It won't be long before it starts again: We introduce you to the people who are on the wagon of the tents on the host's train. Today the horse breeder and coachman Rasso Babel tells.
Munich - The anticipation increases every day: The 185th Oktoberfest starts on September 22nd. In our big Oktoberfest series we deal with the arrival of the hosts - it marks the beginning of the Oktoberfest.
We will introduce you to the people who are there when the hosts move onto the wagons of the tents. Today the horse breeder and coachman Rasso Babel tells what the arrival of the Oktoberfest hosts means to him. He drives the Reinbold family in his four-in-hand car to the Oktoberfest.
Lush green meadows, a small church tower towers over the town's houses, cowbells ring in the background. In Sachsenkam near Warngau, the world is still in order. Rasso Babel (55) has been breeding southern German draft horses here since 1978: brown steeds with black manes.
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Actually, Babel is a farmer. “We have 50 dairy cows,” he says. The family lives on it. “But the horses are our passion. The whole family whirls around. “The family: In addition to Papa Rasso and Mama Annelies (52), they also include the sons Anderl (21) and Rasso junior (29). And they have learned something. “My sons are farriers,” says Babel. “Well, Anderl is still an apprentice. But he makes himself ... "
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The Babel family has always moved in the region. Wherever good coachmen are needed, they are there with their draft horses. They drive weddings as well as traditional processions. "You do what you can. It's just our hobby, ”says Babel and laughs. Because the Babels are such capable coach drivers, the Reinbold family took notice - that was almost ten years ago.
All draft horses "extremely strong-nerved and calm"
Driving the festival hosts is a huge honor for the Babels. “It can't be compared to the moves we usually do,” says Babel. The wide streets, the old buildings. "When you drive your car, you don't even notice how beautiful the city actually is."
This year Finni, Flicka, Fefi and Simmerl are pulling the host family's four-in-hand over the Schwanthalerstrasse to the Oktoberfest. Flicka is already a real warhorse at the age of 21: She has been driving in Babel's team since she was three. Finni, on the other hand, is only four years old. But: “Every horse is equally important to us,” says Babel.
Like all the draft horses of the Babels, she is “extremely nervous and calm,” says Babel. "That is also due to our training." That this pays off, the Babels have recently even seen in black and white: "Finni has just passed the driving performance test," says Babel proudly. The Bavarian Horse Breeders' Association had them drag a tree trunk, navigate a carriage course and pull a sledge over the gravel bed. “She did really well,” says Babel.
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On the day of moving in, everything has to be right: "My wife and daughter-in-law get up at two-thirty and take care of the cows," says Babel. "The boys and I get the horses ready and leave at half past five with the trailers heading for Munich." Only as a team do they manage what they want to offer the Reinbold family and the many spectators of the festival hosts: "A clean and dashing one Team, ”says Babel. Then the animals go back to the pasture, where they graze with the cows: from the Oktoberfest to the meadow.
The Schützenfestzelt in brief
- Beer price: 11.40 euros
- The brewery: Löwenbräu
- Half a chicken: 11.50 euros
- Delicacies: suckling pig with potato dumplings and coleslaw (27.50 euros)
- Eating cheaply: changing lunch from Monday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for 14.30 euros, lunch menu from Monday to Thursday from 12 a.m. to 3 p.m.: pancake soup, duck with potato dumplings and mug of coffee (to take away) for 16.90 euros
- Seats: 5361 places in the tent, 1187 in the beer garden
- Smokers: smoking balcony, re-admission cards for smokers
- Music: The Niederalmer (daily from 12 noon)
The Schützenfestzelt.
© tz / mm
- New: You can use your Wiesn vouchers until October 31. Redeem in the Löwenbräukeller and in the Franziskaner. There is also a schnapps from Munich for the first time.
The host family
The Schützenfestzelt has been in the hands of the Reinbolds since 1980. When father Edi (75) took over the Festhalle at that time, it was not easy: "I started with 37 wait staff, today there are over 230."
Now mainly his sons Ludwig (31) and Mathias (32) take care of the Schützenfestzelt. Papa Edi is still involved. Ludwig: "He always knows the best."
Severin Heidrich