For the second time, there is no Oktoberfest in Munich due to the corona.
Our author can draw positive conclusions from this fact.
On October 2nd, 2019 it was that time again: I was standing in front of the Paulaner tent at the Oktoberfest with my dirndl, which was narrow due to the consumption of several drinks that were only available in liter form. It was raining, it was freezing cold, but I was glad to have escaped the roaring and crushing of the other guests in the marquee. Half annoyed, half amused, I directed my breathlessly "breathless" -sing, slightly staggering friend to the subway - if possible without stepping into large puke puddles myself. I noticed that the enormous beer smell was not coming from him, but from my hair, which had probably gotten a shower with this brew. Why did I let myself go to the Oktoberfest every year?
Now I have had time off for the second year in a row and in this case can only say: “Thank you Corona!” Because there are so many things that rob the Oktoberfest of all its magic every time. I would think of hundreds - but let's name the seven most important ones:
# 1 Trachten - and what
kind of
costumes:
If you believe the older generations, then wearing traditional costumes at Oktoberfest is a pretty modern phenomenon. In the past, it is said, people went to the Oktoberfest in jeans and T-shirts. And it would have been better to stay that way. Because hardly anything is worse to look at than the 10-euro plastic parts from the carnival trade, whose bright neon colors scream the word “child labor” at you from afar, while their Japanese, English or Italian-speaking wearers are oh so native -feel Bavarian. But even expensive prices often do not make things any better. With many a 800-euro dirndl that romps about in the Käfer tent, one wonders whether it can really still be seen as a dress -
or whether it wasn't actually intended as a costume for a film about the life of Sun King Louis XIV.
Brightly colored hats, to which whole muppets were sometimes attached as jewelry, literally top it all off.
And even if some believe that next to all the candy dirndls, it does not stand out: Dear men - Lederhosen are simply
not
sexy.
# 2 The love of money:
The realization is not new - the Oktoberfest is expensive. Even before Corona, a liter of beer cost almost 12 euros and it usually doesn't stop at just one. If you then treat yourself to half a chicken with Oktoberfest pretzel with your - let's say an average of three - measure of beer, then that is more expensive than flying to Ballermann and back with Ryanair. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that at some point in the late hour, almost everyone will feel like shaking up what you've consumed on a few laps of the Alpina cable car - 10 euros per trip - and then with a bag of roasted almonds - 6 euros per 100 grams; Bargain! - to sprinkle. Parents in particular don't have it easy there. As a family with several children, you can quickly spend more money at the Oktoberfest,than for a visit to the Europapark - but not everyone can afford it. The horrific sums for hotel rooms, for which 2.5 times the normal price is sometimes charged during Oktoberfest times, should also be the reason why so many tourists prefer to travel to the alcoholic land of oblivion.
# 3 No means no - also for the Oktoberfest:
As is well known, alcohol makes you very relaxed, regardless of which gender you feel you belong to. If one or the other amorous after-Oktoberfest adventure happens because of the beer, then that's certainly okay, as long as everyone involved is there voluntarily. But what unfortunately doesn't work at all is the constant grabbing in the festival tents - regardless of which side the dirndl bow is tied on. Being a woman at the Oktoberfest is not synonymous with: "Please touch the ..." and even with the constant serving of beer and schnapps one cannot simply buy approval for a love affair. Especially when celebrating at so-called "company meadows" one (or woman) is often negatively surprised.How many places the otherwise so shy-looking colleague from the office next door can have his hands at the same time under the influence of beer. A circumstance that we can do without in all the coming Oktoberfest years.
# 4 Overcrowded public transport:
Admittedly, the underground and suburban trains in Munich are ALWAYS overcrowded at certain times of the day.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists who clog local public transport are still straining their nerves.
The "funny" announcements at the stations, which are supposed to try to show the crowd, staggering through beer or anticipation, in a friendly but determined manner, are no longer of any use.
The fact that the stomach contents of some Oktoberfest visitors often adorn the floor of the underground and suburban trains during the Oktoberfest, makes the whole thing even worse.
# 5 16 days of being ashamed of others:
Japanese women in bright pink plastic dirndls; grown men who frenetically perform the duck dance to the tune of their "chicken hat" wiggling their thighs; 6000 people who stand together on the benches in one of the festival tents and wave their arms because they feel “strong as a tiger” and “as high as a plane”. The list of things that you should be ashamed of as a non-Wiesn fan when you look over the Oktoberfest visitors during the said 16 days of the year is long. However, if you believe the “real” Munich residents, no drunk tourist is ever as embarrassing as the peacock-like, peacock-like, non-Bavarians belonging to the Munich upper class, who believe that the word Servus in connection with leather pants is about their “migration background “Could hide it.Or as the grumbler Harry G would call them: The Isarpreißn.
# 6 The so-called Wiesn flu:
Admittedly, after the whole Corona thing, you don't really want to talk about the spread of flu viruses in various festival tents.
But the Wiesn flu is a well-known phenomenon and unfortunately it affects everyone in Munich in one way or another.
Either you have it, then you are sick and suffer.
Or you will be spared from it - then you can be prepared for very stressful days at work because half of your colleagues are in bed at home.
There is no question whether the Wiesn flu will still be an issue after Corona.
Unless the Bavarian state government enforces the obligation of masks and minimum distance in the marquee - which should be about as likely as the fall in the price of beer.
# 7 every year:
Yes there is. The non-Wiesn fans. In fact, they're not that rare. People who don't like crowds, excessive alcohol consumption, bad party music and the fact that everything at Oktoberfest is geared towards commerce. And every year they are faced with the decision: Am I going or not? “You don't go here, if you don't like it” - yes ... if it were that easy. After all, you don't want to be seen as a brake on fun. And so you tell yourself every year that it's basically like going to a pub with good friends. Much fuller, much louder, much more expensive and in uncomfortable clothes - but you still appreciate the company of your friends. And so it says every year: "Yeah, I'll come with you". Until you peel yourself out of your Oktoberfest outfit at the end of the day - almost numb,broke and smelling of beer. You vow to be guaranteed to remain steadfast in the next year - and yet deep down you already know that the scene will be exactly the same in the coming year.
By the way: my colleague Carolin Huber sees everything very differently - and has published the seven things that she missed at the Oktoberfest.
kah
