Trip 43

Sunday September 17,2023

Interesting info about Oktoberfest and Beer

>The Paulaner beer from a pipeline laid almost one meter underground runs to the taverns at a speed of more than 25 centimeters per second (0.55 mph) . The “Maß-o-Meter” at the taverns indicates the exact beer speed. Up to 15 pours can be tapped per tap per minute – that’s one beer every four seconds. The beer flows into the mug at about three degrees Celsius (37 degrees Fahrenheit), and is served by the waiters at about six degrees (42 F). Technology bringing us noch mehr bier, schneller (more beer, faster)!

>Only beer from Munich breweries may be served at the Oktoberfest.

>Augustiner is Munich’s oldest brewery. The monks of the Augustinian Order founded a brewery in 1328 that still exists today, and is the oldest brewery still existing within the Munich city limits.

We watched some of the costume “Trachten und Schützenzug” parade on TV, much better views than we’d have had in person. Around 9,500 participants form a seven-kilometer-long train across Munich city center. They come not only from all parts of Bavaria, but also from other federal states and European neighboring states: dressed traditional costume groups, sports and mountain shooters, music bands, musician and fanfare suits, in between the magnificent horse drawn teams of the Munich breweries and many festival carriages and floats on which old crafts or customs are shown. This year, the Bavarian Traditional Costume Association, with 1,600 participants, has a special presence. 140 years ago, the first traditional costume club in Bavaria was founded in Bayrischzell in the district of Miesbach (about 40 minutes south of Munich); this was the impetus for a nationwide traditional costume movement and today there are around 800 clubs with 160,000 members in Bavaria. Many of them had on elaborate traditional “costumes” or regionalized traditional clothing.

We took the U back to the Marienplatz to have lunch at the Viktualienmarkt. Unlike the US, all the retail stores are closed (by law – Ladenschlussgesetz) on Sunday (“blue law”), with only restaurants, grocery stores , etc. allowed to be open. All of the farmers’ market type stalls in the Viktualienmarkt are closed, but the Biergarten is open! First stop is …beer, but there’s a small band playing (YouTube) under the chestnut trees. With Oktoberfest underway, it’s definitely less (but not un)crowded.

After lunch (more than just a bier), we walked back towards the Frauenkirche. Fortunately, the cathedral is open; many times when we’ve been here the last few years, it was undergoing restoration (outside). With a structure this old (consecrated 1494), it’s in a continual state of restoration, inside and/or outside. Unlike other buildings of its era, the building was constructed using bricks to save money due to the lack of quarries in the region.

After suffering heavy damage during the air raids of the Second World War, the Frauenkirche was reconstructed between 1948 and 1955.

There are numerous legends around the footprint. According to one legend, in 1468 architect Jorg von Halspach went looking for money to build a new cathedral in Munich and ended up making a bargain with the Devil: the Devil would provide the funds for the huge building on the condition that it be a celebration of darkness, with no windows to let in light.

When the building was complete, von Halspach led the Devil inside to survey his work, and to show him that he had held up his end of the bargain. Although there was light, there seemed to be no windows, and the devil was satisfied. But then when he took another step further, the columns that had been blocking the view of the windows opened up and, in his fury at being tricked, he stamped his foot, forever marking the floor with his black footprint.

Another legend says that as the building work on the Frauenkirche came to an end, the devil crept around the church and was annoyed to find that yet another building had been erected in God’s name. In the entrance hall, he then noticed that the church did not contain a single window and began laughing out loud at the builder’s stupidity. He leapt up in joy and, when he landed back down on the ground, left behind his footprint. However, when he took another step forwards, he noticed that the church did indeed have windows. They had just been covered by massive pillars and the former Gothic high altar. In anger, he is said to have transformed himself into a powerful storm in an attempt to tear down the church, at which he failed.

The details of its origin and first appearance remain a mystery today.

Out on the Marienplatz, the same quintet that played yesterday was back (YouTube).