Oktoberfest
The royal history of the largest folk festival in the world
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Seven million tipsy people, smart traditional costumes and songs to sing and sway along to – that’s often what comes to mind first when you think of Oktoberfest. The history of the folk festival is peppered with royals and VIPs.
O’zapft is! Every year at the end of September, the Bavarian capital is transformed into one big party for almost two weeks. The whole of Munich is turned upside down – because it’s time for Oktoberfest. No other folk festival in the world attracts so many visitors, no other spectacle connects cultures so quickly and intimately. Many guests may not even be aware of how glamorous the origins of the festival are.
The first Oktoberfest was a wedding party
On the occasion of the royal wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810, numerous public and private celebrations were held. A horse race that was held in honor of the wedding is now considered the birth of the Oktoberfest. Even then, the festival was designed as a folk festival and was intended to allow as many citizens as possible to share in the joy of the marriage.
At the first Oktoberfest in history, horses and other farm animals were presented in 1810. On the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, the court organized a horse race for the citizens.
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Almost 40,000 Munich residents accepted the court’s invitation and visited the area known today as Theresienwiese, which at the time was still outside of Munich’s city limits. This was the start of a beloved tradition that only had to be interrupted in times of war. The Oktoberfest was here to stay and from then on gathered the nobility, the wealthy and the common people at the wooden tables and benches.
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Stars and Royals at the Oktoberfest
The fascination of the Oktoberfest with its dirndls, traditional costumes and good humor does not stop at VIPs and crowned heads. “See and be seen” is the motto at the Wiesn, which welcomes several million visitors every year – many of whom have traveled far, for example from America and Asia. With up to a million tourists, the festival is one of the main attractions of Germany as a travel destination, and hotel prices are rising to astronomical heights even by Munich standards.
In addition to numerous German stars and starlets, the high nobility can also be seen from time to time in the festival tents of Käfer, Spaten and Co. Prince Albert, 66, from Monaco in particular seems to have a thing for Oktoberfest. He has visited the festival several times over the years (most recently in 2023) and even celebrated with his wife Princess Charlène, 46, at the Monegasque Oktoberfest edition in 2012.
Good mood in threes: Lilly zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, her ex-husband Prince Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe and his current wife Mahkameh Navabiat celebrate exuberantly and happily at the Oktoberfest 2019.
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