By jadoerge
Since I've been here in Munich since September and I was not a part of this blog until recently, I feel responsible to share my observations and experiences at the pinacle of Bavarian celebrations: Oktoberfest!
As the smells of leather, beer, sweat, and pretzels fade away, the memories of my first two weeks in Munich linger. Though it might sound ridiculous to us Americans, waking up, throwing on your Lederhosen and Dirndl, and getting in line for a liter of beer at 8:00 in the morning was hardly an uncommon sight here in Munich. Rather than giving a general overview of the celebration, however, I think it might be more pertinent to share some of the more unexpected oddities of this unique tradition.
First up: Italians. Despite the innate German-ness of Oktoberfest, it is, without a doubt, one of the largest concentrations of Italians outside of Italy. On two of my 5 or 6 days at Wiesn (Bavarian for Oktoberfest), I heard 5 Salute for every 1 Prost. A tendency of this particular demographic, seemed to be showing up around 8:30 for the 9:00 opening and drinking about 4-5 liters of beer before lunch and then leaving for a while before returning in the evening. After speaking to a waitress who had clearly had some experience, we simply waited until lunch and sure enough, tables became filled with Germans. However, this is not to say that the locals are particularly happy about this phenomenon, as the second weekend is known as “Italian Weekend” and is when most Bavarians take a break from singing “Ein Prosit.”
Observation #2: the sheer amount of Bavarians who actually wear traditional dress. As hard as it might be to believe, wearing Lederhosen and Dirndl is not only common at Oktoberfest, but is acceptable for any Bavarian formal event (i.e. church, weddings, etc.). However, leave Bavaria in traditional garb (Tracht) and you will most certainly get some strange looks. Despite this, the Bavarians truly treasure their Tracht and will often spend over 300 Euro on a quality pair of Lederhosen to last them decades. Interestingly, second-hand Lederhosen are even more expensive than their newer brethren because the old leather has shown that it will stand the test of time. One of the ways to distinguish Lederhosen quality while at Oktoberfest, is actually to watch someone sweep spilled beer off of their thighs to display the resiliency of the leather. And to answer the question you’ve all been asking yourselves, I did indeed buy traditional dress and wore it every day that we were there. One step closer to being a true local!
Those were just a couple of the small, unexpected quirks of the wonderful celebration known as Oktoberfest. I also had a great time being able to meet some GW Alumni at the International Alumni event that was held there this year and can't wait to come back to celebrate this quirky and wonderful tradition once again!