The Dark History of Oktoberfest

Just pure fun? Munich's annual beer festival, Oktoberfest, has quite a sinister past. Most visitors in their traditional Diendels and Lederhosen probably don't know much about it. The Oktoberfest dates back to the later King Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Teresa Charlotte Louisa of Saxony-Hildburghausen. When they got married in 1810, the Kingdom of Bavaria was still very young, just four years old to be precise. A festival was needed to lend an identity to this new kingdom. You have to bear in mind that Bavaria had acquired new territories and people, the Franconians, which they're still sad about today, and Swabians. These needed to be integrated. The highlight of the five-day wedding celebration was a big horse racing event held on October 17, 1810. The whole occasion was the first ever Oktoberfest. And right from the start it was held here on this field, which at the time was still on the outskirts of Munich. The grounds were named Theresienwiese in honour of the bride. The Bavarian Farmers' Association decided to hold the festival every year, and thus a new tradition was born. An important milestone came in 1880, when the authorities allowed the sale of beer. The major breweries had the capital and economic power, so they brought in these big festival halls. And that's when the festival became a beer festival and acquired its image. The Oktoberfest became an important economic factor for the region. For many Bavarians, it was almost a sacred event. There were huge celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the Oktoberfest. But today, not many people know about the various events organized to attract even more visitors to the annual festival. For example, so-called freak shows and human zoos. As in other parts of Europe, groups of people were put on display in what was known as human zoos. The pretext was ethnological interest. These shows were a great success in Munich too. The showman Carl Gabriel is still famous today for his legendary and still ongoing Oktoberfest attractions, such as the motor-drome and the devil's wheel. But few people know that he earned a great deal putting on racist, inhumane shows. When the Nazis started gaining influence, they argued against these human shows, saying they posed too much risk of what they called racial mixing. After they came to power, they also took control of the Oktoberfest. They saw it as a means of spreading their propaganda. Swastikas replaced Bavarian flags. The Nazis instrumentalized the event to emphasize their closeness to the German people, banning Jews, dissidents and beggars from attending. In 1938, they even changed its name to Big German Festival. Adolf Hitler himself never attended the festival, but other Nazis did, and it remained under their control until the war broke out. During the Second World War, 60,000 high-explosive bombs and three and a half million incendiary bombs reduced Munich to rubble. After the war, it was unclear whether the Oktoberfest would be revived. But many wanted the show to go on as if the Nazi era with its crimes had never happened. A depoliticized image of Munich was projected to the world. In 1957, the population of Munich broke the one million mark. The Oktoberfest grew into one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the world. In 1961, an estimated six million visitors converged on it. And they kept coming until September 26, 1980, the worst day in the history of the Oktoberfest. Thirteen people, including the terrorist Gundolf Köhler, were killed in a bomb attack at the main entrance. Over 200 people were injured. The worst image of my life. People torn to pieces, rubble everywhere. I couldn't understand as a child. When you're 12, you don't think of a bomb. Despite the tragedy, the Oktoberfest was open to visitors the next day. It's hard to imagine today. This is how the grounds looked the very next day, as if nothing had ever happened. There was no help at all, no psychological counseling, no therapy. We were left on our own. For 40 years, the authorities put the attack down to the deranged mind of a frustrated lone wolf. Although from the start, there were signs that it was a targeted far-right attack. Many questions remain unanswered, even today. Forty years on, it's been called an act of far-right terror. That should have been clear back then, too. Now, a monument commemorates the victims of one of the most brutal terrorist attacks in post-war Germany. The incident didn't stop people coming to the Oktoberfest. In 1985, a record-breaking 7.1 million visitors turned up. In the 80s and 90s, fewer people tended to wear traditional Bavarian dress than they do now. The atmosphere is unreal. You cannot get this anywhere else. We've got a beer fest, but not that big. Nothing in the US can compete against Oktoberfest. This is the best beer festival I've ever been in my life. People come from the world over to enjoy these exceptional 16 days, which the organizers say is about more than beer. It's a particular form of Bavarian culture. We certainly don't promote drinking as much as possible. That's not what the Oktoberfest is about. But there are excesses of alcohol. You can see that, but it's not the rule. In many parts of the world, strict rules are applied to drinking, especially for young people. In Australia, there's a lot of restrictions about buying alcohol. You can only buy it from certain places that are licensed. You can't buy it from a corner store or 7-Eleven like you can in Europe. Many appreciate the freedom at Munich's Oktoberfest. We wouldn't dare do this in Australia, but we come over here. People don't know us as much, so it's OK to drink lots of beer. The amount of beer drunk has increased since 1950. The average number of visitors since the 60s is still at about 6 million. But the price of a litre of beer has increased tenfold in the past 60 years. Visitors are prepared to pay the price. And in the 1990s, Oktoberfest replicas started popping up all over the world. I think it's a good export because the Bavarian mentality is unique. The flair, the food, people love it everywhere. Over 4,000 sister events are held the world over now, and the number continues to grow. The Oktoberfest is one of Germany's most important cultural exports, despite its troublesome past. What has remained is the euphoria felt by its many visitors and fans.