The big society event in the young Kingdom of Bavaria: The Crown Prince is getting married. To pay homage to the well-loved royal house, representatives of the citizens’ militia organize a horse race. Its huge success leads to a repeat of this event. Since 1811, the Central Agricultural Fair has been held in conjunction with the Oktoberfest, and, since 1819, the festival itself has been organized by the City of Munich. Beer and food stand owners serve refreshments to festival visitors and entertain them with music and carousels.

The exhibition for the 200th Oktoberfest anniversary shows the festival’s transformation from a national Bavarian celebration with royal overtones to the world’s largest beer festival with a Bavarian image. Approximately 800 objects are on display; almost all of them were directly involved in Theresienwiese
festivities at one time or another. They tell the history of the Munich Oktoberfest (also called Wiesn) in chronological order and from many different perspectives, some of them not previously known.

Exhibits

And at the end of it all there is Wiesn madness! Broken beer mugs and benches, a continuous loop of the tapping ritual. Wiesn-Dirndl inexpensive, glamorous, traditional or garish, admission wristbands, music, original beer tent sounds and a sign from one of the tents: ”Temporarily closed due to overcrowding”!

The Oktoberfest is 200 years old and continues to get younger.
Why? Many of the answers can be found in this exhibition.

Münchner Stadtmuseum, St.-Jakobs-Platz 1, 80331 Munich