, the games commenced, the 5%+ beer arrived in 1 litre glasses and we got drunk (very quickly). Food can be purchased & is quite expensive, you're looking at 15dm+ for a half chicken and more if you want the potato & veg. Other stuff is available, such as sausage but by the time you've had a few beers, you won't care about the price or about eating.
We were lucky to get onto this table and the
Germans we were with were very accomadating, especially when we told them we were English. The Lowenbrau tent was excellent, with loads of people in traditional bavarian dress, feisty agressive waitresses, some sort of whipping display (not kinky though) and cheesy Schlager musik hits! At ( I think ) 14dm a liter, the beer isn't cheap, but the atmosphere is well worth it and if you work it out, it's about £2 a pint, so not too bad at all!
Important Point 2: Tipping the waitresses is a good idea, and don't be cheap. There aren't enough waitresses and ordering beer can be a long drawn out process, a healthy tip to start the session could result in better service.
On the Friday, we had arranged a table to be booked for ourselves and a number of others in the "Hippodrom" tent, which I'm reliably informed is THE tent where all the locals go, who am I to argue? The atmosphere was electric. I'll talk about reserving a table later, but there are 2 sessions in the day, 11am - 5pm and 5pm - 10.30pm. The Friday & Saturday are naturally the busiest and the queues to get in were huge, however we were led to our table aand tried to start dancing on the tables BUT, shock horror, the security guards were having none of it. So, we had to sit down, but come 7pm on came the cheesy band, a couple of notes and the whole tent was on its feet, the bouncers were going mad but no one took any notice.
Important Point 3: learn a few cheesy anthems, Wolfgang Petry is your man to look out for (das ist Wahnsinn - one of them I think.) and I'm sure I remember Who the F(*k is Alice, a few times!
Unfortunately, festivities end at 10.30pm unless you can get into the smaler wine tents, and its probably a good job too with the amount of pi$$heads around. A couple of points, we saw very little aggro, try and have a good meal elsewhere before getting in and take lots of money with you!
We took the Saturday easy and went to the funfair section of the fest, which is a mini theme park in itself, with roller coasters, ferris wheels, a bit more than a travelling fair, but not Alton Towers! Rides are priced between 5-10dm (£1.50-3.50)
Accomadation
I was suprised that we got into the local Youth Hostel. There were a lot of people clammering into the Munich tourist buro to get hotels, but it may be worth trying this one. BUT, do book early and if you want to get out and about after the fest, then book into a normal hotel as the YH I was in closed its doors at midnight. Most travel agents / travel websites will detail accomadation, which is naturally more expensive at this time of the year.
Travel
There is an almost direct underground line to the field where the fest is held and these trains are frequent & inexpensive. To get there, follow the people in traditional dress who don't look drunk!
Which tent?
If you're turning up to the fest "on spec," then the best thing to do is get there early in the morning and stand your ground, you will be quickly joined by other visitors who won't be budged and you will be squashed onto your bench without fail. The better tents are the Hippodrom and the Paulaner tents. The Hofbrau-festzelt is where a lot of the tourists go and you won't get the full traditional experience, so depending on what you want will determine your choice. But the main thing is to get into a tent. If you go Monday - Weds, there shouldn't be a problem, however from thurs to Sunday will be difficult and here's where I talk about......
Reserving a table.
If you are determined to go to Munich & have the best time, reserving a table is the main thing. This can be done from January and I can't stress enough how important this is. To do this, you are best writing to a number of addresses, which are at the bottom of this report. The best plan is to do alternate sessions, eg. Thurs a.m., Fri p.m., Saturday p.m. If you can do, write it on company headed paper and tell them you are bringing customers, its better than saying its a stag do etc.
Dresscode
There is no real dress code. If you are organised, hire some traditional costume but they won't turn you away unless you look like a drunken mess.
What to do in Munich
Munich has tons of stuff to do, the Olympia Stadion & BMW Museum are worth a visit. The city centre has a number of nice features and touristy things to do if you're sick of the sight of beer and the hearing cheesy German anthems then it's a nice escape.
To sum up, be organised, expect to spend quite a bit of money, go with an open mind and you'll have the best time. For more info, look on the munich tourist website:
http://www.munich-tourist.de Viel Spass!!! & feel free to ask me any more questions ( and give me a rating too!)
Addresses to write for reservations:------- 1) Hippodrom Gabi und Sepp Krätz Weinstraße 7a D-80333 München "Waldwirtschaft Großhesselohe" Tel: 29 16 46 46 Fax: 29 54 42
2) Armbrustschützen -Festhalle Peter und Peter F.J. Inselkammer Sparkassenstraße 12 D-80331 München "Am Platzl Hotel" Tel: 2 37 03-7 03 Fax: 2 37 03-7 05
3) Hofbräu-Festzelt Günter und Margot Steinberg Innere Wiener Straße 19 D-81667 München "Hofbräukeller" Tel: 44 89 670 Fax: 44 83 587 www.hb-festzelt.de
4) Spatenbräu-Festhalle (Ochsenbraterei) Hermann und Anneliese Haberl Englischer Garten 3 D-80538 München "Restaurant am Chinesischen Turm" Tel: 38 38 73 12 Fax: 38 38 73 40 Email: info@ochsenbraterei.de www.ochsenbraterei.de
5) Fischer-Vroni Anita Schmid und Eva Stadtmüller Konradinstraße 8 D-81543 München "Karl Winter oHG" Tel: 66 10 42 Fax: 65 25 34 ( Büro Mittwoch und Freitag besetzt ) www.fischer-vroni.de
6) Hackerbräu-Festhalle Anton und Christine Roiderer Tölzer Str. 2 D-82064 Straßlach "Gaststätte zum Wildpark" Tel: 0 81 70 / 73 03 Fax: 0 81 70 / 73 85
7) Augustiner-Festhalle Manfred Vollmer Neuhauser Str. 27 D-80331 München "Augustiner Gaststätten" Tel: 231 83-266 Fax: 2 60 53 79
8) Festhalle Schottenhamel Peter und Christian Schottenhamel Uhlandstraße 3 D-80336 München Tel: 54 46 93 10 Fax: 54 46 93 19
9) Pschorrbräu-Festhalle (Bräurosl) Willy und Georg Heide Bahnhofstraße 51 D-82152 Planegg bei München "Heide-Volm Planegg" Tel: 8 57 20 29 Fax: 8 59 70 56
10) Schützen-Festhalle Eduard und Claudia Reinbold Perusastraße 5 D-80333 München Gaststätte "Franziskaner" Tel: 23 18 12 24 Fax: 23 18 12 44
Thank you for your write-up about Oktoberfest, the greatest fiesta in Global Village. "Prost!" Alfred N. Bruckner, Cebu City - Philippines, temporary resident in Munich.
sue.51 05.08.2001 10:47
Brilliant op - somewhere I have always wanted to go to, and never quite got round to - why? To practice my German of course - hic!.
Sue
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Jul 17th, 2001
very helpful by (100%):
