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Munich’s Oktoberfest, the world’s largest folk festival, is canceled this year due to the corona pandemic. However, the celebration is still going on, not in Theresienwiese with up to six million guests as usual, but in more than 50 restaurants. The alternative event is called “WirtshausWiesn”. In the real “Wiesn” he remained quiet on Saturday morning, at the time of the traditional first draft of the beer keg. No wonder: the prohibition of alcohol should prevent wild parties and therefore reduce the risk of infection.
But on Saturday at 12 o’clock it was said in many taverns in the city “Ozapft is!” Former Munich mayor Christian Ude (SPD), then tap king, stabbed the Schillerbräu in the Bahnhofsviertel – with two blows – and “a handful more,” he admitted. The tap was not seated properly, a pool of beer formed on the floor. After the first two blows, he added another six as a precaution. Most recently, Ude tapped in 2013 with two taps. He was the first Munich mayor in Oktoberfest history to do so.
Maybe it was the cannon and the special circumstances that Ude had to look up to. This Saturday it was quite small at 20 liters (the traditional Oktoberfest “Hirschen” has over 200), but it was “freshly shaken”, as Ude put it. It settled in shortly before tapping; in the real Oktoberfest this happens the day before, the barrel no longer moves. Current Mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD), whose job would have actually been the first tap, is not celebrating today. You will think a bit longingly about tapping, but you have not planned any alternatives. He asked everyone who wanted to celebrate anyway to abide by the rules of the crown, Reiter said.
Like the first time, in 1810
The innkeepers at the center want to create at least a party atmosphere before October 4. In the restaurants there is original Oktoberfest beer, chicken, Haxn, Brezn and sometimes live brass music. Numerous Oktoberfest attractions have already been in operation throughout the city for weeks. With this light ready-to-use version, Munich’s gastronomy has continued since the first Oktoberfest in 1810. At that time a royal wedding with horse racing was held on Theresienwiese. But people ate, drank and sang in the surrounding inns.
At 12 noon there were at least isolated calls of “Ozapft is!” In the field. Some smaller groups had gathered. Among other things, a group of Oktoberfest waitresses dressed in traditional costumes had a picnic with a mix of cola and an alcohol-free shandy under the Bavaria. They view the “WirtshausWiesn” critically. “This is silly,” said Nicolai Schmidt, who normally would have worked in one of the festival’s tents, the dpa. According to the Munich police, who, according to a spokesman, had 60 people in action, all has remained calm so far.
Weather demo instead of Oktoberfest madness
The autumn climate network used the free space for a demonstration under the slogan “Entry of the climate heroes”. More than 100 people attended. The colorful entourage included an electric carriage in which costumed young women danced, a donkey, trees in wagons, people dressed as cows, and children on bicycles. On the Oktoberfest grounds, protesters, accompanied by festival music, wrote their theses on animal welfare, climate justice and a greener future with chalk on the asphalt. Most of the participants wore mouth and nose protection and kept their distance.
In view of the increasing number of corona infections in Bavaria, but also at the national level, critical voices about “WirthausWiesn” are also increasing in Munich. On Twitter, among other things, it is criticized that after exceeding the signal value of 50 people infected by corona per 100,000 inhabitants, older students have to sit at school with masks on Monday in Munich, but it is celebrated in pubs on Weekend. “Children have to limit themselves, stupid WirtshausWiesn can happen,” wrote one user. Another considered it “irresponsible” not to cancel the event in the current situation.
Mayor Reiter had announced strict controls and wants to convene a crisis team on Monday. Reiter told Bayerischer Rundfunk: “I don’t think we will take further action on Monday. Rather, the value would have to go up more significantly or stay above 50 for a long time.” The critical limit, above which greater protection measures against infections are applied, was exceeded in Munich on Friday by 50.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. As a consequence, the city has initially expanded the requirement for masks in secondary schools.
Reiter warned innkeepers on Saturday: “Please always pay attention to adherence to your protection and hygiene concept: mask requirement, distance requirement and all other requirements of the Bavarian Infection Protection Ordinance. To prevent the full attention “. Oktoberfest boss Clemens Baumgärtner also asked his fellow citizens in Bayerischer Rundfunk to be aware: “Go to the pub of your choice, whether at home or in Munich, don’t go to Oktoberfest, celebrate in the pub, that’s just better. “. Anyone caught consuming or selling alcohol on Theresienwiese should expect a fine.
The only (small) queue of people did not form on Saturday lunchtime in front of the festival tents at Oktoberfest, but in front of the Corona testing station below Bavaria. Otherwise, the area on Saturday morning was primarily owned by joggers and walkers.
