Oktoberfest “Once is enough”
September 29, 2026, 9:31 am
After the rollercoaster ride with Mayor Dominik Krause, Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) draws a mixed conclusion. The idea of bringing the Olympics and the Oktoberfest together is a good 200 years old.
Söder and Krause ride the Olympic roller coaster together
If all announcements regarding the Olympic bid are implemented as quickly as the trip with the Olympic loop, then Munich's candidacy for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Games would have to be a great Oktoberfest, as they say: Just two days after Munich was awarded the contract as Germany's candidate, Munich's Mayor Dominik Krause (Greens) and Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) set about making this happen on Monday evening to honor promises made in this case. In the early evening, the two politicians meet in front of the Olympic loop ride on Theresienwiese to plunge into the wild rollercoaster ride.
Krause had brought up the idea before the start of the Oktoberfest, didn't contradict Söder forcefully enough, and now he couldn't get along. Söder approaches the scene with an obviously a little uneasy feeling. He admitted on Saturday that he had to “prepare psychologically” for this. When he arrives, Krause has a mischievous smile on his face - as if he had pulled off a mischievous prank.
King Ludwig's dream of Olympia on the Theresienwiese
While Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) and Munich Mayor Dominik Krause (Greens) symbolically celebrate the acceptance of the Olympic bid in the “Olympic Looping” roller coaster on Theresienwiese, King Ludwig I was already dreaming of “Olympics” on these same surfaces. The Bavarian king was considered a fan of Hellenistic culture. The monarch, whose son Otto later became King of Greece, envisioned a festival in the style of the ancient Olympic Games. King Ludwig died in 1868 and the Olympic Games in Athens were not revived until 1896.
An international competition would have further increased the fame of the royal family and the residential city of Munich, wrote the folklorists Florian Dering and Ursula Eymold in their documentary “The Oktoberfest 1810 - 2010,” reports the dpa news agency. As early as 1835 there were athletic games under the direction of the gymnastics teacher Josef Gruber. The disciplines were based on the ancient ideal with wrestling, javelin throwing and a Greek competition on horseback. At that time, gymnastics and athletics were already on the rise with “gymnastics father Jahn”. This also had an impact on the events at the Oktoberfest.
Seven bar waiters in the Paulaner festival tent quit
Opinions differ somewhat as to how this came about, but one thing is certain: there were waitresses instead of waiters in the Paulaner festival tent on Monday evening and in some cases there still are.
The reason: A bar waiter was fired, and six others left out of solidarity. Service circles say that the bar waiter ate something outside of his break, and the innkeeper's spokeswoman says that two bar waiters were caught drinking beer and then became abusive towards landlord Lorenz Stiftl.
One thing is certain: Afterwards, several waitresses helped out in the taverns, including two master brewers from Paulaner who happened to be in the tent, and three bar waiters from the neighboring Hacker-Pschorr festival tent. And, the spokeswoman assures us: Tomorrow every bottleneck will be resolved anyway, then bar waiters will come from other establishments that the Stiftls run.
How the protagonists experienced the journey
How was the loop ride? To get a quote, my colleague Heiner Effern has to chase Prime Minister Söder for half the Oktoberfest. It is said: “It was good. But once is enough.”
Sprint on towards the commercial yard. And for you, Mr. Krause?
"It was fun," says the mayor - and praises his co-driver: "Respect for keeping his promise."
A roller coaster of superlatives
6.37 p.m.: Söder and Krause are sitting in the car, the bar closes, now there is no possibility of escape. A horn sounds, it starts. They complete their laps through the Olympic rings five times.
The “Olympic Looping”, the largest transportable roller coaster in the world, has been an integral part of Oktoberfest since 1989. The five loops have the colors of the Olympic rings, they are arranged similarly, but compared to the original they are oval and not round. At their peak, the vehicles on the 1250 meter long roller coaster reach speeds of 90 kilometers per hour.
Oktoberfest visitors injured with beer mugs
On Sunday evening, the police recorded two arguments in which opponents were injured by beer mugs. At around 8:20 p.m., a 48-year-old from the Garmisch-Partenkirchen district got into an argument with two other men in the Augustiner Festival Hall for an unknown reason. A 41-year-old from Lower Saxony hit him head-on in the face with a jug of beer and was arrested at the scene.
A 28-year-old from the Ebersberg district was also reported for the same offense after hitting two men in the head with a beer mug in Bodo's café tent.
Attack with cutlery knife
A 24-year-old from Saarland used a cutlery knife to injure a 32-year-old Briton in the shooting festival tent on Sunday evening who wanted to mediate. The attacker was arrested.
21-year-old raped in Bavaria Park
A rape occurred on Friday evening in the vicinity of the Oktoberfest in Bavaria Park. A 21-year-old Canadian woman and a 23-year-old Italian man were exchanging caresses when an unknown man approached from behind and performed sexual acts on the woman. The perpetrator fled.
Where the Oktoberfest guests fly in from
Heiko Reitz, hub manager at Lufthansa in Munich, revealed the top three nations of passengers: Most come from the USA, followed by Italy and the United Kingdom.
41-year-old strongly defends himself against arrest
A 41-year-old American citizen put up massive resistance against police officers in a bathroom stall in the Beetle Tent on Sunday evening. It took five officers to subdue him. He was released after posting bail of 30,000 euros.
Two dead in bus accident on the A96
On Sunday, a 33-person tour group had an accident on the Autobahn 96 in Ostallgäu on the way to Oktoberfest. A coach left the road and overturned. Two Filipino nationals died and numerous other people were injured.
