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On top of their keen mastery of automotive engineering and their lust for all things Hasselhoffian, Germans throw a great party. One fete in particular lays claim to the title of largest and most emulated fair in the world. It is, of course, Oktoberfest: Germany’s nearly 200-year-old excuse to oompah.
The main event, held every year in Munich, has a long tradition of royal honor and drunken Bavarians. The first Oktoberfest took place in 1810, when Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen commemorated their wedding with horse races (this option apparently being slightly more romantic than a matrimonial cock fight). The races were such a success that the people of Munich decided to make it an annual event—and thus, Oktoberfest was born.
The event has taken place every year since, with a handful of exceptions made for the occasional pesky plague or war. Gone are the days when it was simply a Deutschland soiree. It is now an international affair: full of pomp, roast ox tails (a Bavarian delicacy) and inebriated tourists in lederhosen. The horse races are long gone (replaced by roller coasters) but the essential elements remain: traditional music, dancing, various encased meats and the very essence of German life: beer.
Beer is taken very seriously in Germany. In fact, the Beer Purity Law of 1516—decreeing that all beer be made of only the most basic, natural ingredients—now applies to all domestic beer produced in Germany. Such by-the-book brewing rigor results in some of the best beer in the world, often served in liter mugs the size of a Daschund. Each style and brewery has its own interpretation. Some of the basics:
