Wiesn waitress Julia Beckert shakes her head at this one question: "Is it true that the money you earn in the tent is enough for a year?" She explains what is really true about the rumor. Read her guest post.
Guest contribution by Julia Beckert from 2016:
You can probably imagine: If it rains most of the time during the Oktoberfest, the beer garden waitresses are probably not so happy to look out of their blouse or shirt. Rain = fewer guests = less sales = less earnings! In return, a sunny Oktoberfest can of course ensure a bulging wallet. There are also differences from tent to tent. But not only there: even within the tents there are areas that attract with more or less turnover (and accordingly also money). Unfortunately, I have not yet found out where it is best. This is due to two simple reasons: 1. I always work in the same station and therefore have no comparison values. And 2. the waitress doesn't talk about their own earnings.
The misconception "hourly wages of a Oktoberfest service"
How puzzled some people look out of their laundry when I say that Oktoberfest waiters don't get an hourly wage is always a mystery to me. Maybe just because I take a share in the turnover as a matter of course. I explain it like this: waitresses work more or less as self-employed and buy the goods (i.e. beer and food). For this, the waitress pays a price that is slightly below the price indicated on the menu. The difference that results is the wage. It would stay that way if it weren't for one great thing: tips.
In Germany it is customary to tip ten percent if everything was okay with the service. If you are extremely satisfied, you are of course welcome to add more. The same applies to the Oktoberfest: Even after 16 stressful days, you can still see the wait staff scurrying through the corridors in a friendly and nimble manner. Even if your face “derails” in the hustle and bustle, that should by no means be a reason to cut your tip. After all, the waitress lives from it and the happier she is, the bigger her smile becomes and the better the stay for the guest.
Most of the time, you can't complain about the tip. But even so, some people only give a ridiculous amount of five cents a measure and don't even know it.
The thing with the brands in the marquee
Everyone knows them: the (paper) brands. Whether beer, chicken or other tokens - they are to be treated like cash and they are usually given to breweries or people who make reservations. What many don't know: there are two types of brands. For example, if the label says “Including service charge”, the value corresponds to the full beer price. However, it is different with the brands "Exclusive service fee". These have a certain value that is below that of the beer price. In order to get a beer, the service charge, which is usually just under one euro, has to be paid on top. However, this amount is NOT a tip! For example, if this amount equals 95 cents and you add one euro, you have only paid a tip of five cents for the friendly service plus stress and physical exertion. I'm sure nobody does that maliciously. Hardly anyone knows.
Why some Oktoberfest waitresses get grumpy
You probably already guessed it: If the waitress does not receive an hourly wage, but only earns on sales, there are a few situations that make even the nicest waitress impatient. Such situations can be:
- You've been suckling a Mass for hours or sharing three cyclists with ten.
- You just don't understand why the beer bench is being filled up to the last seat. (Yes, there is actually ten people per table!)
- Half of your group is constantly smoking or riding a rollercoaster and the table is therefore empty.
- You come into the tent in the morning and look forward to being the last one on the beer bench in the evening, but at first you don't drink anything or only water.
- You fall asleep on the beer bench.
- You order each one individually and the waitress is constantly squeezing through the crowd because of a mass (can take five to ten minutes each way if there is a lot going on).
- You make sure that she has to fetch the sawdust again (please don't ask for what!).
You see, there are many factors that thwart the supposed "annual earnings". Nevertheless, these situations are rather the exception and so far I have never been able to complain. The good mood at the Oktoberfest is not spoiled for me so quickly! But of course it's a lot more fun if the money is right in the end.
And what do I do with the Wiesn earnings?
As every year, the hoped-for earnings are already completely planned. Of course, a part is always spent on the obligatory relaxation vacation. But this year it will be smaller, after all, I'm about to finish my studies and would like to start my working life with as few debts as possible. After all, the student loan will not pay back itself.
This is a guest post by Julia Beckert from our archive (2016). In 2016 she was waiter in the Ochsenbraterei for the fourth time.
Also read her guest post about preparing for the hardships. And her guest post "Never thought I was capable of something like that."
Beckert blogs about her life in Munich, about restaurants and traveling on living4taste.de.
Read more amazing, courageous, and moving guest posts.
Do you know the eight most annoying sentences from guests that the Oktoberfest waitress no longer wants to hear? The experienced waitress Corinna Binzer from the Löwenbräuzelt will tell you.