Everyone knows that Oktoberfest starts in mid-September; specifically, on a Saturday, when the brewers enter Theresienwiese, the Munich meadow where it is celebrated, and the mayor opens the first keg. Well, everyone who studies German knows it. Or at least all the Bavarians in Bavaria. Just as you know that it was celebrated for the first time in 1810 on the occasion of the marriage between Louis I of Bavaria and Teresa of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Since then it has been held every year, except for some interruptions due to force majeure (the last ones, in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic). The celebration attracts more than six million visitors and its fame has led to similar parties being held in Tenerife, in the Venezuelan Colonia Tovar or in Calella on the coast, among others.
But, although it may be inconceivable to Bavarians, not everyone has free days to go to Theresienwiese to enjoy the music, the wagon parades and traditional costumes, the food and, of course, the beer.
Such is my case. And, to get a glimpse of what the party can be like, I go to one of the official breweries. Because it should be said that only a few beers can be served at the party, those that are made within the municipal area of Munich and with ingredients that were already established in 1516.
My destination, Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, is located five minutes from Marienplatz, Munich's central square. This brewery is today property of the State of Bavaria, but its foundation dates back to 1589, that's nothing. Already in 1828, King Ludwig I - the same one who is at the origin of the Oktoberfest - opened it to the public. Later, various extensions have provided it with an immense hall, with up to 1,300 seats, in addition to other halls of somewhat smaller capacity.
At first, the crowd pushes me back. Here it serves an average of thirty-five thousand diners daily and is the most visited attraction in the city. But I insist and enter the tavern where hundreds of diners, families, friends, groups of tourists, occupy eight-seat tables. On a small platform, a tuba, accordion and guitar ensemble adds its folk music to the general bustle.
Let no one be afraid. You have to find a hole. I see a table with three occupants. I search for the words to ask permission and it turns out that they live two blocks from home. The waiter leaves me the menu. He is in charge of a few tables that he serves with order and efficiency. I order Käsespätzle and knuckle. To drink, the official measurement is the liter jug and it seems that only the timid opt for the half liter. The Käsespätzle arrives, pasta with onion and cheese, a lot of cheese. A potato meatball accompanies the knuckle, which goes with its sauce and a crust that crunches and meat that falls apart. Each serving is enough to fill a well-trained stomach. Also the Kaiserschmarrn that comes for dessert, with its pieces of pancake sprinkled with icing sugar, which is dipped in applesauce.
The tasting time is enough to evoke Mozart, who recovered from his hours of composition with this same beer. Lenin also visited the house and in 1919 the city's communist government established its headquarters here. A year later, Adolf Hitler presented, in a room on the third floor, the founding program of the Nazi party. The hall no longer exists because the Second World War devastated the building, which they rebuilt. And I would like to add that nothing remained of that... Or that only what really matters was preserved: the secret of the crunchy crust of the knuckle.
When I leave, I hear music in some galleries. Several elderly couples in period costume dance the tango. With the soul of Pina Bausch. The spiritual note that was missing to touch the sky.
