The Origins of Oktoberfest

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On the 12th of October 1810 Crown Prince Ludwig, who later became King Ludwig I, married Princess Teres of Sassonia-Hildburghausen.  All the citizens of Munich were invited to attend the celebration held in the fields in front of the city gate to celebrate the happy royal event.  Since then the fields have been called Thereseinwiese (Teresa’s Meadow) in honour of the princess.   The closing ceremony at the Thereseinwiese included a horse race and a veritable feast for the whole of Bavaria; the following year the decision to repeat the horse race gave rise to the origin of the Oktoberfest tradition.  Since then the annual celebration punctuates the life of Munich and Germany, except on 24 occasions when it was cancelled due to wars or epidemics.

Oktoberfest is and always will remain typical of Munich.  The rules of Oktoberfest stipulate that during the festival only beer products from breweries in Munich can be served.  This measure is intended to ensure that Oktoberfest remains a Munich event in the future.  In addition, the name ‘Oktoberfestbier’ is a registered trademark.  The holder of this name is the association of the Munich breweries. 

The 6 breweries that meet these criteria, the ‘pillars’ of Oktoberfest, are: Augustiner-Bräu, Hacker-Pschorr-Bräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner-Bräu, Spatenbräu and Staatliches Hofbrau-München, all from Munich and producers of beer according to the rigid constraints imposed by the Law of Purity.

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COMING TO THE BRAUHAUS SEPTEMBER 25TH 2020